Joyce Bryant

Her trademark was her blond hair. Born a brunette — the hair color change came about one evening when she found herself appearing on the same bill with Josephine Baker. Terrified of competing with a legend, she finally hit on a surefire gimmick.

That night she arrived onstage in a tight silver dress, with silver nails, silver floor length mink, and silver hair. She had grabbed a bottle of silver radiator paint and poured the stuff all over her head. As she herself said, when she appeared, “I stopped everything!” Even Baker gave a nod when the two passed each other in the hallway, as if to say “Touchez!”

Photo and bio: Brown Sugar: Eighty Years of America’s Black Female Superstars; by Donald Bogle

Her rendition of the song ‘Love for Sale’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15bMg8bnetw