Jennifer Holliday
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jennifer Holliday (born Jennifer-Yvette Holliday October 19, 1960 in Riverside, Texas) is an American actress and singer.
Holliday grew up in Texas, and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas in 1978 [1].
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[edit] Career
Holliday's powerful, gospel-tinged voice made her a hot commodity in musical theater. Her first notable role was in the 1980 Broadway production of Your Arms Too Short To Box With God. Her performance in that musical earned her a 1981 Drama Desk nomination.
Her next role was the role for which she is best known: the role of Effie Melody White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Holliday joined the show in December 1981 and remained with the show for nearly four years. Her performance in the role is widely acclaimed, particularly in her iconic performance of the musical number that ends Act I, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". Among the acclaim was Holliday's sweep of awards in 1982, including the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, a Grammy award for her recorded version of the song, and Drama Desk and Theater World awards for the performance. A recording of the song climbed to #22 on the Hot 100 in 1982. Holliday also performed in the touring company of "Sing Mahalia Sing" in 1986.
Holliday has also made a number of other recordings:
- She was a featured vocalist on the #1 single "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner in 1985.
- Holliday has also hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart twice with the same song. "No Frills Love" hit the top spot in 1986 and then reached #1 again ten years later when the track was remixed.
- She then hit #1 once more on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play in 2000 with "Think It Over."
- A dance version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" climbed to #6 on the dance chart in 2001.
- She has also recorded a gospel album On & On.
Apart from her career in the music industry and on the stage, Holliday has also made appearances on primetime television. In addition to appearances on Touched By An Angel and Hang Time, she had several appearances in a recurring guest role on Ally McBeal where she played lead choir singer, Lisa Knowles.
[edit] Trivia
- Holliday was initially cast as Effie in "Dreamgirls" because of her plus size stature. In the 1990s, Holliday lost a substantial amount of weight and talked about her health struggles during promotional interviews. [2]
[edit] Awards & Nominations
- Tony Awards
- 1982 Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Dreamgirls), Winner
- Drama Desk Awards
- 1982 Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Dreamgirls), Winner
- 1981 Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Your Arms Too Short To Box With God)
- Theatre Awards
- 1982 Outstanding Broadway Debut (Dreamgirls), Winner
- Time Magazine
- Performer of the decade
- NAACP
- Image award
- Grammey Awards
- 1982 Best Female Performance, Rhythm & Blues (:And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", Dreamgirls), Winner
| Preceded by: Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year |
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical 1982 for Dreamgirls |
Succeeded by: Natalia Makarova in On Your Toes |
[edit] See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
