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.He headlined Luther Vandross: In theSpotlight: An Evening of Song (1994).He was one of the friendson Vanessa Williams & Friends: Christmas in New York (1996) andsang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXXI in 1997.Vandrosswas a guest on the Soul Train Christmas Starfest (1998).Vandrossdied on July 1, 2005 after suffering a severe stroke in 2003.He was54.VANESSA WILLIAMS & FRIENDS: CHRISTMAS IN NEWYORK (ABC, December 1, 1996).Taped at Broadway s ShubertTheatre, singer Williams performed, and so did Savion Glover,Luther Vandross, and others in an hour of Christmas music.VANGELIS MYTHODES; MUSIC FOR THE NASA MISSION:2001 MARS ODYSSEY (Bravo, November 25, 2001).SopranosKathleen Battle and Jessye Norman, in a concert taped live fromthe Temple of Zeus in Athens, Greece, performed the epic choralsymphony.VAN PEEBLES, MARIO.Mario Van Peebles s first role was as ayoung boy in his father s film Sweet Sweetback s Baadasss Song in1971.As an adult, he starred in Sonny Spoon, a 1988 detective drama.He played Luke, the oldest son, in Mama Flora s Family, a 1998VARIETY SERIES " 459miniseries.He had key roles in the made-for-television filmsStompin at the Savoy in 1992, Riot in 1997, and Sally Hemings: AnAmerican Scandal in 2000.See also CHILD TV ACTORS WHOMAINTAINED SUCCESS AS ADULTS IN SHOW BUSINESS.VAN PEEBLES, MELVIN.Van Peebles wrote the teleplay and thetheme song for the 1976 drama Just an Old Sweet Song.He also sangthe theme song with Ira Hawkins.He played Mel, the father of SonnySpoon, the detective drama in which his real-life son, Mario VanPeebles, played the title role in 1988.He wrote the teleplay, wrote thetheme song Greased Lightning, and had a key role in the 1981miniseries The Sophisticated Gents.VANZANT, IYANLA.The self-help guru/author hosted the 2001 talkshow Iyanla.VARIETY SERIES.There were musical shows with black performers/stars in the late 1940s and early 1950s.The Southernaires Quartethad a show on which the group sang on ABC as early as 1948.SugarHill Times, which aired irregularly in 1949, was also musical varietywith Harry Belafonte and Timmie Rogers.It also was known asUptown Jubilee and Harlem Jubilee.The Hazel Scott Show, in 1950,was a showcase for Miss Scott s voice.Then The Nat King ColeShow started in 1956 with Cole and singing guests.The first 30 years of television had numerous variety series; TheEd Sullivan Show was the longest running.In addition to singers,there would be animal acts, ballet dancers, and impressionists theword variety is meaningful.In 1966, there was the first true variety series with a black star, TheSammy Davis Jr.Show, which lasted four months.Then CBS s TheLeslie Uggams Show in 1969 included a running comedy sketch ti-tled Sugar Hill and also lasted about four months.The first hit va-riety series with a black star was The Flip Wilson Show from 1970to 1974.None were successful after Wilson s show.The Richard PryorShow lasted a month in 1977.Redd Foxx, in 1977, lasted fourmonths.Several variety series were summer replacements seriesthat did not find spots on the regular season s schedule.Some were460 " VARIETY SPECIALSthe following: The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Show (1977),Ben Vereen Comin at Ya (1975), 3 Girls 3 (1977), and The GladysKnight and the Pips Show (1975).The Jacksons survived thesummer of 1976 and returned in 1977 but for only about threemonths.In the new millennium, variety series are late night talk shows,award shows, stand-up comedy, and musical concerts anything thatdoes not have a reality format or dramatic story line.The term vari-ety has a different meaning.Cedric the Entertainer Presents, which premiered in 2002, was aneffort to launch a true variety series with various kinds of acts; it wasthe highest-rated series among African-American viewers but num-ber 94 among all viewers; it was canceled in 2003.Wayne Bradyhad a syndicated talk/variety show (2002 2004) that won an EmmyAward for Outstanding Daytime Talk Show, yet it suffered from poorratings and was canceled after two seasons.Chappelle s Show, basi-cally comedy with a musical act, was so innovative that it earned anEmmy nomination in 2004 and sold more DVDs than any other TVshow ever.See also TELEVISION PIONEERS; VARIETY SPE-CIALS.VARIETY SPECIALS.In the late 1940s and 1950s, there were a fewblack entertainers on variety specials.Bob Hope did 269 specials be-tween 1950 and 1993.There were usually three guests on each spe-cial.Pearl Bailey was a guest on two 1956 Bob Hope specials, andthere were no other black guests until 1965, when Nancy Wilsonmade an appearance.Then, beginning in 1968, there was a black acton nearly every Bob Hope special.Perry Como had 46 specials from1963 to 1986.There were usually two or three guests on each special.There were only six blacks on the specials during all those years: EllaFitzgerald in 1967, Nancy Wilson in 1967, Flip Wilson in 1970,Jimmie Walker in 1974, and Charley Pride in 1976.A special pro-gram celebrating the 25th anniversary of television aired in 1972.Twenty-five stars who had helped make television history appearedin the show.None of them was black.After the advent of cable tele-vision, variety specials became popular on Showtime, HBO, and oth-ers.These were, however, mostly concert shows or comedy shows,not true variety, and included comedy skits and acts like ventrilo-VELJOHNSON, REGINALD " 461quists, magic, dance, and so on.True variety specials have not beenpopular since the 1980s.See also TELEVISION PIONEERS; VARI-ETY SERIES.VAUGHN, COUNTESS.Television viewers discovered CountessVaughn (aka Countess Vaughn James) as a singer who won the jun-ior vocalist competition and the overall junior championship on1988 s Star Search when she was nine years old.Her first regularrole on a series was that of Alexandria, Rose s daughter, on the sit-com 227 in 1988 1989.After numerous guest-star roles, she was castas Kim Parker in the sitcom Moesha in 1996.She won an NAACPImage Award for her Moesha role.Her character was spun off to formthe series The Parkers in 1999.Countess Vaughn guest-starred in thevariety special Disneyland s All-Star Comedy Circus in 1988.Seealso CHILD STARS WHO BECAME ADULT STARS.VAUGHAN, PARIS.Vaughn had a key role in the 1990 TV film HeatWave and played Leslie in the drama series Knightwatch(1988 1989).Sarah Vaughan was her mother.VAUGHAN, SARAH.Vaughan sang on Portrait of Nancy Wilson in1972 and on the jazz tribute special Duke Ellington.We LoveYou Madly and a Tony Bennett special in 1973.In 1981, she was oneof the musical stars on 100 Years of America s Popular Music.Shewon an Emmy Award for her performance on Rhapsody andSong A Tribute to George Gershwin during the 1980 1981 season.In 1986, she graced the cast of A Capitol Fourth, a Fourth of July cel-ebration originating from Washington, D.C.Sarah Vaughn was bornin 1924 and died in 1990 of lung cancer.VEGA$ (ABC, 1978 1981).Greg Morris added color to this detectivedrama series when he joined it in 1979 as Las Vegas Police Lt.DavidNelson, who was instrumental in helping Dan Tanna (series starRobert Urich), the private eye, solve cases.VELJOHNSON, REGINALD.Though he had quite a career before1989, VelJohnson s face became recognizable in 1989 when he begana nine-year role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters
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