Biography

With plenty of heart and soul, singer/actress Virginia Capers served up loads of music in an entertainment career that spanned several decades. The benevolent, plus-sized talent was born Eliza Virginia Capers on September 22, 1925, in South Carolina and attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., before studying voice at Juilliard in Manhattan. She began her career on the Yiddish stage in 1950. By happenstance, Virginia was introduced to band leader Abe Lyman who hired her for his radio program and for on-the-road tours. In the late 50s, she had made it to all the way to Broadway with productions of "Jamaica" (1957) and then "Saratoga" (1959) albeit in chorus/understudy roles. Playing older than she was, the 34-year-old went on to take over the role of Grandma Obeah in the "Jamaica" production. Moving to TV and occasional film roles into the 1960's, Virginia found work on such TV programs as "Have Gun, Will Travel," "General Electric Theatre," "The Untouchables," "Daniel Boone,"

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Filmography