Juanita Hall

Juanita Hall (November 6, 1901 – February 28, 1968) was an American musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals South Pacific as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song as Auntie Liang. Born in Keyport, New Jersey, Hall received classical training at Juilliard School. In the early 1930s she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Joh... more

Juanita Hall (November 6, 1901 – February 28, 1968) was an American musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals South Pacific as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song as Auntie Liang. Born in Keyport, New Jersey, Hall received classical training at Juilliard School. In the early 1930s she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir. A leading black Broadway performer in her day, she was personally chosen by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to perform the roles she played in the musicals South Pacific and Flower Drum Song, as a Pacific Islander and a Chinese-American, respectively. In 1950, she became the first African-American to win a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Bloody Mary in South Pacific. She also starred in the 1954 Broadway musical House of Flowers as well as Harold Arlen's Slide Boy Slide in which she sang and danced,... less