Juanita Hall

Juanita Hall

Educator, singer, actress, and choral director

South PacificFirst African-American Tony winner.
First African-American to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

First black actor to win six Tony Awards.
First and only person to win all four acting categories for the Tony Awards.
First Black actor to win in both musical and play categories.

. Juanita Hall was born on November 6, 1901, in Keyport, Monmouth County. A mix of African American (father) and Irish American (mother) descent . Her mother passed away and was raised by her maternal grandparents. she graduated from Keyport High School in her hometown, she received classical training at the Julliard School for performing arts.She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, and Porgy and Bess. She maintains an active concert and recording career, performing song cycles and operas as well as performing in concert throughout the U.S. She has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She also starred as Dr. Naomi Bennett on the ABC television drama Private Practice. She was the First African-American to win in both musical and play categories.

Juanita Hall had many roles on and off Broadway such as Sailor, Beware!, Sweet River, The Pirate, The Secret Room, and St. Louis Woman. In 1949, however, Juanita Hall was cast in one of her most widely recognized roles: Bloody Mary. The role is from the critically acclaimed Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II Broadway production South Pacific. Her performance won her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The play itself also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and several Tony Awards. She reprised the role nearly 10 years later in the feature film.

After South Pacific, Hall performed in a number of other large productions. She was cast in House of Flowers, The Ponder Heart, and Flower Drum Song; for the latter, she once again reprised her role for the 1961 film adaptation.

Juanita Hall was then diagnosed with diabetes late in life. By her 60s, it led her to lose her sight. Despite her success on Broadway, Hall was left with little money. The Actors Fund of America housed her in its Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, Bergen County to assist her. But she ended up moving to the Percy William Actors home in East Islip, New York. Hall died on February 29, 1968, at Southside Hospital due to complications from diabetes.