About Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Original Dreamgirl". Holliday began her career as an actress in several Broadway productions. Her signature and breakout role as "Effie White" as well in the original Broadway musical Dreamgirls in 1981, led to numerous accolades including a recording contract with Geffen Records. Her debut single "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", released on the Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album (1981), became an number-one R&B hit and earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1982. She released her first album Feel My Soul on Geffen Records in 1983, to moderate success. The album's lead single, "I Am Love", peaked at number two on the US R&B chart. Her follow-up album, Say You Love Me (1985), produced a single titled "No Frills Love" which topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart. The album also featured a rendition of "Come Sunday" which earned a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance in 1986. She was subsequently dropped from Geffen after the release of third album Get Close to My Love (1987) as the label deemed her unmarketable due to her weight gain. She released her fourth album I'm on Your Side on Arista Records in 1991. After releasing her fifth album On & On (1994) on Intersound Records, she focused on her acting career. In 1997, she landed the recurring of Lisa Knowles in the American legal drama television series Ally McBeal. By the early 2000s, she began appearing in several Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals including Chicago, Downhearted Blues: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith, and Black Nativity. She released her sixth album The Song Is You on Shanachie Records in January 2014, her first full-length album in twenty years. In 2016, she joined the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, portraying the role of Shug Avery. Holliday received numerous honors throughout her career. She won 2 Grammy Awards out of 4 nominations, a Tony Award, a Theatre World Award, and Drama Desk Award. Holliday landed her first big role on Broadway in 1979 at age 18, the same day she auditioned for the Broadway production of Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. She is best known for her debut single, the Dreamgirls number and rhythm-and-blues/pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", for which she won a Grammy Award in 1983. She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Dreamgirls. Her next role, which she began to act at age 21, was the role for which she became best known: the role of Effie Melody White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980–1981) and Dreamgirls (1981–1983), and later became a successful recording artist.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.