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<\/p>\nLeslie was a gifted singer who cut her first album for MGM at the age of just 10 in 1953. Encouraged by her aunt, <\/p>\n
the singer Eloise Uggams, she enrolled in Julliard and the Professional Children’s School in New York.<\/p>\n
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The Leslie Uggams Show was the first network variety show hosted by a person of color since \u2018The Nat King Cole Show\u2019 in 1969. However, her musical success was just the beginning of her journey.<\/p>\n
Grahame Pratt, an actor, was someone she had met and fallen in love with behind the scenes. The couple initially met at the Professional Children’s School of New York, <\/p>\n
where they both attended, and then ran into one another while she was onstage in Sydney while Leslie was on one of her famous tours of Australia.<\/p>\n
Leslie had dated a white man when she was a teenager, so she was aware of the consequences and her aunt had advised her not to consider a future with him.<\/p>\n
Leslie admitted as much in a 1967 interview with Ebony, \u2018I remember the shock I got once when I was dating a white boy.\u2019<\/p>\n
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\u2018He sent me an image of himself in color. My aunt saw it after I did. He had lovely hair and was a handsome boy. <\/p>\n
I admired his beauty. But after taking one look, my aunt began lecturing me. He’s okay, I guess, she said, but only for dates, <\/p>\n
right, honey? You’ll make sure to marry a good [Black] fella when you’re ready to settle down for the long haul, won’t you?<\/p>\n
Leslie claimed that she continued to see Grahame after their unexpected encounter. As a young woman of 21, \u2018I found myself really falling for him, which was quite a thing for me to realize.\u2019<\/p>\n
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It would be 12 months after she left Australia before she saw him once more.<\/p>\n
Despite Leslie’s concerns about Grahame moving to the United States for Leslie’s job and what that would entail for<\/p>\n
the two of them, the two had fallen in love. For five months, they were engaged, and Grahame paid her a visit in New York.<\/p>\n
Knowing my family’s attitudes against mixed marriages, she added, \u2018I also wanted to know if they would truly accept Grahame and not just tolerate him.\u2019<\/p>\n
Leslie didn’t need to worry, though, because Grahame’s being an Australian had its benefits.<\/p>\n
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Of course, we received mail, though.<\/p>\n
He lacked the usual white American self-consciousness about the circumstance. He was comfortable <\/p>\n
around all of my pals simply because he liked them. He was well-liked by both the females and the guys.<\/p>\n
Leslie claimed that despite not suffering many of the racial problems that the rest of the United States had, the two still received hate mail after getting married in 1965.<\/p>\n
In an interview with PEOPLE, Leslie reflected on her marriage and remarked, \u2018It was not as hard as I expected it to be.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I believe the cause was the fact that Grahame was not a white American man. Of course, we did receive mail.\u2019<\/p>\n
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I occasionally receive anonymous letters about being married to a white man when I am on tour in the United States,\u2019 Leslie admitted. <\/p>\n
\u2018I recall that, of all places, I received one in Detroit. The letter addressed to \u2018The Little Negro Entertainer\u2019 arrived at the club. They are never addressed nicely, and they are unpleasant to read.<\/p>\n
Grahame took up the role of Leslie’s manager, and the couple welcomed two kids: Justice was born in 1976 and Danielle was born in 1970.<\/p>\n
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Leslie had secured the major role in the miniseries \u2018Roots\u2019 by 1977, the year after the birth of their second child. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Kizzy in this series.<\/p>\n
She played Lillian Rogers Parks in the miniseries \u2018Backstairs at the White House\u2019 two years later, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Actress.<\/p>\n
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She portrayed Rose Keefer on \u2018All My Children” in 1996, and in 1983, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the NBC game show \u2018Fantasy.\u2019<\/p>\n
Additionally, she appeared as a guest on TV shows like \u2018Family Guy,\u2019 \u2018I Spy,\u2019 \u2018Hollywood Squares,\u2019 \u2018The Muppet Show,\u2019 \u2018The Love Boat,\u2019 and \u2018Magnum, P.I.\u2019<\/p>\n
After 55 years, Leslie and Grahame are still together and much in love. They have two children as well as a granddaughter named Cassidy.<\/p>\n