Early years

Reese was born Deloreese Patricia Early in Detroit, Michigan to African American steelworker, Richard Thaddeus Early, and Nellie Mitchelle, a Native American (Cherokee) cook. Deloreese's mother also had several older children, before her birth, all of whom didn't live with her, hence, she was an only child. At only six years old, she began singing in church. From this experience, she became an avid Gospel singer. As a young lady of the 1940s, on the weekends, she and her mother would go to the movies, independently, to watch the likes of: Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Lena Horne, each of whom had portrayed glamourous lives on-screen. After each movie, she would act out the scenes taken from every single film. In 1944, she began her career directing the young people's choir, after she'd nurtured acting plus her obvious musical talent. She was often chosen on radio, as a regular singer. At the age of thirteen, she was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson's Gospel group. Upon entering Detroit's popular Cass Technical High School (where she attended the same high with an unknown star, Edna Rae Gillooly, later known as: Ellen Burstyn). At Cass Tech, she was a brilliant, no-nonsense student. She also continued with her touring with Jackson. With higher grades, she was the first in her family to graduate from high school in 1947, at only 15. Afterwards, she formed her own gospel group called the Meditation Singers. However, due in part to the death of her mother, and her father's serious illness, Reese had to interrupt her schooling at Wayne State University to help support her family. Faithful to the memory of Deloreese's memory of her mother, she also moved out of her father's house, due to her feuding with her father, who had a new girlfriend. She then took on odd jobs such as: truck driver, dental receptionist, even elevator operator, after 1949.

Early soon performed in clubs, she also realized that she didn't have a choice other than to shortened her name from Deloreese Early to the more clearly Della Reese, knowing that it was too big for one's club marquee.

Singing career

Reese was discovered by the Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Reese's big break came when she won a contest, which gave her a week to sing at Detroit's well-known and talked-about Flame Show bar. Reese remained there for eight weeks. Although her roots were in Gospel music, she now was being exposed to and influenced by such great jazz artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. In 1953, she signed a recording contract with Jubilee Records, for which she recorded six albums. Later that same year, she also joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. Her first recordings for Jubilee were songs such as "In the Still of the Night," "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," and "Time After Time." Although the EP didn't enter the charts, it sold 500,000 copies, and the songs were later included on the 1959 album "And That Reminds Me."

In 1957, Reese released a single called "And That Reminds Me." After years of performing, Reese gained chart success with the song. It became a Top Twenty Pop hit and a million-seller record. That year, Reese was voted by Billboard, Cashbox, and various other magazines as "The Most Promising Singer."

In 1959, Reese moved to a new record company, RCA Records, and released her first RCA single called "Don't You Know?," which was adapted from Puccini's music for La Bohème; specifically, the aria Musetta's Waltz. It became her biggest hit to date, reaching the #2 spot on the Pop charts, and topping the R&B charts, which were then called the "Black Singles Charts," that same year. Eventually, the song came to be widely considered the signature song of her early career.

Reese received a Grammy nomination for her 1960 album, Della. Also in 1960, she released a successful follow-up single called "Not One Minute More" (#16), and she remained on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the songs "And Now" (#69), "Someday " (#56) and "The Most Beautiful Words" (#67).

Reese recorded regularly throughout the 1960s, releasing singles and several albums. Two of the most significant were The Classic Della (1962), and Waltz with Me, Della (1963), which broadened her fan base internationally. She recorded several jazz-focused albums including Della Reese Live (1966), On Strings of Blue (1967), and One of a Kind (1978). She also performed in Las Vegas for nine years, as well as touring across the country.

Reese continued to record albums in the following decades, and she received two more Grammy nominations in the Gospel category for the album Della Reese and Brilliance (1991), and for the live recorded album, My Soul Feels Better Right Now (1999).

Television career

In 1969, Reese began a transition into acting work which would eventually lead to her greatest fame. Her first attempt at television stardom was a 1969 eponymously titled variety series, which was canceled after one season.

In 1970, Reese became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She appeared in several TV movies and miniseries' including The House of Yes and The Next Generations.

