Two-hour interview highlights Leslie’s storied stage and screen career from her days as a child star to her recent hit roles in DEADPOOL and EMPIRE.
Tony and Emmy Award-winning star of stage and screen Leslie Uggams (Hallelujah, Baby! and The Leslie Uggams Show) has joined the ranks of EMMY TV LEGENDS as a recent interviewee of the Archive of American Television. In honor of Black History Month and the 40th anniversary of the original airing of Alex Haley’s ROOTS in which she so memorably starred as Kizzy Kinte, Uggams traces her career as a child star during the early days of television to her current roles in the blockbuster hits DEADPOOL and EMPIRE.
In Part 1 of the two-hour video interview, Uggams discusses her early 1950s and 1960s appearances on The Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club, Name That Tune, and Sing Along with Mitch. Later she became the first American-American woman to host her own TV variety series The Leslie Uggams Show in 1969. In 1977 she made history again as part of the ground-breaking cast of ROOTS.
Part 2 of the Emmy TV Legends interview brings us from the 1980s through present day, featuring insights into her many variety show appearances singing alongside other entertainment legends such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. Uggams also discusses her Emmy Award-winning role as host of the game show Fantasy co-starring Peter Marshall. The interview ends with thoughts on her recent return to dramatic acting in the television shows The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, and Empire and as irascible Marvel Comic sidekick Blind Al in the record-breaking box office smash hit movie DEADPOOL starring Ryan Reynolds.
Season 3 of EMPIRE returns on Wednesday, March 22, 9/8c on Fox TV. Uggams continues in her recurring role of Leah Walker, the dangerous mother of Lucious Lyons played by Terrence Howard.
To view her complete Archive of American Television video, go to EmmyTVLegends.org.
Part 1
Part 2