Their Love Story Started with Hate Letters—See How This Interracial Couple is Winning Today

Actor Leslie Uggams has had an exciting career in both theater and film.

Even with a remarkable career spanning seven decades, the singer and actress from Harlem is best known for her role in the *Deadpool* series.

However, her marriage to White Australian Grahame Pratt in 1965 challenged expectations for interracial relationships, making her life story worthy of a movie.

In 1953, Leslie, a talented singer, recorded a song for MGM when she was just 10 years old. Her aunt, soprano Eloise Uggams, recommended that she attend the famous Julliard School of Music in New York and the Professional Children’s School of New York.

But her career didn’t stop after her musical success; in 1969, she hosted *The Leslie Uggams Show,* the first network variety show hosted by a Black person since *The Nat King Cole Show.*

Source: Getty Images

However, Leslie got to know and fell in love with actor Grahame Pratt behind the scenes. During one of her famous tours in Australia, the pair reconnected in Sydney after first meeting as students at the Professional Children’s School in New York.

Leslie was aware of the challenges of dating a white man because she had dated one in her youth and her aunt had discouraged her from thinking about a future with him. Leslie shared with Ebony in 1967, “I remember the shock I felt once when I was dating a white boy.”

He sent me a color photo of himself. I showed it to my aunt. He was a young, attractive man with nice hair. I thought he was very good-looking. But my aunt lectured me after she saw the picture. “Well, I guess he’s alright,” she said, “but only on dates, huh, honey? When you’re ready to settle down, you’ll marry a nice [Black] fella, won’t you?”

Leslie said that after their lucky meeting, she kept visiting Grahame.

“At just 21 years old, it was surprising that I started to fall in love with him.”

It would be a full year before she saw him again after she left Australia.

Leslie was worried about how her family would react and what would happen if Grahame moved to the U.S. for her job, but despite her worries, they had fallen in love. When they had been engaged for five months, Grahame visited her in New York.

“I wanted to know if my family would truly accept Grahame and not just tolerate him, knowing their views on mixed marriages,” she said.

Leslie didn’t have to worry because Grahame was Australian.

Source: Getty Images

“Many white Americans feel awkward about their situation, but he didn’t.” He got along well with my friends, so he easily fit in with them. And both the men and women liked him.

While living in New York, Leslie said she received hate mail because of their marriage, even though they didn’t face the same racial issues as many others in the country.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Leslie said about her marriage, “It wasn’t as difficult as I expected. I think it’s because Grahame wasn’t a white man in America.” Naturally, they did receive some negative mail.

Leslie shared, “I sometimes get anonymous letters about being married to a white man when I go on tour in the United States. I remember getting one, of all places, in Detroit.” It was addressed to “The Little Negro Entertainer.” Those letters were painful to read and often used that term.

Grahame took on the role of Leslie’s manager, and the couple had two daughters, Danielle in 1970 and Justice in 1976.

Leslie got the lead role in the miniseries Roots in 1977, a year after their second child was born. For that role, she was nominated for an Emmy for her character Kizzy.

Two years later, she played Lillian Rogers Parks in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House, earning another Emmy nomination for Best Actress.

In 1983, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the NBC game show Fantasy, and in 1996 she played Rose Keefer on All My Children.

Leslie has also made appearances on shows like Family Guy, I Spy, Hollywood Squares, The Muppet Show, The Love Boat, and Magnum P.I.

After fifty-five years of marriage and a granddaughter named Cassidy, Leslie and Grahame are still happily together.

“We have a lot of fun together, but it’s not always sunshine and roses,” Leslie said about their happy marriage. “We enjoy being together.”

Their love has stood the test of time and defied expectations. They support each other because they are loyal to one another and have always helped each other.

Julie Andrews makes rare public appearance at 87, and everyone’s saying the same thing

One of the most active actors in her generation is Julie Andrews. There is no denying her impact on the Hollywood industry.

The actress has hardly been spotted in public recently. But everyone is expressing the same sentiment in response to her most recent public appearance…

Julie Andrews’ parents were vaudeville artists, thus she was raised in a world full with entertainment. Early on, she demonstrated an interest in performing, and eventually went on to achieve great achievements and leave a lasting impression on the acting industry. For her portrayal of Mary Poppins, she received an Academy Award.

The actress said of the role and film, “It was a brand new thing in my life that I’d never done before. It was for Walt Disney, of course, and the songs in Mary Poppins had a kind of Vaudeville quality to them.”

“I think it’s what attracted me to the role, because all that kind of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Jolly Holiday music was very much like the kind of things that you hear in English vaudeville,” the actress added.

Andrews assisted Disney in setting records with Mary Poppins. The movie received 13 Academy Award nominations and ended up becoming the highest-grossing movie of 1964.

Andrews said how the inspiration for the Mary Poppins attire came from her ex-husband Tony Walton. His suggestions led to the decision to use colorful patterns on the inside while portraying a more “uniform” appearance on the outside. She disclosed what Tony had said to her at that time., “Because I think that’s what gives her pleasure. Very formal on the outside and a little bit wicked on the inside.”

“It completely gave me a clue as to her character. Big, big help for me,” she later recalled, giving him his due credit. The actress went on to play her iconic role as Maria von Trapp in The Sound Of Music. Recently, she narrated Netflix’s Bridgerton series as Lady Whistledown.

However, the actress did not appear on camera; she merely provided the voice for the narration. She also eliminated any chance that it would occur.

“No, no, no,” she said when asked about the possibility of a role in front of the camera. “You know who Lady Whistledown really is, so I’m afraid it stays with me in the background. But I’m very happy to do that.

Because the actress just made a rare public appearance, fans who were eager to see her can now relax. At the Sag Harbor farmers’ market in The Hamptons on Long Island, New York, the 87-year-old veteran actress was spotted.

She was attractive as she waved to passersby and used her cane to stroll. Fans are not accustomed to seeing the actress walking with a cane. Before heading to her car, she was observed purchasing two boxes of Lu Petit Ecolier European dark chocolate biscuits and some flowers.

Julie Andrews, who is renowned for her traditional manner, did not let us down in this instance either. The actress wore fitting gray pants and a light gray long-sleeve top. She completed her outfit with a white scarf around her neck, a beige tote purse, white sneakers, and gold stud earrings.

A man placed an umbrella over her as she attempted to get into the SUV because it had started to rain. In the images posted online, she appeared to be rather gorgeous.

Everyone thought the actress looked stunning. A user of X (formerly known as Twitter) commented that the actress looked “lovely as ever.” Another person said she was “so beautiful.”

Julie Andrews is unquestionably still as endearing as ever. Her well-known smile, which has for decades warmed the hearts of millions, still has the same impact.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy Barbra Eden, who earlier this year made a rare public appearance at the age of 92.

What do you think about Julie Andrew’s public appearance?

Let us know in the comments. Share this with other fans of the actress so they can see how lovely she looks as well.

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