Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

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Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 2:41pm

Re-watched Chicago last night, can anyone else see this? Maybe it's already been discussed - i'm rather new here. Just thought I would throw it out as a "one woman show" idea Whoopi did a fantastic show based on Moms Mabley, I think Pearl has the definate makins of a life work retrospective.

"Our lives become the stories we weave" - Once on this Island

Updated On: 8/20/04 at 02:41 PM

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 3:27pm

Thats an interesting idea - and the Queen can sing...anyone else see her in Living Out Loud (one of my all-time favorite films)? She plays a club singer with a penchant for dating gay men...its a great movie with some wonderful scenes (I live for the moment that she and Holly Hunter's character get high and go dancing at a lesbian club - one of the hottest dance sequences I've seen on film yet...)...see it if you can - I own my copy already!

"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!" Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 3:48pm

This is very good casting.

Too bad Pearl was such a bitch. The kind you hear about but rarely encounter.

"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 3:49pm

I still want to see the Queen as Mama Rose one day.

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 3:55pm

was pearl a bitch?

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 3:55pm

I've been very impressed with Queen Latifah and I think she would do a great Pearl.

I don't know much about Pearl Bailey other than what I remember from television...How did she get a reputation for being such a bitch? She always came across as being so laid back and genuine...

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:00pm

Eye - it's called acting. Some of the most self-involved, nasty horrors come across beautifully in interviews. Most of them, in fact. They don't want to alienate their fans.

Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:01pm

*coughmarisatomeicough*

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:02pm

Wow - the Queen as mama rose! I would love to see that. Interesting too that Pearl did Dolly with an all african american cast. I never heard too much about Pearl and being a bitch, could be the strong woman identity or possibly being a minority in the business.

"Our lives become the stories we weave" - Once on this Island

#10

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:05pm

Oh no, Rath...You've shattered one of my childhood illusions!

You mean I can't believe everything I saw on TV?? Seriously, though, I'd never heard this before. There must be some stories out there...

#11

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:05pm

did pearl and carol channing get along? i saw their show and their relationship sometimes seemed sort of strained, maybe that is just the vibe i got though

#12

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:10pm

Actually I worked with Miss Channing on the awful play " Legends"
and she spoke very highly about Pearl in her stories.

"Our lives become the stories we weave" - Once on this Island

#13

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:19pm

Matt! Yes, yes, yes! Queen Latifah as Momma Rose!!! What a brilliant idea.

#14

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:44pm

There is the story, and maybe someone can correct me if I mess up the details: David Merrick wanted Pearl to do "Hello Dolly". Pearl told Merrick (who was known to be tight with money) about a nice diamond ring she had seen. Pearl got the ring and David got a Dolly.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#15

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:46pm

Well....one might say that wouldn't make her a bitch (other than to Merrick) but just a good negotiator...

#16

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 8/20/04 at 4:52pm

I have never heard the Diamond story, I always understood that it was Carol Channing who suggested Pearl for Dolly, because she needed a break from the run, and they decided they would totally have to re-work the show to stop the show from losing at the box office once Channing left.

"Our lives become the stories we weave" - Once on this Island

#17

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 1:45am

I never heard anything but good about Pearl. I've always thought Queen looked just like her. How neat would it be for her to take on Dolly like Pearl did

Darreyl with an L!

#18

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 1:50am

So Pearl should've just taken the role without voicing her own needs and wants? She did what she should and what every performer should do in this business.

#19

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 4:37am

Does anyone know what Queen Latifah is like as a person? Is she known for being a decent person or a bit of a bitch? Her characters are always likable so I'd hate to think she wasn't a nice person.

"Charlotte, we're Jewish"

#20

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 5:59am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "So Pearl should've just taken the role without voicing her own needs and wants? She did what she should and what every performer should do in this business.

"

You are yelling at posters that wrote THOSE comments nearly THIRTEEN years ago. Most of them, maybe all, aren't even here anymore.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

#21

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 9:20am

Time flies! Thirteen years!

#22

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 9:42am

#23

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 10:30am

Queen Latifah has already tackled to acclaim the legendary Bessie Smith in HBO's 2015 bio film BESSIE. I doubt she'd want to be typecast as playing another bio film of another famous heavy set performer. Plus she's mentioned numerous projects playing Pearl Bailey have been considered for her throughout the years. There's a reason none happened.

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

#24

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 7/21/17 at 11:17am

The reason I've always heard is that really the story of Pearl Bailey's life isn't very dramatic...there's no great struggle with addiction or tumultuous love affairs or tangles with directors on a scale that would be much interest. However, I would DIE to see Queen Latifah as Dolly once Bette steps down from her throne... :)

#25

re: Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey

Posted: 6/22/20 at 5:28pm

eyeonbroadway said: "I've been very impressed with Queen Latifah and I think she would do a great Pearl.

I don't know much about Pearl Bailey other than what I remember from television...How did she get a reputation for being such a bitch? She always came across as being so laid back and genuine..."

I know I'm bumping this up after years BUT Regardin being a B or mean- I read a PEOPLE magazine article interview with Maya Angelou's son Guy Johnson, who said his mother auditioned for the understudy for Pearl in DOLLY. :

“The director and the producer both loved her,” Johnson said. “But Pearl Bailey came back and said ‘Oh no — I ain’t gonna have this big old ugly girl be my understudy.’ ”

https://people.com/tv/maya-angelous-pearl-bailey-hello-dolly-and-still-i-rise-exclusive-clip

I've always loved Pearl, but if true does come off rather mean. IDK

Darreyl with an L!

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