® BY JOAN WILEN & LYDIA WILEN but no matter how famous you are, you are constantly rejected . Danielle is now a theater and film major at NYU; Jason is a student at Professional • Chitdren's School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LESLIE UGGAMS You also went to has come a long way since her teens whene she sang atong the Professional with Mitch . She's merged marriage (27 years to manager Chlidren's Schooi. Grahame Pratt) and motherhood with a successful career s When I went thete,-there were ; only five black kids . Elliotf as an actress and singer. She won a fiony for her farst s -Gouldwasgoing there, all theBroadway show, "Hallelxcjah Babyl ."Her portrayal of : kids in "The Sound of Music ." Kizzy in "Ropts" wbn her the Crities Choice AwccrcL She's working on a musical aboxct Ethel Waters' early years . -- ~ You've won many ; awards. If you had to When I was 6, I got the part of single out one pe'son`to Mlhen you were 5 you started going for auditions .-How did that - happen? My parents had a friend who taught at'a dancing and singing school . She thought I had talent, and she would take me around to auditions. the niece on the Ethel Waters show, "Beutah." Shortly after that, I got on the Apollo Theater's radio amateur hour. I kept winning. Then they [booked] me into the Apollo . Your children, Danielle, 21, and Jason, 16, have told you they want to be in show business . How did you react? I told them : A lot of times you see the very positive side of it, a pioneer couple, interracialiy speaking. Did you have problems? We got very little mail, but the interesting thing is that the mail' that we did get came from the, North and not from the South . Do you have : . political aspirations? ; rm interested .in it, especially -: since I moved back to New ~ York . This is the most fabulous ` city. We just can't let it die. Are you invohred in any causes? My best friend is Dionne Warwick. We're very concerned about AIDS. We do all these benefits to raise money, but nothing is happening . In the meantime, I'm crossing out more and more names in my phone book. : What song expresses Do you collect anything? : your personality I collect dolls. I have a doll ; or philosophy? that's been in the family for € ."I Am What I Am" (from "La ∎ about 75 years . € Cage aux Folles") . SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING : Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health . ® http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/yan00e00/pdf thank, who would it be? When Mitch Miller wanted me on "Sing Along With Mitch," he was told that as long as Leslie's there, the South would black out the show. Mitch said, "Listen, if there's no Leslie, there's no show!" I'll always be very grateful. You and Grahame were m ORT'RAITS of PLEASURE KENT gives you a Light with pleasure. Light . Lighter . Lightest . ® ® http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/yan00e00/pdf unnbers o f BY SHEILA ANNE FEEN' Joyce . Phiiiips formerly Joyce Filippazzo, eventually Jay-Cei;,Phillips=- was doing q~yffii an aspirhig . starletandOuger,Slie,had opened foX:AYweiuo ~Tall in Atlantic City and sto6d'in for. MerylStreep on"Sophie's Choicz.','-Them she landed two terrific movie roles only to lose them because of "politicking' :ssful actresses ,"bymoresuc both of whom happened to be married to the directoTsof the movies. Like. ScarIett O'Hara vowing never to go hungry again, the Sicilian-American Elmhurst girl who grewup singing the "AveMaria" at weddingsand funerals vowed never again to be powerless. In show business, Phillips learned, a performer is nothing more than a product, and "contacts are No .land talent is No. 2." All her work at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts didn't count for scratch if she wasn't on schmoozing terms with directors. Phillips decided to get on schmoozing terms . And to become so rich and powerful that no one could ever'write her off as ariobody. In 1984, Phillips, then 26, joined with her friend Frank Zazza, now 45, and founded Advertising in Movies - and AIM Promotions Inc. in 1989 - two companies that sneak endless numbers of product plugs onto screens big and small . Serving as the Swifty Lazar for everything from pancake mix to chewing tobacco may not have the cachet of repping, say, Jack Nicholson, but it is not devoid of rewards: By 1989, Phillips had done so well that A SNAP : Polaroid got its camera,into;JNadonna's_ hpnds ili1!'Desperately!.' ; Seeking Susan:' amp