Kelsey Pharr (January 10, 1917 – April 20, 1961) was a

Rhythm and Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer, known as a member of the

Delta Rhythm Boys The Delta Rhythm Boys was an American vocal group active from 1934 to 1987. The group was formed at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma, in 1934 by Carl Jones, Traverse Crawford, Otha Lee Gaines, and Kelsey Pharr. They moved to Dillard U ...

Biography

Kelsey L. Pharr Jr. was born in Miami on January 10, 1917, the son of Kelsey Leroy Pharr, a prominent retired mortician and active in the Afro-American civil rights campaign, who, in 1939, was interviewed by Bertha R. Comstock for the Life History Project at the Library of Congress. He attended Dunbar High School in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. At Dunbar, he held the rank of Colonel of the Cadet Corps. He graduated as the valedictorian of his class. He then attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, being the first Afro-American man to appear in a drama production of the university. He also appeared in other drama productions in Chicago, and later went on Broadway as a cast member of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...

''. Pharr left the musical to join the quartet

as a tenor. They appeared mostly in Europe, Japan and Hawaii. They were among the first Afro-American groups to appear in Miami Beach. Pharr was called "Miami's pride and joy" and was "openly homosexual". While in Sweden in tour, Pharr became a personal friend of

Ingemar Johansson Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside ...

. On January 21, 1941, Pharr, a gay man, married Mabel Mercer to give her a valid passport to leave Europe and enter the United States. The marriage was arranged by Mercer's then lover,

Joe Carstairs Marion Barbara 'Joe' Carstairs (1 February 1900 – 18 December 1993) was a wealthy British power boat racer known for her speed, eccentric lifestyle, and gender nonconformity. In the 1920s she was known as the ‘fastest woman on water’. ...

. While in Madrid, Spain, in 1960 Pharr discovered he had cancer and underwent a major operation in Paris. He spent the Christmas season in Miami with his father and left for Japan for work soon after. He returned to Honolulu, where he again fell ill and entered the hospital. He died on April 20, 1961, in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pharr, Kelsey 1917 births 1961 deaths Gay men 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers