The Many Lives of Zola Taylor: R&B Singer, Actress, and Activist

Actress January 04, 2023

The Many Lives of Zola Taylor: R&B Singer, Actress, and Activist

Zola Taylor is an iconic figure in the world of R&B music, film, and civil rights activism. As a founding member of The Platters, one of the most successful vocal groups of the 1950s, Taylor rose to fame with her unique voice and bold performances. But her life didn’t end there. Throughout her long career,

Taylor was also a passionate advocate for civil rights and women’s rights. This blog post examines the many lives of Zola Taylor, from her humble beginnings as a singer and actress, to her later role as an activist and public figure. Zola Taylor's early life and rise to fame Zola Taylor was a singer, actress, and activist who made a lasting impact on the music and entertainment industry. She was born in Los Angeles, California in 1938, and was best known as a member of the doo-wop group The Platters. Taylor began her musical career in 1953 when she joined The Platters, a vocal group founded by Tony Williams. After joining the group, Taylor rose to fame with hit songs such as “Only You” and “The Great Pretender.” Despite her success, Taylor was unable to fully enjoy her success due to personal turmoil within the group. During this time, Taylor made several solo recordings that were not released. In 1961, Taylor left The Platters and began a successful solo career. She released her debut single “I Don't Need You Anymore” and continued to record and perform her own music. Taylor was highly respected for her skillful delivery of ballads and blues-influenced tunes. She was also considered a fashion icon for her signature style of wearing colorful turbans. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Taylor appeared in several television shows and films, including Robert Altman's "MASH" (1970). In addition to her work as an entertainer, Taylor became involved in various civil rights causes and founded the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP. Her activism earned her a nomination for the Los Angeles City Council in 1971. Taylor tragically passed away in 2007 due to complications from pneumonia at the age of 68. Although she is no longer with us, Taylor's legacy lives on through her music and activism. Zola Taylor, born to a family of musicians and entertainers, had a natural talent for the stage. As a teenager, she joined the Platters and began to gain recognition as an actress and activist. In addition to her music career, Taylor was also known for her activism. She was an early advocate for civil rights and participated in the March on Washington in 1963. Additionally, she spoke out against police brutality and voter suppression. Taylor also appeared in several films, including "The Girl Can't Help It" and "The Alamo." While she was never the lead actress in any of these films, her presence and screen presence were powerful. Taylor's activism wasn't limited to civil rights: she was also involved in the animal rights movement and spoke out against animal testing. In addition, she worked with the NAACP and supported equal rights for women. Taylor's legacy as an activist was honored in 2004 when she was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. She left behind a powerful legacy that continues to inspire people to this day. Her relationships with famous men Zola Taylor is well known for her relationships with famous men. She was the longtime partner of Frankie Lymon, lead singer of the iconic doo-wop group The Teenagers. She was also briefly engaged to actor and singer Paul Newman, who famously portrayed her in the film adaptation of The Outsiders. Taylor was also linked to other high-profile names such as Sammy Davis Jr., Burt Bacharach, and Robert F. Kennedy. It is rumored that she was also involved with James Brown for a brief period of time. In addition to these well-known men, Taylor also had a long-term relationship with Otis Williams, a founding member of the popular soul group The Temptations. Together, they had two children. Though she had relationships with many famous men throughout her life, Taylor was always fiercely independent. She didn't depend on them financially and refused to be defined by them or their fame. Despite the criticism she faced, she held her own and never let her partners dictate her life or career. Despite her strong will, Taylor's tumultuous relationships with famous men would eventually lead to her untimely death at the age of 30. Her death remains a mystery, but it's clear that her choices and relationships with these men contributed to the tragedy. Her tragic death Zola Taylor, an icon of rhythm and blues music and a legendary actress, passed away on April 30th, 2019. Taylor had a tumultuous life in the public eye, but it all ended tragically when she suffered a heart attack at age 69. Taylor had previously been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, but was reportedly in good health prior to her passing. After her death, her family released a statement expressing their deep sorrow for her loss. Her legacy will live on forever through her music and movies. Her influence on modern pop culture is undeniable, as she inspired many of today's top R&B artists. Taylor's work as an activist, her strong relationships with famous men, and her artistic contributions are all proof of her great talent and passion for life. She will be dearly missed by fans, friends, and family alike.

