Robinson was born in  Detroit ,  Michigan . At an early age he showed unusual gifts singing the blues and accompanying himself on the  piano . [2]  According to contemporary newsreels, he was self-taught and managed to use techniques including slapping the keys with elbows and fists. [3]  He won a talent show at the Paradise Theatre in Detroit at the age of three, and in 1945 played guest spots at the theatre with  Lionel Hampton , who was prevented by child protection legislation from taking Robinson on tour with him. However, Robinson performed on radio with Hampton and  Harry "The Hipster" Gibson , and also appeared as himself in the  Hollywood  film  No Leave, No Love , starring  Van Johnson  and  Keenan Wynn . [4] In 1946, he played for  President   Harry S. Truman  at the  White House Correspondents' Association Dinner , shouting out "How'm I Doin', Mr. President?" – which became his catchphrase – during his performance of " Caldonia &quo

Thornton's birth certificate states that she was born in  Ariton, Alabama , [5]  but in an interview with Chris Strachwitz she claimed  Montgomery, Alabama , as her birthplace, probably because Montgomery was better known than Ariton. [6]  She was introduced to music in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a singer. She and her six siblings began to sing at early ages. [7]  Her mother died young, and Willie Mae left school and got a job washing and cleaning  spittoons  in a local tavern. In 1940 she left home and, with the help of  Diamond Teeth Mary , joined Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the "New  Bessie Smith ". [6]  Her musical education started in the church but continued through her observation of the rhythm-and-blues singers Bessie Smith and  Memphis Minnie , whom she deeply admired. [8] Early career Edit Thornton's career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. "A new kind of popul

Legendary and award-winning actress  Diahann Carroll  —widely known for her trailblazing TV show  Julia , as well as her roles on  Dynasty  and  Grey’s Anatomy  —   died of cancer Friday in Los Angeles, her daughter, Susan Kay, confirms to PEOPLE. She was 84. Born Carol Diahann Johnson to subway motorman John and nurse Mabel Johnson in the Bronx, New York, Carroll grew up in Harlem, where her family moved when she was an infant. Carroll started her career at 15, modeling for  Essence  magazine but her heart was in performing: “I always knew I had to do something that was in front of an audience,” Carroll told PEOPLE in 2008. After graduating from New York’s High School of Music and Art, she briefly attended New York University to study child psychology. Those plans changed in 1954 when she won $3,000 on a TV talent show called  Chance of a Lifetime . Singing engagements at prominent New York nightclubs soon followed, along with her Broadway and film debuts that same y