Della Reese

Della Reese was interviewed for two hours plus in Los Angeles, CA.  Reese spoke about her start as a singer at age thirteen touring with gospel legend Mahalia Jackson.  She talked about the struggles in her early career (and such highlights as touring with Nat King Cole). She touched upon her first appearances on television, notably on The Ed Sullivan Show , for which she appeared 17 times.  She talked about her appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show , and how both hosts broke barriers for African-Americans in television.  She spoke in great detail about her own talk/variety series The Della Reese Show , commenting on markets the show played in and listing memorable guests.  She described her roles on the sitcoms Chico and the Man and Welcome Back, Kotter , joining both series mid-run.  She recounted the time when, in October 1980 during a taping of the Tonight Show , she suffered a brain aneurysm.  She described her work as a regular on the series The Royal Family and related the story of the tragic demise of series star Redd Foxx, after a collapse on the set.  Lastly, she discussed the series for which she is most identified, Touched By An Angel , elaborating on the spiritual nature of the show, identifying memorable guest stars, and commenting on how CBS viewed the show. The interview was conducted by Beth Cochran on June 13, 2008.