Della Reese

Della Reese
Reese in 1998
Born	Delloreese Patricia Early (1931-07-06)July 6, 1931 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	November 19, 2017(2017-11-19) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Wayne State University (attended)
Occupations	Singer actress minister
Years active	1944–2014
Spouses	Vermont Taliaferro ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1958)​ Leroy Basil Gray ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1961)​ Mercer Ellington ​ ​ (m. 1961; ann. 1961)​ Franklin Lett Jr. ​ ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	4
Musical career
Genres	R&B pop jazz gospel traditional pop
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Labels	Jubilee RCA
Website	dellareese.com
Musical artist

Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You Know?". In the late 1960s she hosted her own talk show, Della, which ran for 197 episodes.^[1][2] From 1975 she also starred in films, playing opposite Redd Foxx in Harlem Nights (1989), Martin Lawrence in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996) and Elliott Gould in Expecting Mary (2010). Reese achieved continued success in the religious television drama Touched by an Angel (1994–2003), in which she played the leading role of Tess.