Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and ordained minister. As a singer, she performed blues, gospel, jazz, and pop music. Some of her songs reached the US Hot 100, including "Don't You Know?" (1959), which ranked number two on the chart. As a television personality and actress, she was the first Black woman to host her own talk show. She also appeared on the popular CBS series Touched by an Angel.

Della was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She sang in her church choir and was discovered by gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who took her on tour. Later, she joined a gospel group called The Meditation Singers before focusing on secular music. She won a local talent competition, which led to a performance at The Flame nightclub in New York City for several weeks. This performance helped her get her first recording contract with Jubilee Records in 1954. She recorded several albums there, and her most successful song was "And That Reminds Me" (1957), which sold a million copies. She later signed with RCA Victor, where she achieved major success with songs like "Don't You Know" and "Not One Minute More." RCA Victor released several albums, including the top 40-charting Della (1960).

By the early 1960s, Della appeared on nationally broadcast TV shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. These appearances led to her own talk show, Della, which aired for nearly 200 episodes from 1969 to 1970. She continued recording music in the 1970s with albums from ABC–Paramount, Avco Embassy, and LMI. During this time, she also began acting in films like Psychic Killer and shows like Chico and the Man. In the 1980s, she returned to gospel music by forming a group called Brilliance, which released an album in 1985. The group was later nominated for a Grammy Award. She also appeared in Eddie Murphy’s 1989 film Harlem Nights and the 1991 TV series The Royal Family, which starred Redd Foxx.

In the 1980s, Della became an ordained minister and began giving sermons regularly. She later played the lead role of Tess in the CBS series Touched by an Angel, which co-starred Roma Downey. The show, which began in 1994, became one of CBS’s most popular and watched programs for many years. Della remained on the show until 2003. During the 1990s, she released the Grammy-nominated gospel album My Soul Feels Better Right Now (1998) and wrote her autobiography, Angels Along the Way (1997). She published four more books by 2012. She also starred in several CBS TV films in the 2000s and appeared in the 2005 film Beauty Shop. Della continued acting until she retired in 2014.

Early years

Della Reese was born Delloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, in the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. Her parents were Richard Thaddeus Early, a steelworker, and Nellie Mitchelle, a cook. It was said that her mother had Cherokee ancestry. Della had five older sisters and one brother. As a young girl, she and her mother often went to movies to watch popular films. After returning from the movies, she would act out scenes from the films at home. Della also loved singing. She would sing loudly into the skylight of the bathroom in their home. Her parents eventually covered the skylight with boards to stop her from singing so loudly.

At age six, Della joined her local church choir. When she was 13, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson heard her sing and was impressed. Mahalia chose Della to replace another singer in her road show. Della toured with Mahalia across the United States for three summers. During her late teenage years, she joined a gospel group in Detroit called the Meditation Singers. At the same time, she attended Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, where she graduated at age 15. She later studied psychology at Wayne State University in 1949.

Della left college after her mother died from a brain hemorrhage. She had a disagreement with her father, which led her to leave the family home. She supported herself by working different types of jobs, including driving a truck and working as a taxi driver. During this time, she continued performing with the Meditation Singers. However, she left the group because she became frustrated with the low income from gospel music. This was when she changed her professional name to Della Reese.

She then focused on secular music. Della found work at Detroit’s Oriel Bowling Alley, one of the first places in the area to offer live entertainment. While working there, she entered a local talent show and won. As the winner, she was given the chance to perform for one week at The Flame, a New York City nightclub that helped aspiring Black performers. Her performance lasted 18 weeks and was noticed by agent Lee Magid. With Magid’s help, Della joined the Erskine Hawkins orchestra in 1953.

Music career

Della Reese's first recordings were released on the Great Lakes label, leading to one single in 1954 called "Yes Indeed." Later, Magid helped her sign her first official recording contract with an independent label named Jubilee Records. Her first single with Jubilee was "In the Still of the Night" in 1955, which sold 500,000 copies, according to biographer Jessie Carney Smith. Other songs released in the mid-1950s included covers of "Time After Time," "Years from Now," and "My Melancholy Baby." The last song became the title track of Reese's 1956 Jubilee album of the same name. Reese then recorded "And That Reminds Me," an English version of the Italian instrumental "Autumn Concerto." This was her first song to reach the charts, reaching number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 15 in Australia, and number five in Canada. It also became her first song to sell over one million copies.

