Sarah Vaughan

Acting

Sarah Vaughan

Born 1924-03-27 · Newark, New Jersey, USA

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.

Acting credits

Murder, Inc. poster
6.5

Chronicles the rise and fall of the organised crime syndicate known as Murder, Incorporated, focusing on powerful boss Lepke and violent hit man Reles.

Murder, Inc.

1960

No artwork available
NR

A primetime TV concert special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Theater with Motown legends.

Motown Returns to the Apollo

1985

Quincy Jones, Music Man poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Quincy Jones, Music Man

2025

Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure poster
9.0

This documentary recounts the life of the late composer Michel Legrand, known for his works on Les Parapluies de Cherbourg or Les Demoiselles De Rochefort with the famous director Jacques Demy.

Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure

2018

The Music According to Tom Jobim poster
7.0

Half a century ago, Brazilian composer and musician Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim (1927-1994) introduced bossa nova to a worldwide audience with "The Girl from Ipanema." This relaxed, cool, sensuous music blended jazz and samba. After recording an album of songs by his friend Jobim, Frank Sinatra is reported to have said, "I haven't sung so quietly since I had laryngitis." Naturally, "The Girl from Ipanema" and Frank Sinatra are featured in this musical collage of countless seamlessly edited excerpts of concert footage that cover decades of events all over the world: from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Montreal, New York and back to Rio.

The Music According to Tom Jobim

2012

Disc Jockey poster
10.0

National DJs help a promoter make an unknown girl a star, to prove the power of radio over TV.

Disc Jockey

1951

Rhythm and Blues Revue poster
6.8

Rhythm and Blues Revue is a plotless variety show, one of several compiled for theatrical exhibition from the made-for-television short films produced by Snader and Studio Telescriptions, with newly-filmed host segments by Willie Bryant. Originally 86 minutes, the "short" version available on public domain collections and websites is missing a reel

Rhythm and Blues Revue

1955

…Sings Musicals poster
7.0

BBC archive performances from musicals, including Ella Fitzgerald singing Mack the Knife, Captain Sensible performing a classic from South Pacific and Jay Z taking on Annie.

…Sings Musicals

2012

Duke Ellington & Sarah Vaughan  Live At The Berlin Philharmonic Hall 1989 poster
0.5

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra plus Sarah Vaughan & Her Trio live in Berlin. Featuring: Duke Ellington (piano), Sarah Vaughan (vocals), Harold Ashby (saxophone), Harry Carney (saxophone), Paul Gonsalves (saxophone), Money Johnson, Gus Mancuso, Russell Procope (saxophone), Eddy Pucci (drums), Norris Turney (saxophone), Johnny Veith (piano), Cootie Williams (trumpet)

Duke Ellington & Sarah Vaughan Live At The Berlin Philharmonic Hall 1989

2014

Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas poster
NR

Here's a perfect chance to compare and contrast a clutch of the greatest jazz divas in the history of the genre. "Sassy" Sarah Vaughan appears along with her fellow pop-jazz queens, sultry Lena Horne, Ella "The First Lady of Song" Fitzgerald, gorgeous Dorothy Dandridge and Billie "Lady Day" Holiday. Rarely has there been more outstanding vocal talent compiled on a single disc.

Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas

2005

Count Basie At Carnegie Hall poster
10.0

Jazz legend Count Basie and His Orchestra performs a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, with guests Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett and George Benson.

Count Basie At Carnegie Hall

1981

Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas poster
NR

The documentary tracks the diva's difficult progress as she emerges from the tough, testosterone-fuelled world of the big bands of the 30s and 40s, to fill nightclubs and saloons across the US in the 50s and early 60s as a force in her own right. Looking at the lives and careers of six individual singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Annie Ross), the film not only talks to those who knew and worked with these queens of jazz, but also to contemporary singers who sit on the shoulders of these trailblazing talents without having to endure the pain and hardship it took for them to make their highly individual voices heard above the prejudice of mid-century America.

Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas

2013

Jazz Voice - The Ladies sing Jazz Vol.2 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Jazz Voice - The Ladies sing Jazz Vol.2

2006

Simonal: No One Knows How Tough It Was poster
8.1

In a time of timeless and revolutionary talents, Wilson Simonal shined as nobody before and innovated as only a few could. All of a sudden, everything vanished. This film maps the spectacular trajectory of the ex-Army corporal that ruled as a monarch, and was condemned to ostracism for an offense to which he pleaded not guilty.

Simonal: No One Knows How Tough It Was

2009

Jazz Icons: Sarah Vaughan: Live in '58 & '64 poster
NR

Sarah Vaughan features the "Divine One" in her prime, wrapping her sultry voice around jazz standards such as "Lover Man", "Misty" and "I Got Rhythm and soaring on popular showtunes such as "Over The Rainbow" and "Maria". One of the greatest voices of the 20th Century, her renditions of songs by Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, Johnny Burke, the Gershwins and Stephen Sondheim are pure diva magic. These three performances demonstrate why Sarah Vaughan is invariably mentioned in the same breath as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

Jazz Icons: Sarah Vaughan: Live in '58 & '64

2007

Basin Street Revue poster
8.5

A one-hour variety show performed live at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, featuring a who’s-who of vocal and big band jazz and comedy acts of the 1950s.

Basin Street Revue

1956

Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One poster
NR

"The most important singer to emerge from the bop era." Ella Fitzgerald called her the world's "greatest singing talent." During a career of nearly 50 years, she was the singer's singer, influencing everyone from Mel Tormé to Anita Baker.

Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One

1991

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Sarah Vaughan and her Trio play Jazz from Newport (part II)

1974