Lola Falana

birth_place = Camden, New Jersey, U.S. death_date = death_place = other_names = spouse = occupation = years_active = 1961–1997

Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana (born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1975 for her performance as Edna Mae Sheridan in Doctor Jazz.

Early life Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of six children and Cleo Falana, a seamstress (1921–2010). Falana's father, an Afro-Cuban, left his homeland of Cuba to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps, later becoming a welder shortly after meeting Falana's mother, who was African-American. a few months before graduation and moved to New York City.

Career In 1958, Falana's first dancing gig was at age 16 Throughout the mid-1970s, Falana made guest appearances on many popular TV shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Muppet Show, Laugh-In and The Flip Wilson Show. She also starred in her own television specials. In 1975, Falana's disco record There's A Man Out There Somewhere reached #67 on the Billboard R&B chart. That same year, she returned to Broadway as the lead in the musical Doctor Jazz. Although the production closed after five performances, Falana was nominated for a Tony Award, and she won the 1975 Theater World Award.

With help from Sammy Davis, Jr., she brought her act to Las Vegas, and she became a top draw there. By the late 1970s, Falana was considered the "Queen of Las Vegas". She played to sold-out crowds at The Sands, The Riviera, and the MGM Grand hotels. Finally The Aladdin offered her $100,000 per week to perform. At the time, Falana was the highest paid female performer in Las Vegas. Her show ran 20 weeks during the year, and it became a major tourist attraction. While playing to sold-out crowds in Las Vegas, Falana looked for other TV roles. She was slated to star in a remake of the 1950s Vampira Show. When this project collapsed, she joined the cast of the short-lived CBS soap opera Capitol as Charity Blake, a wealthy entertainment mogul.

Later career and life In 1995, Falana recorded the song "Don't Cry, Mary" with Catholic artist Joseph Lee Hooker. No longer performing, she tours the country with a message of hope and spirituality. When not on tour, she lives a quiet life in Las Vegas working on The Lambs of God Ministry, an apostolate she founded. The ministry is focused on helping children who have been orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa, and works closely with the group Save Sub-Saharan Orphans. Falana's last known musical performance was in 1997 at Wayne Newton's theater in Branson, Missouri.

Personal life Love affair and marriage Sometime between 1965 and 1968, Falana had an affair with her then-mentor Sammy Davis Jr. that became public knowledge after Davis confessed it to his then-wife May Britt, which led to their divorce in 1968.

In 1970, Falana married Feliciano "Butch" Tavares Jr., one of five brothers of the popular R&B and soul vocal band Tavares; they divorced in 1975. on Saturday Night Live entitled "The Sinatra Group," Frank Sinatra (Phil Hartman) tells Luther Campbell (Chris Rock), "You got talent! You got a Dionne Warwick/Falana kind of thing going." In Roxanne Shante's song "Have a Nice Day", she declares herself "A pioneer/like Lola Falana". In Barbershop 2: Back in Business, barber Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) admonishes his boss Calvin (Ice Cube) for making him take down his picture of Lola Falana from the wall of his booth. In Family Matters, Eddie (Darius McCrary) wants new high-tops that cost $70, but Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) "would not pay $70 for shoes if Lola Falana was in them." In Marvel Comics's Tomb of Dracula #58 (published in July 1977), the vampire hunter Blade says "That's why I was watchin' that clock like it was a Penthouse pin-up of Lola Falana!" In the Sanford and Son episode "The Escorts" (season 5, episode 19) Fred (Redd Foxx) is hired by Lola Falana and returns from her home exhausted and disheveled with her dog, a huge Saint Bernard, on a chain. Rapper Esham recorded a song titled "Lowlafalana" in 1997. "Miss Black Person USA," a recurring sketch on In Living Color, takes place at the fictional Lola Falana Recreational Center in Detroit. In an early episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin flashes back to a time when he confused his girlfriend Leslie Uggams with Lola Falana. In an August 2019 interview with Vulture, actress Niecy Nash named Falana as her earliest inspiration: "I knew I wanted to be an actor when I was 5 years old and I saw the most gorgeous black woman on television. I said to my grandmother 'Who is that?,' and she said 'Baby, that's Lola Falana.' And I said 'That's what I want to be, Grandma. I want to be black and fabulous and on TV.'" In 2022, R&B singer Muni Long referred to Falana with her performance at the BET Awards. In 2024, Falana was depicted by Lori Harvey in Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1966 A Man Called Adam Theo 1967 Lola Colt Lola Gate Stasera mi butto Lola When I Say That I Love You Julia original title: "Quando dico che ti amo"1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones Emma Jones 1974 The Klansman Loretta Sykkes 1975 Lady Cocoa Coco 1990 Mad About You Casey's Secretary 2013 Mary's Land [es] Herself documentary

Television work Sabato sera (1967) – Italy The Flip Wilson Show, season 1, episode 8 (1970) Teatro Dieci (1971) – Italy The New Bill Cosby Show (1972–1973) Hai visto mai? (1973) – Italy The Streets of San Francisco, episode "A String of Puppets" (February 7, 1974) Ben Vereen... Comin' at Ya (1975) (canceled after 4 episodes) Lola (1975) The Lola Falana Show, four variety specials on ABC (January – March 1976) The Love Boat, season 2, episodes 1 and 2 (1978) Liberace: Valentine's Day Special (1979) The Muppet Show, season 4, episode 11 (1979) Fantasy Island, "Spending Spree", season 2, episode 19 (1979) Lola, Lola y Lollo (1982) Made in Italy (1982) – Italy Capitol (1984–1986)