Ed Sullivan helped raise Reese's profile by featuring her on his television show multiple times, introducing her to a national audience. She stayed with Jubilee Records until 1959, recording 15 singles and six albums. Her second studio album, released in 1958, was Amen!, a collection of gospel songs that included The Meditation Singers and was recorded in her hometown. Jubilee also released her first live album, A Date with Della Reese at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago (1958). This was followed by The Story of the Blues (1959), an album of blues standards that included spoken word narration by Reese describing the history of the genre. In 1959, she released another album titled What Do You Know About Love?, a collection of ballads, and a compilation of her Jubilee singles called And That Reminds Me. Music magazines at the time praised her clear singing style and the emotions she showed in her songs.

In August 1959, Reese signed a long-term contract with RCA Victor and worked with the production team Hugo & Luigi. Her first RCA single was "Don't You Know?" in 1959, an adaptation of "Musetta's Waltz" from La bohème. This song became her most successful single, reaching number two on the US Hot 100 and number one on the US R&B chart. It sold over one million copies and received a gold certification. Her second RCA single, "Not One Minute More" (1960), reached number 16 on the US Hot 100, number 12 on the US R&B chart, and number 14 in Australia. These singles led to her first RCA studio album, Della (1960), which included cover songs performed in swing and pop styles. The album featured arrangements first created by Reese and later completed by Neal Hefti, though only Hefti was credited as the arranger. Della became her first album to appear on the US Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 35.

Reese's commercial success reached its peak during this time, leading to opportunities like singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1960 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This made her the first Black music artist to perform at an All-Star game. RCA Victor continued releasing studio albums by Reese in the early 1960s, including Special Delivery (1961), a swing-inspired album that reached number 113 on the Billboard 200. This album featured arrangements by Mercer Ellington, the son of Duke Ellington, whom Reese briefly married. Her 1962 album, The Classic Della, was her third to appear on the Billboard 200, reaching number 94. It included vocal adaptations of classical music and featured "Don't You Know?" again. This was followed by another album titled Waltz with Me, Della (1963). RCA also released two live albums: Della on Stage (1962) and Della Reese at Basin Street East (1964). Both albums included songs from various genres, such as blues and gospel. RCA continued releasing singles by Reese, though none reached the top 40 on the US charts. Her highest-peaking single during this period was a cover of "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)," which reached the top 60 of the Hot 100 in 1960.

In 1965, Reese signed a new contract with ABC–Paramount, which aimed to promote her in a pop direction. Her first single with the label was "After Loving You" in 1965, which reached number 95 on the US Hot 100 and number 21 on the US adult contemporary chart. Her only other single to chart was a 1966 cover of "It Was a Very Good Year," which peaked at number 99 on the Hot 100. The label also released several studio albums that included pop, jazz, and blues: C'mon and Hear Della Reese! (1965), "i like it like dat!" (1966), Della on Strings of Blue (1967), and I Gotta Be Me…This Trip Out (1968).

During this time, Reese performed regularly at nightclubs and theaters across the US. She became a main performer in Las Vegas but often faced racial discrimination as a Black entertainer. "I could sing there but I could not eat there," she said in 2004. Despite this, she worked on the Las Vegas strip for nine years. She also continued her recording career, signing a new contract in 1969 with Avco Embassy Records, a label managed by her former RCA producers, Hugo & Luigi. Her first Avco Embassy single was a cover of "Games People Play," which reached the Bubbling Under Hot 100 in 1970. This song was included on her first Avco Embassy album, Black Is Beautiful, which was her only album to appear on the US R&B albums chart. A second album, Right Now, was released in 1970.

Reese's commercial success declined during the 1970s, and she focused more on acting and television. However, she continued performing in clubs and touring

Television and acting career

Reese's television career began when Ed Sullivan, a famous TV host, invited her to appear on his nationally broadcast show, The Ed Sullivan Show. During the show's recordings, Reese often performed the song "And That Reminds Me" because it was a favorite of Sullivan and his wife. In the late 1960s, Reese focused more on television as her nightclubs closed and the music industry changed. Reese said she was the first Black music artist to sit down on a televised talk show. She first appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to more invitations to appear on major TV programs. She became friends with Mike Douglas, who invited her to co-host his show.

Reese was later approached by director Woody Fraser, who suggested she host her own talk show. Reese did not take the offer seriously at first until Fraser visited her home three weeks later with a set designer. In 1969, Reese launched The Della Show, making her the first Black woman to host a prime time talk show on network television. The show ran for nearly 200 episodes until March 1970 and aired five days a week. During the show, Reese performed songs and had guest performers. The show was canceled because of the high cost of hiring a 16-piece orchestra. Reese refused to reduce the orchestra's size and instead decided to cancel the show. She later met Johnny Carson in a TV studio hallway, and he invited her to guest-host his show. In 1970, Reese became the first woman to guest-host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In addition to television, Reese also began acting. She said it felt like one thing leading to another, as she found new ways to express herself without music. Her first speaking role was in The Mod Squad (1969), but it took years for her to be accepted as an actress rather than a singer. In 1975, she played Mrs. Gibson in the movie Psychic Killer. She later had a recurring role in the TV series Chico and the Man, where she portrayed a diner owner. She stayed on the show until 1978, when it was canceled after the death of Freddie Prinze. Reese also appeared in stage plays, such as Ain't Misbehavin (1982) and Blues in the Night (1983).

