*Ketty Lester of Hope, Arkansas, came to international prominence as a strikingly beautiful and elegant Black woman with a strong ivory smile, eyes of wonder and a slender physique singing a tender love song of ’62 with spiritual undertones entitled “Love Letters.” The now-classic Grammy-nominated recording mesmerized people in America, the U.K., Japan and beyond.

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Though she recorded a few more albums in the decade, that aspect of her career took a back seat to her segue into stage (a tour of Italy with Cab Calloway and a role in a production of “Cabin in the Sky”), television (“Groucho Marx: You Bet Your Life,” “Julia,” “The Bill Cosby Show,” “Sanford and Son,” “Room 222,” “Love American Style,” “Little House on the Prairie” and “Brewster Place”), movies (the unforgettable role of cabbie ‘Juanita’ in “Blacula” plus cameos ranging from “Uptown Saturday Night” to “House Party III”) and commercials.

Source: Ketty Lester: From ‘Love Letters’ to ‘Blacula’ to ‘Little House on the Prairie