On October 16, 2022, Uggams and her husband will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary. They’ve gone through a lot together, but they’ve always been there for each other.
Theirs was one of Hollywood’s few high-profile interracial marriages. They were married during a period when interracial marriages were prohibited in various regions of the United States.
The pair continues to attend public events together and loves spending time together, such as on Father’s Day this year. They both celebrated Juneteenth on the same day.
Uggams attended the ceremony. That day, her husband, the Broadway League, and Uggams all got Legacy Awards. Uggams shared a photo of herself and her husband sitting with members of the Broadway League on Instagram.
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Despite the fact that her husband, Grahame Pratt, was not American, the pair got a lot of hate mail. Here’s an inside look at Leslie Uggams’ life and marriage.
Leslie Marian Uggams, born May 25, 1943, is an American actress and singer whose parents were also artists. Uggams attended the New York Professional Children’s School and Juilliard.
Her aunt pushed her musical studies, and she began working in the entertainment industry as a youngster in 1951. Her debut television appearance was in the situation comedy “Beulah.”
She was a featured singer at the legendary Apollo Theater in 1951. She had made a record for MGM at the age of ten. But it wasn’t until 1958 that television viewers recognized her as a rising adolescent star.
She was appearing on the musical quiz show “Name That Song” when record producer Mitch Miller saw her and recruited her for “Sing Along With Mitch.”
Uggams’ songs “One More Morning” and “Home Built on Sand” charted in Billboard magazine. Uggams made her Broadway debut in 1967 as the lead in “Hallelujah, Baby!”
She received a Theater World Award as well as a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She had her own television variety show, “The Leslie Uggams Show,” by 1969.
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She was the first Black woman and the second African-American to host a variety show since “The Nat King Cole Show” in the mid-1950s.
She had a starring role in the 1977 miniseries “Roots” as Kunta Kinte’s daughter, Kizzy. This portrayal earned her an Emmy nomination.
She was nominated for another Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in 1979 for her role as Lilian Rogers Parks in the miniseries “Backstairs at the White House.”
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She returned to Broadway in the 1980s. She debuted in the revues “Blues in the Night” in 1982, “Jerry’s Girls” in 1985, and “Anything Goes” in 1989.
She has also appeared in episodes of “I Spy,” “Family Guy,” “The Muppet Show,” “Hollywood Squares,” “Magnum, P.I.,” and “The Love Boat.”
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She appeared in “Skyjacked” and “Black Girl” in 1972 and “Poor Pretty Eddie” in 1975. She appeared in “Sugar Hill” in 1994 and “Deadpool” in 2016.
In 2016, she was also in the popular Fox show “Empire” and the miniseries “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” She was last seen in “Deadpool 2” in 2018.
Uggams has been happily married to Australian Manager Grahame Pratt for 57 years. Their partnership has been marked by hard work and professional accomplishment.
When Uggams met Pratt while on tour, she had already won a Tony Award. They were good friends following their initial meeting at Sydney’s Chequers nightclub in 1963.
They didn’t see each other for a year after she left Sydney. Thankfully, he later visited Uggams in the United States on a frequent basis, and she finally fell in love with him.
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Pratt traveled to New York after five months of official engagement to meet Uggams’ family. His visit gave Uggams a chance to find out if her family would really accept him or just put up with him.
Her father warmed to him right away, and her mother adored him. Pratt was unconcerned about r*cism since he was Australian.
He also got along well with her friends since he loved them and they liked him. Her aunt, on the other hand, advised her to settle for a decent Black man if she wanted to marry.
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Although interracial marriages are frequent nowadays, this dynamic pair courted in the 1960s. Uggams was concerned about potential complications before they married in 1965.
She also had three significant concerns to deal with. They included racial tensions in America, the fact that she would never leave her profession, and the reality that Pratt would have to relocate from Australia to the United States to be with her.
She was also concerned about maintaining a positive connection with her mother-in-law. Pratt’s father passed away eight months before their wedding.
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Uggams’ mother invited Pratt’s mother to New York, and the two women connected well while on a shopping spree. She recognized right away that the Pratt-Uggams partnership was extraordinary.
After much deliberation, Uggams chose to marry, regardless of the difficulties she would encounter. She was well aware that taking on a mixed marriage like theirs was a huge burden.
They both continued to work throughout their marriage. In addition to her appearance in the miniseries “Roots,” Uggams has acted in a number of other television and cinematic productions.
Pratt has also appeared in television shows and films such as “Medical Center,” “Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target,” and “Skyjacked.” While her family welcomed Pratt, the couple, who eventually settled in New York, continued to receive hateful and discriminatory mail.
When Uggams was touring the United States, she received anonymous emails regarding her marriage to a white guy. The letters were invariably addressed to Pratt and Uggams and were not enjoyable to read.
She once got a letter addressed to Pratt in which the sender stated that they would have “polka-dot children.” But receiving such hate mail did not terrify them.
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Uggams and Pratt had a kid soon after they married. Yet they realized there was still hope and that they would have more children.
Uggams also wanted her children to be happy and not grow up knowing what she and Pratt had gone through. Later, the couple was blessed with two additional daughters, Danielle in 1970 and Justice in 1976.
They raised their children together and have thrived in good and bad times. Uggams and Pratt have one granddaughter, and Uggams has stated that having family close by keeps her grounded.
Despite the fact that they have been married for 57 years, Uggams and Pratt remain a very close and loving pair. When asked what the key was to their successful marriage, despite the difficulties they experienced, Uggams replied:
“He’s astute, humorous, and daring. We laugh all the time, but it’s not always sunny. We have a good time together.”
Uggams also said that they were able to get through hard times because they were able to stay positive. The key to their marriage, according to them, is to have fun!