Eddie Murphy was not thinking of Reese when he searched for an actress to play a madame in his movie. However, after seeing her audition, Murphy was surprised by her acting skills, as reported in Jet magazine. In 1989, the movie Harlem Nights was released, featuring Murphy, Reese, Richard Pryor, Jasmine Guy, Arsenio Hall, and Redd Foxx. The film was not successful and received poor reviews. However, the chemistry between Foxx and Reese inspired Murphy to create a TV show called The Royal Family, which aired on CBS in 1991. One month later, Foxx suffered a heart attack during a filming. Reese thought Foxx was joking until she saw him in pain on the floor. Foxx died that day, and the show struggled to maintain its ratings without him, leading to its cancellation in 1992.

Reese was about to go on vacation with her husband when her agent offered her a lead role in a new TV series called Touched by an Angel. She initially declined because of the stress from The Royal Family being canceled. Reese was offered a large amount of money to film the pilot and decided to pray for guidance. She said God told her to accept the role. The pilot was not picked up by the network at first, but the show's executive producer, Martha Williamson, believed it could succeed if it focused more on religion. In 1994, Touched by an Angel officially aired on CBS. The show starred Roma Downey as Monica, a guardian angel, and Reese as Tess, a supervising angel. Each episode focused on angels helping people transition from life to death. Reese sang the theme song, titled "Walk with You."

Despite negative reviews and threats from CBS to cancel the show, Touched by an Angel attracted about 25 million viewers weekly and became one of CBS's top-rated shows for three seasons. Reese said the show's success came from viewers who felt inspired to change their lives. During her time on the show, Reese disputed her salary with CBS. In 1997, she held a press conference, explaining that CBS gave Downey a 100% raise but only gave her a 12.5% raise. A year later, CBS agreed to increase her salary from $40,000 to $100,000 per episode. The show continued for six more years until it ended in 2003.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Reese continued acting. She and her husband Franklin Lett filmed several TV movies for CBS, such as The Secret Path and Anya Bell. She appeared in the movie Beauty Shop (2005), which focused on a Black-owned hair salon and starred Queen Latifah. She also acted in If I Had Known I Was a Genius (2007), which told the story of Markus Redmond and featured Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Stone, and Tara Reid. Reese appeared in Christmas-themed movies like Christmas Angel and Dear Secret Santa on the Lifetime network. Her last acting roles were in two episodes of Signed, Sealed, Delivered, after which she retired from acting in 2014.

Books and ministry

Reese wrote several books in addition to her work as an actress and singer. Her first book, Angels Along the Way: My Life from Help Above, was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1997. Co-written by Franklin Lett and Mim Eichler, the book was a biography of Reese's life up to that time. In 1999, she released a fictional children's book about spirituality titled God Inside of Me. Her third book, What Is This Thing Called Love?, was published in 2001 and included passages and scriptures about love. A fourth book, Strength Is the Energy of God!, was also released in 2001 and discussed spiritual and inspirational strength. Her fifth and final book, Metaphysically Speaking: The Bible is the Greatest How-To Book Ever Written, was published in 2012 by her own company. This book provided guidance on finding personal spirituality.

Reese stopped attending church in her 20s because her beliefs did not match those of the church. After a near-fatal accident in 1979, she was inspired by Reverend Johnnie Colemon, founder of the non-denominational Universal Foundation for Better Living church. She began attending services and took classes about religion and theology at the Johnnie Colemon Institute. In 1984, she started hosting classes at her home in California. Reese officially became an ordained minister in 1987 and founded her own church, called Understanding Principles for Better Living. The "Up Church" is part of Colman's Universal Foundation for Better Living. In her work as a minister, she was known as Rev. Dr. Della Reese Lett.

Personal life

Reese was married four times. Her first marriage was in 1952 to Vermont Taliaferro, a factory worker who was nineteen years older than her. The couple divorced in 1958. Reese said Taliaferro was abusive, and with help from Ed Sullivan, the marriage ended. Her second marriage was in 1959 to Leroy Gray, an accountant. The marriage ended in 1961 because Gray did not tell Reese that his previous divorce was invalid. In 1961, Reese married Mercer Ellington, the son of Duke Ellington. However, the marriage was annulled because Mercer had received an invalid divorce from a previous marriage in Mexico. Reese then decided not to marry again. However, she married for a final time in 1983 to Franklin Lett, a concert promoter. They remained married until Reese’s death in 2017. Reese had two stepchildren from Franklin’s previous marriage: Dominique Lett and Franklin Lett III. In a 2004 interview, Reese said of her marriage to Lett, “He’s my friend. He’s my lover. He’s my running buddy. He’s my husband. He’s my manager. He is absolutely my everything.”

