Uggams first gained fame as a teenager on the musical variety show Sing Along with Mitch and later won a Tony Award for her role in Hallelujah, Baby!
She continued to build her career with memorable performances in television series such as Roots and Empire. Uggams’ versatility as a performer has earned her a loyal fan base and critical acclaim over the decades.
Most recently, Uggams has been in the spotlight for her role as Blind Al in the Deadpool movies and Betty Pearson in Amazon’s Fallout series. Her dynamic performance as Wade Wilson’s quick-witted roommate and confidante has added another notable project to her impressive portfolio.
But there was a time when Leslie Uggams was in the spotlight for something different — her first real house and how it was decorated. That was back in 1970, after she made a transcontinental move that caught the eye of fans and interior design enthusiasts alike.
The following is a reprint of a vintage House Beautiful article from that time, providing a detailed look into Leslie Uggams’ then-new home decor. It’s a glimpse into a different aspect of her life — one that might not be as well known, but is just as intriguing.
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In the arts, and how they live: Leslie Uggams (1970)
“I’d like to wave a magic wand and have it all finished.”
By Keven Sohigian – House Beautiful magazine (Feb 1977)
Mrs Graham Pratt is a happily transplanted Manhattanite, whose “first real house” sits on a hilltop above Los Angeles. Mrs. Pratt — Leslie Uggams to stage and TV audiences — is now only minutes away from the studios where she has to spend much of her time.
“It’s impossible to live like this in New York and not be miles away from your work,” says Leslie. And, though she cried for the first two months in California, she has now succumbed to the relaxed and easy pace of Los Angeles. Since she does all the cooking herself, the quick trip home from the studio, always well after five, is a welcome convenience.
The Pratts once had a palatial country house far outside New York. “But we were there only on rare weekends and never did have time to do anything with it.” Their Beverly Hills home is quite different in feeling, a rambling ranch-style house they share with a great Dane puppy named Sasha, a Silky called Sidney, and a revolving contingent of house guests.
House-hunting in Los Angeles was a nightmare the Pratts prefer to forget. though it had a happy ending. “I don’t know why I loved this house so when I saw it. It was really a wreck.” Leslie confesses. “But I loved the patio and pool, and the house was just the right size.”
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Just the right size house is four bedrooms, and the living, dining, and family rooms, and a den. “We had a huge apartment in New York.” she recalled. “but the rooms were so enormous that just the thought of decorating them was beyond me. So we lived in two rooms, which I hated, and I was determined to have a house that was spacious, but not so big that we couldn’t live in it.”
Next, after Graham also saw the potential in the house, came the decorating. “Graham likes to take a long time selecting things and doing a job. I’d like to wave a magic wand and have it all finished.”
In this case, the magic wand was Designer Steve Chase of Arthur Elrod, Ltd., Palm Springs. His major remodeling included knocking out a wall or two, extending one, rearranging the doors in the hallway, and creating a raised “pad” out of “a kind of atrium thing” which originally cut into the living room, but was glassed off from it.
The pad is carpeted, latticed, and stuffed with large, furry pillows for casual and comfortable conversation, well suited to the type of entertaining the Pratts prefer. “If people aren’t sitting around talking until all hours, we’re playing pinochle or poker,” so there is a game table in the corner of the living room. with a handy pass-through tv the bar in the billiards room.
The colors throughout the house reflect. Leslie’s own preferences, strongly shaped by her insistence that the house “looks like a man lives here. Graham doesn’t like things that are too busy, and he doesn’t like the “decorator look.” The dominant tones are brown and beige throughout the living room, den, and dining room, fine for a house that is always open to a great Dane and her small companion.
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Since this is really their first home, the Pratts had little furniture to restrict their choices. The bedroom pieces were brought from New York, as were an antique harpsichord (“I don’t know a thing about antiques, but we both loved that instantly”), and a huge couch. “It’s really too big for this room,” said Leslie, “but it was our first piece of furniture, and we wouldn’t part with it.”
Other smaller cherished possessions distinguish tabletops and shelves, primarily mementos of a 23-year career in show business which began when Leslie was three. Her favorites among these are a coveted Tony Award for “Hallelujah, Baby!” and a framed copy of the last few entries in her file from the Apollo Theatre in New York. It ends with this notation: “7/4/58 — $500. Good singer. Worth using. Slightly overpaid.”
Each of the past eleven years has added another layer of irony to that last entry, and most of Leslie’s time has been spent doing just that. “I sing all the time,” she says with a wide, warm smile. “When I’m not working, I’m miserable. I can’t stand to be inactive.”
Besides cooking for any number of guests at all hours of the day or night, her relaxations include reading — “everything and anything” — exercising at a health club, sewing, and knitting.
“I like things that I can do while I’m on the move or sitting, waiting to rehearse.” she explained. “Books and knitting can go anywhere.”
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The house is virtually awash with books — fiction, biography, astrology (“everyone out here is hung up on the stars”), and many on interior decorating. “I love to look, and I love everything I see. I wish I had more time to shop for the house or to browse around antique shops.”
The Pratts are absolutely determined to maintain a permanent home in Los Angeles. “We just can’t face moving any more,” Leslie said, “and life here, especially with this wonderful climate, really agrees with us.”
(caption) Since moving to California a year ago, the Pratts have become permanently attached to patio entertaining. Leslie sets the poolside table, left: “No matter what you come here four, you never leave without eating.”
Her favorite recipes include French and Spanish dishes as well as real “down home” food. Leslie makes use of a den alcove, top right, formerly a closet. to curl up with a book.
The Pratts often spend quiet evenings in the comfortably informal “pad.” center, created from a glassed-in atrium.
The sunny master bedroom, has a work corner for Leslie, who generally spends most early mornings here, learning lines and reading potential movie scripts. Silky Sidney, an engagement present from Graham, joins her.
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