Sarah Vaughan
Biography
She began studying music when she was seven, taking eight years of piano lessons and two years of organ. As a child she sang in the choir at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Newark and played piano and organ in high school productions at Arts High School. She entered an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in New York's Harlem area, singing "Body and Soul", and won the $10 prize and a week's engagement at the Apollo. From 1944 to 1945, she sang with Billy Eckstine and in 1947 she married her manager, trumpeter George Treadwell. Her later husbands included pro football player Clyde Atkins and trumpeter Waymon Reed. She received many awards, including an Emmy in 1981 for a tribute to George Gershwin and a Grammy in 1983.
Filmography
Quincy Jones, Music Man
2025
as Self (archive footage)
Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Duke Ellington & Sarah Vaughan Live At The Berlin Philharmonic Hall 1989
2014
as Self
Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas
2013
as Self (archive footage)
The Music According to Tom Jobim
2012
as Self (archive footage)
…Sings Musicals
2012
as Self (archive footage)
Simonal: No One Knows How Tough It Was
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Jazz Icons: Sarah Vaughan: Live in '58 & '64
2007
as Self
Jazz Voice - The Ladies sing Jazz Vol.2
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas
2005
Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One
1991
- No poster
Motown Returns to the Apollo
1985
Count Basie At Carnegie Hall
1981
as Self
- No poster
Sarah Vaughan and her Trio play Jazz from Newport (part II)
1974
Murder, Inc.
1960
as Singer
Basin Street Revue
1956
Rhythm and Blues Revue
1955
as Self
Disc Jockey
1951
as Herself