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.
American singer and actress, best remembered as Bloody Mary in Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'South Pacific', their Broadway musical version of James A. Michener's novel. She reprised that role in the 1958 film adaptation of the Broadway hit, but in the movie her singing was dubbed.
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Received a 1950 Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical in the Broadway stage version of "South Pacific". She sings in the cast album, but was dubbed in the film version by the actress from the London production.
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The role of Bloody Mary is based on the only true-life person whom James A. Michener met in Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides, in the South Pacific. She was Tonkinese. Tonkin, at the time, was in China, and after the French left Vietnam, that area became part of North Vietnam. She arrived in the South Pacific to work on a French plantation owner's farm.
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Received a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical in the Broadway stage version of "South Pacific". She sings in the cast album, but was dubbed in the film version by the actress from the London production.
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Although a light-skinned Afro-American, her two most famous roles saw her cast as a Pacific Islander ("South Pacific") and an Asian-American ("Flower Drum Song"), respectively. She reprised her roles in both productions in the movie versions.
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Trained classically at Juilliard.
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Married a young actor, Clement Hall, while in her teens. He died in the 1920s. They had no children and she never remarried.
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Inspired as a child by blues legend Bessie Smith, she only recorded one album of blues in her lifetime.
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In the early 30s, she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir.
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A leading black Broadway performer in her heyday, she was personally chosen by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein to perform the roles she played in South Pacific and Flower Drum Song.
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Not Fade Away
2012
performer: "Bali Hai"
20 to 1
2010
TV Series documentary performer - 1 episode
Enemies: A Love Story
1989
performer: "Happy Talk"
Flower Drum Song
1961
performer: "The Other Generation", "Chop Suey"
South Pacific
1958
performer: "Bali Ha'i" 1949, "Happy Talk" 1949 - uncredited
Miracle in Harlem
1948
performer: "Chocolate Candy Blues" - uncredited
Paradise in Harlem
1939
performer: "GOSPEL VERSION OF OTHELLO" - uncredited / writer: "GOSPEL VERSION OF OTHELLO" - uncredited
We Work Again
1937
Short documentary performer: "Ezekial Saw the Wheel"
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Flower Drum Song
1961
'Auntie' Liang
South Pacific
1958
Bloody Mary
Constitution Island
1952
TV Movie
Bertha
Schlitz Playhouse
1952
TV Series
Mammy Salby
Harlem Follies of 1949
1950
Captain Billy's Mississippi Music Hall
1948
TV Series
Regular (1948)
Miracle in Harlem
1948
Juanita Hall - Specialty 'Chocolate Candy Blues'
Paradise in Harlem
1939
Singer in Audience (as Juanita Hall Singers)
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Ed Sullivan Show
1949-1953
TV Series
Herself / Herself, Singer
The Ken Murray Show
1952
TV Series
Herself
This Is Show Business
1950
TV Series
Herself
Sugar Hill Times
1949
TV Series
Herself
We Work Again
1937
Short documentary
Herself - Choir Director (uncredited)
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Not Fade Away
2012
Bloody Mary in South Pacific (uncredited)
Out of My Dreams: Oscar Hammerstein II
2012
TV Movie documentary
Bloody Mary
American Masters
2009
TV Series documentary
Madame 'Auntie' Liang
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1962
Golden Laurel
Laurel Awards
Top Female Supporting Performance
Flower Drum Song (1961)
Known for movies
South Pacific (1958) as Bloody Mary
Flower Drum Song (1961) as 'Auntie' Liang
Enemies: A Love Story (1989) as Soundtrack
Not Fade Away (2012) as Bloody Mary in South Pacific
$6 Million