She was a regular on Chico and the Man, and she played the mother of B. A. Baracus in The A-Team episode "Lease with an Option to Die." In 1991, she starred opposite Redd Foxx in his final sitcom, The Royal Family, but his death halted production of the series for several months. Reese also did voice over for the animated series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

In 1989, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Arsenio Hall in the theatrical release movie Harlem Nights, in which she was seen doing a fight scene with Eddie Murphy.

Reese appeared as a panelist on several episodes of the popular television game show Match Game and was featured on That's So Raven in The Four Aces. On May 18, 2009, she guest starred on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless as Virginia Hamilton.

No-nonsense character actress

Reese also had a wide variety of guest-starring roles, beginning with an episode of The Mod Squad. The part led to other roles such as: The New Doctors, Getting Together, Police Woman, Petrocelli, Joe Forrester, Police Story, The Rookies, McCloud, Sanford and Son with old friend Redd Foxx, Vega$, Insight, 2 episodes of The Love Boat, she also had a recurring role on It Takes Two opposite Richard Crenna and Patty Duke, 3 episodes of Crazy Like a Fox, 4 episodes of Charlie & Co. opposite Flip Wilson, 227 with best friend Marla Gibbs, MacGyver, Night Court, Dream On, Designing Women, Picket Fences, she also had a recurring role as Tess, on Promised Land with Wendy Phillips and Gerald McRaney, among many others.

Touched By An Angel

After coping with the death of one of her best friends in 1991, she was reluctant to have an older female lead in Touched by an Angel, but went ahead and auditioned for Tess, despite going against her better judgment. She wanted to have a one-shot agreement between CBS and producer Martha Williamson, but ordered more episodes. She portrayed the character of Tess on the inspirational television drama Touched by an Angel. Reese was widely seen as a key component of the show's success.

Already starring on Touched by an Angel was an unfamiliar Irish actress and future wife of reality television shows extraordinaire (Mark Burnett), Roma Downey, who played the role of Tess's angel/employee, Monica. In numerous interviews, there was an on- and off-screen chemistry of both Reese & Downey, as the two clicked as second mother and second daughter of any other 1990s TV series, when Reese was playing the boss whilst Downey played employee.

The character of Tess was the angelic supervisor who sent the other angels out on missions to help people redeem their lives and show them God's love, while at the same time, she was sassy, had no-nonsense, but always had an attitude. The show often featured a climactic monologue delivered by the angel Monica in which she reveals herself as an angel to a human with the words, "I am an angel sent by God to tell you that he loves you." The character of Tess balanced the emotional tone of the show, and was portrayed by Reese as down to earth, experienced, and direct.

The series introduced Reese to a new young fan base, and added to her appeal with television viewers who remembered her earlier career highlights. Reese also sang the show's theme song, "Walk With You" and was featured prominently on the soundtrack album produced in conjunction with the show.

During its first season in 1994, many critics had thought the drama that was too skeptical, a second prime-time fantasy series (after Highway To Heaven, being the first) that talked about God. The program featured kind-hearted angels who appeared on Earth, and helped guide people in their toughest moments. The show also had a rocky start, and was not a ratings winner, hence, they cancelled it after the first season with only 11 episodes, but with the help of die hard fans and massive letter-writing, the show resuscitated, the following season, and became a huge ratings winner for the next seven seasons. The same year, unfamiliar actor John Dye played Andrew. Though he was an handsome actor, there had been threats to the familiar TV star. At the beginning of the fourth season in 1997, unlike her co-stars making more money, Reese was offered a lesser salary, hence, she was threatened to leave the Angel set. Angry enough that she fought with both CBS and Williamson, she continued playing Tess until the end, where she upped her raised.

During its final season in 2002, Touched by an Angel was at its fate, not only the network didn't want to have anything to do with God anymore, but it was also faced with low ratings, hence, CBS had decided to cancel the show after 9 seasons and 212 episodes. Despite of the show being cancelled, it continued rerunning heavily into syndication and on The Hallmark Channel.

