Motown singer who gained fame as a member of The Supremes and who later won a Golden Globe for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues in 1972.
She was neighbors with Smokey Robinson in Detroit when she was eight and dreamed of being a fashion designer.
She worked as a secretary for Motown Records CEO Berry Gordy Jr. while her records were being marketed in the 1960s.
She married Robert Ellis Silberstein on January 20, 1971 and, after their divorce on March 9, 1977, she married Jr. on October 23, 1985. She has three daughters named Tracee Rhoda and Chudney and two sons named Ross and Evan.
She starred in the 1978 film The Wiz with Michael Jackson.
