Melba Moore

Biography: Irrepressible African American entertainer Melba Moore was a schoolteacher before debuting on Broadway in the original production of Hair. At age 25, Melba won a Tony and a Theatre World Award for her supporting work in the Broadway musical Purlie. On the strength of this and subsequent show-stopping stage triumphs, Melba was honored with her own 1972 TV variety series, The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Hour. Five years later, she made her first film appearance in the movie version of Hair (1977), playing the single-scene part of the "3-5-0-0 Soloist." She has since proved a popular recording artist with her album Peach Melba. Other Melba Moore projects have included the Kismet-inspired musical Timbuktu, the 1986 TV sitcom Melba (which was unceremoniously cancelled after the first episode, only to briefly bob up again in late summer) and a spirited voice over stint as "Whippet Angel" in the 1989 Don Bluth animated cartoon feature All Dogs Go to Heaven.