Roma Downey said of her on- and off-screen relationship with Reese, who she adopted her as a daughter: "She's very wise, she's very loving, she can be a little gruff at times. But she's always adoring and adorable. I lost my mother, when I was very young, and I think, my whole adolescence and into my twenties, I've been looking for a mother figure, and I really think I can say with absolute truth and sincerity that I feel that I finally found her in Della Reese." The last thing Downey said about her TV boss/mother was that she could be as loving as her mentor's Jesus: "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." While playing Tess, the 2002 death of Deloreese (Della's adoptive daughter) drew Reese & Downey closer, as Downey was very distraught to hear of the death of her mentor's daughter. Today, Downey continues to remain good friends with Reese.

Reese's mother, Nellie Mitchelle Early, died in 1949 of a cerebral hemorrhage, at the time, Della was only 18.

Reese met churchmate and friend Vermont Taliaferro, as a kid. She would later marry him in 1951. Despite of Della bestowing Vermont with almost every gift, her first husband assaulted her, and she was hospitalized. After her first husband apologized, it was too late, she realized Vermont wouldn't change. The couple divorced in 1953. They had no children.

Reese's father, Richard Early, died in 1959.

Reese had an adoptive daughter, Deloreese Daniels Owens, in 1961, but died on March 14, 2002, after complications stemming from pituitary disease. She said about the painful experience, sharing her frustration with the lack of awareness and knowledge of pituitary disorders, "When it happened, I thought, 'It's such an odd thing to die from,' because pituitary problems aren't something you hear about. It makes it harder because you don't understand what happened. It seemed so strange and hard to explain. It still is, to be honest."

Reese famously had an early brush with death when she accidentally walked into a plate glass door in her home and broke the glass in the door; the broken glass sliced her badly. She reportedly required one thousand stitches to close her wounds. She lost a lot blood, and later said she had a near death experience in which she saw her mother.

In 1979, after taping a guest spot for The Tonight Show, she suffered a nearly fatal brain aneurysm, but made a full recovery after two operations by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Drake at University Hospital in London, Ontario.

In 1983, she married Franklin Thomas Lett, Jr., a concert producer and writer. To them were born four children, all of whom had grown to adulthood by 2010: Dr. James Barger, Deloreese Owens, Franklin Lett III, and Dominique Lett-Wirtschafter.

In 2002, Reese announced on Larry King Live that she had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. She became a spokeswoman for the American Diabetes Association, traveling around the United States to raise awareness about the disorder.

In 2005, Reese was honored by Oprah Winfrey at her Legends Ball ceremony along with 25 other African-American women.

Reese was an ordained minister as of 2010, when she served as the senior minister and founder of the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church, an independent "Christian New Thought" congregation, which currently meets in Inglewood, California. In her ministerial work, she is known as the Rev. Dr. Della Reese Lett.

Reese also became godmother to the child of her Touched by an Angel co-star, Roma Downey. Reese began February 2009 by giving the invocation at The State of The Black Union, hosted by Tavis Smiley.

Like her best friend Marla Gibbs, Reese is also a born-again Christian.

Della: "The Lord has planned my life. I'm not a great planner but I have been open to what God has in store for me, and it's worked." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della: "I was only 13 but I was rebellious, and so I was arrogant enough to think I was helping out this old lady." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della on being the first black woman, to host a talk show of the 1960s, long before Oprah Winfrey would: "I've had so many different chapters in my career, so many different audiences, but it always comes back to me talking to God." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della when questioned if she had any recollections: "No, my life doesn't seem remarkable to me. I assume once I have prayed, the answer is on its way." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della of her parents: "He was the toastmaster in our neighborhood. My father was a man who knew how to walk the walk and talk the talk. My mother was the kind of woman who when she looked you in the eyes, you stood at attention." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della when she was ticking off Duke Ellington and Carmen McRae: "We were all just trying to make a living. Nobody had any attitude. We were all 'getting up,' as we used to say." (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della who said of Ed Sullivan: "Ed helped a lot of people." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della on being a talk show hostess: "I was tired of the road, and doing TV meant I could stay home. It was very obvious to me I was the first black woman with her own show when one executive told me they had a hard time finding sponsors because my gums were blue." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della when she didn't want to do another TV series: "But it always comes down to me in my bed talking to God, and he said, 'Do this for me for 10 years and you can retire.' Since I am a devout coward, I cannot go against the will of the Lord." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della who said in 1997: "It's tough to be an angel in Hollywood when you're underpaid." — (Source: NYDailyNews.com)