Reese adopted the daughter of her half-brother, named Deloreese Daniel Owens. In the same 2004 interview, Reese said her brother and sister had five children and struggled to provide for them. Abortion was not easily available at the time. Reese offered to adopt the child, and her sister-in-law initially agreed. However, after giving birth, her sister-in-law chose to keep the baby. Two years later, when Reese was working at a club in Chicago, her sister-in-law brought the baby to her and said, “I should have given you the baby when I said I would.” Reese then officially adopted the child. Owens died in March 2002 at the age of 41 due to “pituitary dysfunction,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

In September 1970, Reese was with her daughter swimming in the pool of her California home when she slipped and fell on a tile. She fell through a plate glass window. Her daughter found a neighbor who was also a doctor to help contact paramedics. According to the Tucson Daily Citizen, Reese had “severe body lacerations” when she arrived at UCLA Medical Center. The newspaper also reported she had a three-hour surgery to repair the injury and stayed in the hospital for nearly one month. Reese said, “Doctors said I was gonna die so many times, I may not die at all.” She received one thousand stitches and fully recovered with physical therapy.

While singing “Little Boy Lost” on a taping of The Tonight Show, guest hosted by Richard Dawson, in October 1979, Reese suffered a brain aneurysm. Reese said she was taken to two Los Angeles hospitals, which assumed she had a drug “overdose” because she was “Black and an entertainer.” Her son, a psychiatrist, was sent for her physician and proved there were no drugs in her system. A test revealed the aneurysm, and Reese was sent to a brain surgeon in London, Ontario. The surgeon performed a five-hour surgery on Reese before she lost vision in her left eye. She fully recovered and credited her spiritual faith in helping her recover.

In addition to working with Redd Foxx on The Royal Family, the pair were friends. Reese said in an interview, “We were hungry together. We were out of work together. We shared sandwiches together. We were friends.” Reese was also close friends with Touched by an Angel co-star Roma Downey. After Reese’s death, Downey said, “She was like a mother to me.” Downey considered Reese a “second mother” and made Reese the godmother to her daughter, born in 1996. Reese also officiated Downey’s wedding to Mark Burnett. Downey said, “I think I’ll just always remember the feel of her neck against my cheek when she hugs me and the love I know that she has for me and the love that I feel for her and the love that she has for God. To know Della is to know that she loves God.”

Reese was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after collapsing on the set of Touched by an Angel. It was initially controlled with medication and eating fewer calories. In 2016, shortly after her 85th birthday, Reese was said to be in poor health and had undergone multiple surgeries. She said she had neglected her health for years, which worsened the disease over time. She used a wheelchair at times during the last ten years of her life. Reese died at her home in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles on November 19, 2017, at the age of 86. A memorial service was held in December 2017, which included Roma Downey.

Discography

• Melancholy Baby (1956)
• Amen! (with her Meditation Singers) (1958)
• The Story of the Blues (1959)
• What Do You Know About Love? (1959)
• Della (1960)
• Della by Starlight (1960)
• Della Della Cha-Cha-Cha (1960)
• Special Delivery (1961)
• The Classic Della (1962)
• Waltz with Me, Della (1963)
• Moody (1965)
• C'mon and Hear Della Reese! (1965)
• "i like it like dat!" (1966)
• Della on Strings of Blue (1967)
• I Gotta Be Me…This Trip Out (1968)
• Black Is Beautiful (1970)
• Right Now (1970)
• Let Me in Your Life (1973)
• Sure Like Lovin' You (1983)
• Della Reese and Brilliance (with Brilliance) (1986)
• Give It to God (2006)

Filmography

List of Movies and Their Release Years
• Psychic Killer (1975)
• Harlem Nights (1989)
• A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)
• Dinosaur (2000)
• Beauty Shop (2005)
• If I Had Known I Was a Genius (2007)
• Expecting Mary (2010)
• Meant to Be (2012)
• Me Again (2012)

Books

• Angels Along the Way: My Life from Help Above (1997) (co-authored with Franklin Lett and Mamie Eichler)
• God Inside of Me (1999)
• What Is This Thing Called Love? (2001)
• Strength Is the Energy of God! (2001)
• Metaphysically Speaking: The Bible is the Greatest How-To Book Ever Written (2012)