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Linda Darnell

Carole Landis life before death December 01, 2017

Linda Darnell Life

The lovely Linda Darnell’s life was a good one, but she suffered a lot, too. Tragically she died young at the age of 41 when she was caught in a house fire in Chicago, IL. It’s a very sad story, which we share below:

Linda Darnell had been acting on television for quite a few years and also live theatre, when she got the role of the lusty mistress Sadie in the low budget, “Black Spurs.” After the film opened, she was getting praise for her performance. Her agent called her and told her that because of Black Spurs, she now had offers on three other pictures. At the time she heard about the possible new movie roles, she was visiting her former secretary in Chicago and it looked like Linda had a promising future to look forward to making more films in Hollywood.

However, on the night of April 9, 1965, Linda awoke to intense heat and found flames in the living room. Linda’s friends narrowly escaped from an upstairs window, but Linda didn’t make it out. Linda was found next to the burning living room sofa.Although still alive when the firefighters found her, she had third degree burns over 90% of her body. She was immediately rushed to Cook County Hopsital and the doctors did all they could to save her. However, on April 10th, (33 hours after the fire) Linda died. She was 41.

Ironically, she had been watching Star Dust (1940) on television, which was one of the films that set her career in motion, when the house caught fire.

Image result for boy threatened Linda Darnell

After her death, a man who said he was Darnell’s fiance identified her body. A coroner’s inquest into her death ruled that Darnell’s death was accidental and that the fire had begun in or near the living room sofa and was caused by careless smoking; both adult women were smokers.

Some more sensational reports claimed that on the night of the fire, Darnell had been intoxicated and despondent about the waning of her career. But biographer Ronald L. Davis, in his book Hollywood Beauty, wrote that there was no evidence that any of these stories were true, or that the actress was in any way responsible for the blaze. By his account, Darnell was burned over 90 percent of her body because rather than jump from the window as her friend’s daughter had already done, she tried to make it to the front door. She reached the door but the doorknob was too hot to touch.

Linda had requested that her ashes be taken to New Mexico and scattered over the Hurd ranch, but the Hurds refused permission when the time came. “They wrote us and wanted the most dreadful ritualistic thing of depositing her ashes,” it was recalled, we disliked the group so much that we said, “We’re not going to permit it.” So, Linda remains sat in the office of a Chicago cemetery for ten years. Finally in 1975, after her duaghter Lola had moved to Pennsylivania and given birth to her children, se asked a local funeral director to send hfor her mother’s ashes and had them buried in the Adams family plot.

“It was painful,” Lola declared. “It wasn’t until Mother’s ashes were in the ground that I saw her death was real.”

Lola concluded on coming to grips with her mother’s death that she wouldn’t have wanted to live in a disfigured state. “What would she have looked like?” Lola asked herself. “Not simply from a professional standpoint, but just to get up in the morning and look at herself in the mirror. And what would her health have been?”

Her ashes are interred at the Union Hill Cemetery, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the family plot of her son-in-law.

Darnell lit up the screens with over 50 films including the Mark of Zorro, Anne and the King of Siam (where one character was burned at the stake) and Forever Amber in which she portrayed a survivor of the great London Fire. Darnell supposedly had a lifelong fear of dying in a fire.

Monetta Eloyse Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas, as one of four children (excluding her mother's two children from an earlier marriage), to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell (1888-1967) and the former Pearl Brown (1892-1966). She was the younger sister of Undeen (born March 1918) and the older sister of Monte Maloya (born 1929) and Calvin Roy, Jr. (born 1930). Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil.^[2]:15 Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry.^[3] She believed that Linda was her only child with potential as an actress and ignored the rearing of her other children.

In 1942, Darnell was plagued with extortion letters from an unknown person threatening her with bodily harm unless $2,000 were paid immediately. The studio asked the FBI to protect the actress, and eventually a 17-year-old high school student was arrested for the crime