Background and career
Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana (born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1975 for her performance as Edna Mae Sheridan in Doctor Jazz.
Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of six children born to Bennett, a welder, and Cleo Falana, a seamstress (1921–2010). Falana's father, an Afro-Cuban, left his homeland of Cuba to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps, later becoming a welder shortly after meeting Falana's mother, who was African-American. By age 3, Falana was dancing, and by age 5, she was singing in the church choir. In 1952, Falana's family, which by this time included two more siblings, moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the period she was in junior high school, Falana was dancing in nightclubs to which she was escorted by her mother. Pursuing a musical career became so important to her that, against her parents' wishes, she dropped out of Germantown High School a few months before graduation and moved to New York City.
In 1958, Falana's first dancing gig was at age 16 during a Dinah Washington nightclub appearance in Philadelphia in which Washington gave her the opening act slot to perform. Washington, dubbed the Queen of Blues, was influential in fostering Falana's early career. While dancing in a chorus line in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Falana was discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., who gave her a featured role in his 1964 Broadway musical Golden Boy. After the musical, Falana launched her music career later in 1964. "My Baby", her first single, was recorded and released for Mercury Records in 1965. Later in her career, she recorded under Frank Sinatra's record label, “Reprise.” In the late 1960s, Falana was mentored by Sammy Davis, Jr.
In 1966, Davis cast Falana, with himself, Ossie Davis, and Cicely Tyson, in her first film role, as the female character Theo in A Man Called Adam. Falana became a major star of Italian television in 1966 and cinema in 1967. She became fluent in Italian while starring in three movies in Italy, the first of which, Lola Colt, was considered a Spaghetti Western. She sang and danced on the TV show Sabato sera, next to singer Mina. She was known as the "Black Venus". During this time she was busy touring with Davis as a singer and dancer, making films in Italy, and reprising her role in Golden Boy during its revival in London. In 1969, Falana ended her close working relationship with Sammy Davis Jr., but the two remained friends. "If I didn't break away," she told TV Guide, "I would always be known as the little dancer with Sammy Davis Jr... I wanted to be known as something more." In 1970, she made her American film debut in The Liberation of L.B. Jones and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress for her performance. The same year, she posed for Playboy magazine. She was the first black woman to model for the Fabergé "Tigress" perfume ads. In those early years, she starred in a few movies considered to be of the blaxploitation genre. She appeared at the Val Air Ballroom sponsored by Black Pride, Inc., in 1978.
American TV audiences became familiar with Falana during the early 1970s. She often appeared on The Joey Bishop Show and The Hollywood Palace, displaying her talent for music, dance, and light comedy. These appearances led to more opportunities. She was the first supporting player hired by Bill Cosby for his much-anticipated variety hour The New Bill Cosby Show, which made its debut on September 11, 1972 (her 30th birthday). Cosby had met Falana in his college days when he was a struggling comic and she was a teenager dancing in Philadelphia nightclubs. Throughout the mid-1970s, Falana made guest appearances on many popular TV shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Muppet Show, Laugh-In and The Flip Wilson Show. She also starred in her own television specials. In 1975, Falana's disco record There's A Man Out There Somewhere reached #67 on the Billboard R&B chart. That same year, she returned to Broadway as the lead in the musical Doctor Jazz. Although the production closed after five performances, Falana was nominated for a Tony Award, and she won the 1975 Theater World Award. With help from Sammy Davis, Jr., she brought her act to Las Vegas, and she became a top draw there. By the late 1970s, Falana was considered the "Queen of Las Vegas". She played to sold-out crowds at The Sands, The Riviera, and the MGM Grand hotels. Finally The Aladdin offered her $100,000 per week to perform. At the time, Falana was the highest paid female performer in Las Vegas. Her show ran 20 weeks during the year, and it became a major tourist attraction. While playing to sold-out crowds in Las Vegas, Falana looked for other TV roles. She was slated to star in a remake of the 1950s Vampira Show. When this project collapsed, she joined the cast of the short-lived CBS soap opera Capitol as Charity Blake, a wealthy entertainment mogul.
In 1995, Falana recorded the song "Don't Cry, Mary" with Catholic artist Joseph Lee Hooker. No longer performing, she tours the country with a message of hope and spirituality. When not on tour, she lives a quiet life in Las Vegas working on The Lambs of God Ministry, an apostolate she founded. The ministry is focused on helping children who have been orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa, and works closely with the group Save Sub-Saharan Orphans. Falana's last known musical performance was in 1997 at Wayne Newton's theater in Branson, Missouri.
