Love Ambassador, Pearl Bailey
by April Bynum
posted 5/31/2018
posted 5/31/2018
She was born March 29, 1918, in Newport News, Virginia, and died August 17, 1990, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of an evangelical minister and had three older siblings. When she was a child, she would sing in the choir of her papa’s church. When she was four, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother and siblings where they would eventually settle in Philadelphia. This is where the entertainment bug would get Pearl Mae Bailey.
In 1933, Bailey’s brother, Willy, tried to shoo her away when he saw her spying on him at a talent show. In true Pearl Bailey style, for revenge, she entered and won the same contest. She then decided to enter another, this one at the famous Apollo Theater. She won that one as well. From that point, fifteen-year-old Bailey had changed her mind about being a teacher and quit school to pursue showbiz. Bailey wasted no time and went right to work. She could be seen singing and dancing with the vaudeville troupes in the café circuits of Pennsylvania. The voice of Pearl Bailey is undeniable, a voice that has been described as “rich and tangy as blackstrap molasses.”[1] Bailey started out doing vaudeville shows and then moved on to perform in the better black night clubs of Washington D.C., even playing with Cab Calloway’s band in 1945. She appeared in her first Broadway musical, St. Louis Woman, in 1946 and her first film, Variety Girl, in 1947. She would go on to work in almost a dozen other movies through 1989. In January 1971, she would debut her own show, The Pearl Bailey Show, a variety show with guest stars.
The late 1960s saw the rise of the women’s liberation movement, and Bailey was the perfect example of what a woman could do. Bailey, by this time, was a fifty-year-old black woman who had authored one book and had five movies on her resume. She was strong, smart, and independent. Bailey would go onto star in an all-black cast rendition of Hello, Dolly! and would win a Tony Award for that performance. During this time, she was criticized for the cast being all black. True to herself and personality, she responded to such criticism: “A lot of talented people showed up and what’s wrong with them having a job? What is good for the negro? What is good for the negro is good for everyman. Every man has a place in this world, but no man has a right to designate that place.”[2] One of the things that were always constant with Bailey was her belief that people should be kind to people, and that was it. To her, how we treat someone should not be based on the color of their skin or how much money they have. Whenever she was asked about her marriage to a white man, she would correct them, with the fact that she married a man.
Bailey was a staunch Republican and did not mind talking about politics. She did so openly and honestly. In 1970, she was appointed “Ambassador of Love” by President Nixon. Her title was made more formal by President Gerald Ford in 1974, who appointed her Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations. Though it was a ceremonial title, she kept it through the next two presidents and would use it to address the U.N every chance she could, using her position to advocate for love and understanding of others, championing for global cooperation and, bringing awareness to the AIDS epidemic.
In 1978, after receiving an honorary degree at Georgetown University, during her commencement speech, Bailey shared with the audience her fond memories of passing by the school when she was little and hoping that she may be back to earn her degree. While she had planned to major in French because she thought that it would be the easiest, she would end up earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology at the age of 67. Her last book that she authored would be about her seven years in college, You and Me: A Heartfelt Memoir on Learning, Loving, and Living, published in 1989.
What kept her career on stage and film going was the same thing that would make you want to sit and visit with her. She was friendly, welcoming, and genuine. She had a way about her that she herself would say she was not aware of, something she was glad for because she thought that might spoil it. Wherever she went she would spread love and kindness; in her humanitarianism and in interviews she would express that what the world needs is more kindness. The Chicago Tribune quoted her as saying, “This is the way it`s supposed to be, constitutionally, and that goes for all races.”[3] Pearl Bailey, or Aunt Pearl to her friends, treated everyone the same, giving each person she met, be it a king, president, or a homeless person, her love, time and usually a small sermon. She was filled with love for everyone, a list which reflected diversity that included Barbara Bush, the late Shah of Iran, Ella Fitzgerald, President Reagan, Louie Armstrong and Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev. “I’ve always considered a human being as one who does things that relate to the needs of those we live with in this world,” she once said, words that reflect her legacy and her firm belief that with love we could solve the world’s problems.[4]
April Bynum is an energetic business major at the University of North Georgia. She enjoys traveling with her husband and values spending time with family and friends. If she is not studying for class, her nose is in a book or she can be found working in her flower garden. She believes that we should always be kind.
[1] Clark, Kenneth R. “Pearl Bailey: In Performance as A Politician.” Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 1988, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-02-14/features/8803300391_1_pearl-bailey-white-house-foreign-policy.
[2] Trescott, Jacqueline. “Pearl Bailey, the Graduate.” The Washington Post, 25 May 1985, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/05/25/pearl-bailey-the-graduate/ed8e3af4-5aeb-4096-b6b6-c2a9330c2252/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e7cc0fc89873.
[3] Clark.
[4] Kleiman, Carol. “Pearl Bailey Talks About Life and Love.” Chicago Tribune, 23 Oct. 1989, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-10-23/features/8901240683_1_pearl-bailey-no-win-situation-life-and-love.
Image: Publicity photo of Pearl Bailey, 1961. Photo by William Morris Agency. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
[2] Trescott, Jacqueline. “Pearl Bailey, the Graduate.” The Washington Post, 25 May 1985, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/05/25/pearl-bailey-the-graduate/ed8e3af4-5aeb-4096-b6b6-c2a9330c2252/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e7cc0fc89873.
[3] Clark.
[4] Kleiman, Carol. “Pearl Bailey Talks About Life and Love.” Chicago Tribune, 23 Oct. 1989, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-10-23/features/8901240683_1_pearl-bailey-no-win-situation-life-and-love.
Image: Publicity photo of Pearl Bailey, 1961. Photo by William Morris Agency. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
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