Della Reese

National Spokesperson

Faith in Action

Della Reese has long been known as a singer, actress, performer and minister. She now joins Faith in Action as the national spokesperson – making it her personal mission to spread the word about the network of free, interfaith, community-based services. She is also committed to encouraging more people to volunteer to help their neighbors in need.

Singer

Della Reese began singing in church in Detroit, Mich., when she was 6 years old, and as a teenager she toured with the gospel great Mahalia Jackson. Reese formed the Meditation Singers at the age of 18, performed as a vocalist with the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, and began recording her own records in the 1950’s. In 1987, she was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Female Soloist in Gospel Music. Most recently, she has recorded an album based on her 27-city tour with her revue, "Some of My Best Friends Are the Blues."

Actress/Performer

Reese’s television career began long before her success with Touched by an Angel, an inspiring program which started on CBS in 1994. Reese was the first female to host The Tonight Show and served as the first African American woman talk show host with her own nationally syndicated show, Della, in 1969-1970.

She has appeared in numerous television series, including Sanford and Son, The A-Team, Crazy Like a Fox, and Picket Fences. She starred as a series regular in Charlie & Company and in The Royal Family. Reese also starred in the made-for-television movies Emma's Wish with Joanna Kerns, The Secret Path with Ossie Davis, The Moving of Sophia Myles and the mini-series Mama Flora's Family. In addition, she received an Emmy nomination for the television movie called Nightmare in Badham County.

Reese was the voice of Eema, one of the lead characters in the Disney animated feature Dinosaur. In 1994, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For the past six years, she has been the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Drama Series for her role as Tess in Touched by an Angel.

Faith leader and more

In addition to lending her support to the Faith in Action national movement, Reese is an ordained minister with an active congregation in Los Angeles, Calif. Her best-selling autobiography, Angels Along the Way, is published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Most recently she has written a series of inspirational books, one for each month of the year, which include What Is This Thing Called Love? and Strength Is the Energy of God. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, producer Franklin Thomas Lett.