A biography for Leslie Uggamshasn’t been written yet.
“My mother was not a show business mother but I saw plenty of those mothers. If the kid didn't get the audition, they'd be reprimanded. It could be horrible. At the same time, if it wasn't for the mother, these kids wouldn't have the career that they have. Most of them went on to be big stars.”
“It's kind of nice to be acknowledged, and that people think enough of you that they want to give you something. So I appreciate it.”
“There was always music in our house and my mother was a Cotton Club dancer for a short time. But they never thought I'd be in show business.”
“People have a tendency to think of me either as a little girl or as very old.”
“Oh, I am a 'Smash' junkie! I love it. And, as a big fan, I was so happy I got a chance to work with Will Chase on 'Pipe Dream.'”
“I came from a musical family.”
“I was responsible for having a clean image. I wanted people to have respect for black people.”
“Fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and a change of scenery can be very refreshing and just the lift you need.”
“I worked with a comic at the Apollo, and his jokes weren't so good. So people used to bring groceries to the Apollo, and you'd see it flying on the stage. It was crazy. Absolutely crazy.”
“We were surrounded by people who saw that in me. Milton Berle's mother told my mother, 'She has talent.'”
“Some of my nicest fan letters came from white Southerners.”
“I was supposedly named after the Bette Davis character in 'The Letter' by my sister.”
“Anything can happen in theater.”
“I certainly knew who was there before me - Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday - not only because that was the music that was played when I was growing up, but because I made it my business to know these things.”
“You know what I pay attention to? Butts in the seats. That's what my mother used to say: 'Are there butts in those seats?' Because the bottom line is you want to see people out there.”
“We did the duet of 'The Lady is a Tramp' and that is on YouTube. That was a fun, great experience to work with the great Frank Sinatra.”
“Kizzy is way up there, one of my favorite roles. And today, Kizzy is part of history. 'Roots' told a story that no one knew and that no one wanted people to know.”
“Even as a child. I got my first break very early when I won an amateur contest at the Apollo. They couldn't get rid of me. And I was only 9.”
“People used to say, 'Your mother's always with you.' My mother would say, 'That's right!'”