BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for April 9.

Juanita Hall became the first African American to win a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She was an American musical theatre and film actress, 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 Madame Liang.

Prior to her acting roles, she assembled her own chorus group and kept busy with performances in concert, on records, in films, and on the air.  Hall’s television appearances in the 1950s and early 1960s included The Ed Sullivan Show, The Coca-Cola Hour, The Perry Como Show.

She also performed on radio in the soap opera The Story of Ruby Valentine on the National Negro Network. The serial was broadcast on 35 stations.

Hall is remembered as a consummate professional and a thoughtful colleague. 

"I think everyone who had anything to do with her loved her," wrote Richard Rodgers.

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