Joyce Bryant (born October 14, 1928) is an African-American singer and actress who achieved fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a theater and nightclub performer. With her signature silver hair and tight mermaid dresses, she became an early African-American sex symbol, garnering such nicknames as "The Bronze Blond Bombshell", "the black Marilyn Monroe", "The Belter", and "The Voice You'll Always Remember".

Current pic below of Joyce's at 87 years old(black don't crack)

The four octave singer was born in Oakland, CA, but raised in San Francisco (the oldest of eight children). She moved to Los Angeles to live with cousins when she was in her late teens. The move came after a disastrous marriage; she eloped at 14 but the marriage ended on the wedding night without consummation. Her father was a carousing railroad chef only home long enough to in-pregnant his wife, a devout Seventh-Day Adventist.

An impromptu singalong in a Los Angeles club in the late '40s was Bryant's first public performance. From there, she picked up other gigs and built a strong reputation.

Her act was outrageously sexy; she wore provocative, tight, backless, cleavage-revealing mermaid dresses that left little to imagine and they were so tight, she had to be carried off-stage. Supposedly, Bryant twisted so much she lost four pounds a performance.



Two of her most well-known standards, "Love for Sale" and "Drunk with Love", were banned from radio play for their provocative lyrics. Beyonce's song Drunk in love was inspired by Drunk with Love

More pics of her below

As meteoric as her career took off, it landed even faster. The paint damaged her hair and, raised to fear God, she started having second thoughts about her image. She disliked working on the Sabbath and hated the clubs and the men (often gangsters) who frequented them, lusting after her body. She was once beaten in her dressing room for refusing an admirer's advances.

Years later, she told Essence magazine that she never enjoyed her career. She wanted to quit earlier, but couldn't because of nefarious managers and prior commitments.

The first phase of her career ended in 1955 when she denounced it for the church. Despite problems with the IRS (she owed 60,000 dollars), she enrolled in a Seventh-Day Adventist College in Alabama and later became an evangelist. She recanted because of false accusations and returned to entertaining in the '60s, finding work with touring foreign opera companies.

More pics

Who she help?

she try..... her breast pad tho

nice one op

interesting read.

Well researched and excellently presented bio. The i.d.i.o.t.s who commented before me have no appreciation for acquiring knowledge for its own sake.

SemuhleB:
Joyce Bryant (born October 14, 1928) is an African-American singer and actress who achieved fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a theater and nightclub performer. With her signature silver hair and tight mermaid dresses, she became an early African-American sex symbol, garnering such nicknames as "The Bronze Blond Bombshell", "the black Marilyn Monroe", "The Belter", and "The Voice You'll Always Remember".

Current pic below of Joyce's at 87 years old(black don't crack)

Whooh!
She was 87 as of 2016 and
looked really fit and photogenic.
I mean she's got good genes,
and trapped in time and space...

She's an awesome piece of
African-American and global
history.

SemuhleB:
The four octave singer was born in Oakland, CA, but raised in San Francisco (the oldest of eight children). She moved to Los Angeles to live with cousins when she was in her late teens. The move came after a disastrous marriage; she eloped at 14 but the marriage ended on the wedding night without consummation. Her father was a carousing railroad chef only home long enough to in-pregnant his wife, a devout Seventh-Day Adventist.

An impromptu singalong in a Los Angeles club in the late '40s was Bryant's first public performance. From there, she picked up other gigs and built a strong reputation.

Her act was outrageously sexy; she wore provocative, tight, backless, cleavage-revealing mermaid dresses that left little to imagine and they were so tight, she had to be carried off-stage. Supposedly, Bryant twisted so much she lost four pounds a performance.



Two of her most well-known standards, "Love for Sale" and "Drunk with Love", were banned from radio play for their provocative lyrics. Beyonce's song Drunk in love was inspired by Drunk with Love

More pics of her below

An awesome piece of entertainment
history. Great thread!

SemuhleB:
Joyce Bryant (born October 14, 1928) is an African-American singer and actress who achieved fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a theater and nightclub performer. With her signature silver hair and tight mermaid dresses, she became an early African-American sex symbol, garnering such nicknames as "The Bronze Blond Bombshell", "the black Marilyn Monroe", "The Belter", and "The Voice You'll Always Remember".

Current pic below of Joyce's at 87 years old(black don't crack)

Fantastic thread...this lady is still alive till today at the age of 94!

This is her current photo. “Black don’t crack” ke