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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 3353
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 03:29 pm: | 
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Singer-Actress Barbara McNair Dies at 72 
By JACOB ADELMAN
February 5, 2007, 2:19 PM EST
LOS ANGELES -- Barbara McNair, the beautiful singer and actress who hosted her own TV variety show and co-starred with Sidney Poitier, has died, her sister said Monday. She was 72.
McNair died Sunday after a battle with throat cancer in Los Angeles, sister Jacqueline Gaither said.
"She was very family oriented," Gaither said. "She was more than just a star or a famous personality. She was a person of her own."
Gaining fame in the 1960s as a singer, McNair graduated to film and television as opportunities were opening up for black women. She made her Hollywood acting debut in 1968 in the film, "If He Hollers, Let Him Go."
She later starred opposite Poitier in "They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!" and with Elvis Presley in his 1969 film "Change of Habit."
She hosted television's "The Barbara McNair Show," a syndicated musical and comedy program, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a singer, one of her biggest hits was "You Could Never Love Him."
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-obit-mcnair,0,6198835.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 7153
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:18 pm: |
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Gee, I remember Barbara quite well, since she was one of my contemporaries. She was a radiantly-beautiful woman with a good singing voice, someone who just gradually faded from the scene, so much so that I'd forgotten all about her. R.I.P. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 1746
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 07:26 pm: |
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The Life of Barbara McNair
Barbara McNair (March 4, 1934 - February 4, 2007) was an American singer and actress.
Born in Racine, Wisconsin, McNair studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Her big break came with a win on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which led to bookings at The Purple Onion and the Cocoanut Grove.
She soon became one of the country's most popular headliners and a guest on such television variety shows as The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo, The Bell Telephone Hour, and The Hollywood Palace, while recording for the Coral, Signature, and Motown labels. Among her hits were You're Gonna Love My Baby and Bobby.
McNair's acting career began on television, guesting on series such as Dr. Kildare, I Spy, Mission: Impossible and Hogan's Heroes. She caught the attention of the movie-going public with her much-publicized nude sequences in the gritty crime drama If He Hollers Let Him Go (1968) opposite Raymond St. Jacques, then donned a nun's habit alongside Mary Tyler Moore for Change of Habit (1969), Elvis Presley's last feature film. She portrayed Sidney Poitier's wife in They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (1970) and its sequel, The Organization (1971).
McNair's Broadway credits include The Body Beautiful (1958), No Strings (1962), and a revival of The Pajama Game (1973).
McNair starred in her own 1969 variety series, but it lasted only one season, despite the wattage provided by A-list guests like Tony Bennett and Sonny and Cher, and offers began to dwindle. In 1976, her husband, Rick Manzi, was murdered, and Mafia boss-turned-FBI-informant Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattiano later claimed in his book The Last Mafioso that Manzi had been a Mafia associate who tried to put a contract on the life of a mob-associated tax attorney with whom he had a legal dispute. The ensuing publicity did little to help McNair's foundering career.
Her recordings include Livin' End, I Enjoy Being a Girl, and The Ultimate Motown Collection, a 2-CD set with 48 tracks that include her two albums for the label plus a non-album single and B-side and an entire LP that never was released.
Into her seventies, McNair resided in the Los Angeles area, playing tennis and skiing to keep in shape on a regular basis and touring on occasion. She died after a battle with throat cancer, aged 72.
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Libralind2
Veteran Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 564
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 09:05 pm: |
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Oh Im sad..
LiLi |
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