loletha elayne falana was born on september 11, 1942 in camden, nj, u.s.a.

falana’s mother and father are of african-american and afro-cuban heritage respectively

lola was a protégé of dinah washington, 1950s blues recording artist, who gave sixteen-year-old falana the chance to open for her in a philadelphia nightclub

in the early 1960’s, falana became sammy davis jr’s protégé, acting as his lead dancer in his 1964 broadway musical golden boy

in the mid-1960s lola falana released her hit single “my baby” and acted alongside ossie davis and cicely tyson in the film "a man called adam"

falana achieved international celebrity by acting and singing in italian films

the italians dubbed falana as “black venus”

the 1970s brought falana back to america, staring in blaxploitation films like "the liberation of l.b. jones" and "lady cocoa"

she snagged her own variety show, "lola!", in 1976

falana sold out numerous shows at the sands, the riviera, and the mgm grand  hotels on the las vegas strip in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was named the “queen of las vegas”

read more at blackpast.org