Barbara McNair

Barbara McNair - Your Gonna Love My Baby (1965)

This is a Motown record that peaked it's popularity on the Northern soul scene in the early 1990's. I was amazed when this footage recently turned up from her own show I think. Barbara McNair (March 4, 1934 - February 4, 2007) was an African-American singer and actress. Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, McNair studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Her big break came with a win on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which led to bookings at The Purple Onion and the Coconut Grove.

She soon became one of the country's most popular headliners and a guest on such television variety shows as The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo, The Bell Telephone Hour, and The Hollywood Palace, while recording for the Coral, Signature, and Motown labels. Among her hits were You're Gonna Love My Baby and Bobby. In the early 60s, Barbara made several musical shorts for Scopitone (cine jukeboxes).

McNair's acting career began on television, guesting on series such as Dr. Kildare, The Eleventh Hour, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes and McMillan and Wife. McNair starred in her own 1969 television variety series, but it lasted only one season, despite the wattage provided by A-list guests like Tony Bennett and Sonny and Cher, and offers began to dwindle.

In 1976, her husband, Rick Manzi, was murdered, and Mafia boss-turned-FBI-informant Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattiano later claimed in his book The Last Mafioso that Manzi had been a Mafia associate who tried to put a contract on the life of a mob-associated tax attorney with whom he had a legal dispute. The ensuing publicity did little to help McNair's floundering career.
Into her seventies, McNair resided in the Los Angeles area, playing tennis and skiing to keep in shape on a regular basis and touring on occasion. She died on February 4, 2007 of throat cancer.