"Birleanna Blanks, vocals, d. 1968, New York, NY, USA. Age: 79. This half American Indian and half African American was one of the first 'Blacks' in the American musical comedy theatre. Before 1920, she teamed with her sister as a singing and dancing act touring the vaudeville circuit. In 1919, Birleanna sang in a whole series of musical comedies at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem (New York city) beginning with "Over the Top", and then in other Negro theatres during the mid-1920s. She later sang with bandleader Fletcher Henderson's orchestra before leaving the music business in 1928."