Della Reese, singer and actress in 'Touched by an Angel,' dead at 86

[sandensea]

Source: Fox News

Della Reese, the actress and gospel-influenced singer who in middle age found her greatest fame as Tess, the wise angel in the long-running television drama "Touched by an Angel," has died at age 86.

"She was the most consistently positive and optimistic person I have known," a family representative said. "And she touched so many people with that beautiful energy. She always resonated at such a high frequency. That was the gift she gave you when you were in her company. She truly personified being 'Touched by an Angel.'"

Before "Touched by an Angel" debuted in 1994, Reese was mainly known as a singer, although she had costarred on "Chico and the Man," ''Charlie and Company" and "The Royal Family" and hosted her own talk show, "Della."

She appeared on numerous shows such as "Night Court," ''L.A. Law," and "Designing Women," but wrote in her 1997 autobiography that she had difficulty being typecast until she landed her "Touched by an Angel" role.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/11/20/della-reese-singer-and-actress-in-touched-by-angel-dead-at-86.html

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Della Reese, 1931-2017.

[LisaM]

1. I'm sorry to hear this.

I loved her singing, which I remember more than her acting.

[sandensea]

2. This one's for you, LisaM

Enjoy.

[LisaM]

6. Thanks!

What a great set of pipes.

[sandensea]

11. You're welcome.

Nothing like a contralto, especially from an African-American woman. Heart and soul!

[classof56]

3. Rest in peace, beautiful lady.

Quite the legacy you've left us--made me wish there really were angels. You came close!

[iluvtennis]

8. Ditto

[saidsimplesimon]

4. My regrets for the poor quality

of the recording and the loss of another great voice.

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[BumRushDaShow]

5. Oh wow.

I hadn't heard much for her in a long time. She had guest-starred on so many shows.

I remember the big nationwide battle by fans to bring "Touched by an Angel" back for a 2nd season when CBS was considering canceling. I will admit I never watched it but heard quite a bit of good things about it from fans and know what it is like to battle for good shows that the networks tended to discard if they didn't have the usual T&A to get ratings.

R.I.P.

[yallerdawg]

7. We liked her in "Touched by an Angel."

Della Reese brought gravitas and authority to that role for years. Beautiful job!

Rest in peace, Ms. Reese.

[Norbert]

9. Fantastic Singer

Here is one that is very timely.

Good actress too. Touch by an Angel was one of my mom's favorite shows.

[SummerSnow]

10. beautiful through the years

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. I respect her and her work but that show was vomit inducing

each to his or her own I guess.
IMO it was an example of propping up the Christianity Cult by giving it trappings of some Disney like fairy godmother to promote the idea of that cult being all about magical healings and pulling on heart strings, and sappy music to make you cry. How anything is possible if you only BELIEVE (in your fairy godmother Christian). It gave American Christian fundementalists a program to help them pretend that miracles really do exist. That this show was simply telling stories that very well could have happened, but just were not recorded. The Disneyfication of Christianity for the masses.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. She nearly bled to death after walking through a plate glass window

She lost most of her blood and had a thousand stitches. She later did a PSA for glass safety.