Della who said in 1998: "I had done what I set out to do: I had the money, the gowns, the jewelry and I was happy to have them, but they did not make me happy. My daughter filled that void: she saved my life." - (Source: NYTimes.com)

Della: "I was black when they hired me. They knew how old I was when they hired me." — (Source: CNNNews.com)

Della who said she was offered substantially less than the 100% raise that co-star Roma Downey got in 1997: "It was twelve and a half percent they offered me. But for year number one and number two and number three, whatever Roma received, I received equal parts. This year, I did not." — (Source: CNNNews.com)

Della who said in 1996: "I don't ever remember not singing. My agent said Touched by an Angel probably wouldn't go to series, but I'd get a lot of money to make the pilot. I knew it wouldn't work because the two angels didn't like each other. But how could that be? How could angels have hate? I was always saying something smart to Roma Downey's character and vice versa. CBS spent $2 million on it, and you'll never see it. The only thing they liked was the rapport between Roma and me." — (Source: ChicagoTribune.com)

Della when she was starring on Touched by an Angel: "They called Roma and me in to meet Martha Williamson. The conversation is going really nice, and Martha stands up and tells me, 'It's not that I don't respect you, but I go to church and I'm a Christian and this show will have God in it.'" (Source: ChicagoTribune.com)

Della who said of Roma Downey: "Roma and I have only grown closer and more fond of each other as time has gone on ... Roma Downey is an angel in my life. It is no accident that our paths have crossed." — (Source: Jet.com)

Della who said in 2001: "But what people must realize is that time is of the essence. You must know the warning signs of a stroke, and you must seek emergency assistance immediately." - (Source: USAToday.com)

Della on the cancellation of Touched by an Angel: "This is a business of ratings. When the show was on Sunday, we were a [program] that people came home and extended their Sunday services with. People are out on Saturday nights. It changed our audience base." - (Source: SPTimes.com)

Della who said of her 1980 stroke: "I was in the middle of the song when my body began to twitch uncontrollably. Before I knew it, I fell to my knees in front of everyone and was suddenly unconscious." - (Source: People.com)

Della: "I use February 14 as the day to remember all the men in my life. Not just boyfriends, but business associates too. I show them I care by sending floral arrangements. [Why are they only sent to women? Men enjoy flowers too!] My beau gets gardenias and my colleagues get plants. When they receive them, they know I really do care." - (Source: Ocala Star-Banner.com)

Della: "What was so upsetting was I didn't really know anything about diabetes except that Ella Fitzgerald lost her legs and later died from it. So I all knew was you lost your limbs and you died from it. I was scared silly." - (Source: USAToday.com)

Della while Doc Severinsen and Richard Dawson were both rescuing her, the doctor appeared onstage from the audience, before attendants who carried her to the paramedics, heard her praying: "I never lost consciousness, but I wasn't in control. Lord, help me. God, help me." - (Source: People.com)

Della who said in 2009: "But I was doing a talk show. I love to say this. I was before Oprah." - (Source: PBS.org/kcet/tavissmiley)

Della who said in 2010: "If somebody hits you upside your head long enough, enough times, they'll tell you they will hit you, you believe it. Why couldn't you believe it? The last lick you had almost killed you, so you see, why would you, not believe that they would do that?" - (Source: VisionaryProject.com)

1. And That Reminds Me: http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19570928.html
2. Don't You Know: http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/1959.html
3. And Now: http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19601001.html
4. Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You): http://www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19600430.html
5. The Most Beautiful Words: http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19610218.html
6. After Loving You: http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19650724.html

Albums

Awards

• 1994: Hollywood Walk of Fame: 7060 Hollywood Boulevard — Television
• 1996: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1997: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1998: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1999: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 2000: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 2001: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 2002: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel

Nominations

• 1960: Grammy Award — Don't You Know
• 1961: Grammy Award — Della (Album)
• 1991: Grammy Award — Della Reese and Brilliance
• 1997: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1997: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1998: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1998: Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Made for TV Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1998: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series — Touched by an Angel
• 1999: Grammy Award — My Soul Feels Better Right Now
• 2000: Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting By a Female Performer in an Animated Feature — Dinosaur