Little House on the Prairie NBC TV Cast Information
Ketty
Lester was born Revoyda Frierson on August 16, 1934, in Hope, AR.
She was one of 15 children born into a farmer's family. After
winning a scholarship in 1955, she moved to California and attended
San Francisco City College, majoring in nursing. Lester sang in
church and the school choir, and performed in summer stock theater.
She also appeared as a contestant on the classic '50s game show You
Bet Your Life. Meeting country singer/comedienne Dorothy Shay at the
Purple Onion club (where she was performing), Lester was introduced
to producers Ed Cobb and Lincoln Mayorga. Herb Newman's Era Records
released the resulting single, "I'm a Fool for You" b/w "Love
Letters." DJs and listeners preferred the sparse, steamy B-side,
making it a Top Five pop hit. The follow-up single, a cover of
George Gershwin's "But Not for Me" from the musical +Girl Crazy,
peaked at number 41 pop during summer 1962.
Ketty Lester was issued that same year. It featured two singles,
"You Can't Lie to a Liar" and a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land
Is Your Land." Another Era single was "Fallin Angel" b/w "Lullaby
for Lovers." She also recorded the upbeat "West Coast" b/w the
ballad "I'll Be Looking Back" for Capitol, "I Said Goodbye to My
Love" b/w "Queen for a Day" for Everest, and "Measure of a Man" b/w
"Cracker Box Livin'," "Show Me" b/w "Since I Fell for You," and the
LP Same for the Pete label.
Lester recorded for RCA (Soul of Me, Where Is Love, the singles
"Better World," "Roses Grow With Thorns," "You Go Your Way," "Some
Things Are Better Unsaid," "The Luck of Ginger Coff") and for Tower
(When a Woman Loves a Man, "Love Me Just a Little Bit"). She also
recorded a Christian album, I Saw Him, for Mega Records.
Originally offered the lead role in Julia, starring Diahann Carroll,
Lester appeared in the films Just for Fun, Up Tight, Uptown Saturday
Night, The Terminal Man, Street Knight, House Party 3, and Blacula,
and the TV movies Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style and Percy and
Thunder. She also guest-starred on TV series like Sanford and Son,
Laugh-In, Quantum Leap, Hill Street Blues, Love American Style, The
FBI, Harry 0 (the 1975 episode with Maureen McCormick), That Girl,
Marcus Welby, and Lou Grant. She became a regular on Little House on
the Prairie (as Hester Sue Terhune) and the soap operas Days of Our
Lives (as Helen Grant) and Rituals. The singer won an Off-Broadway
Theater Award for her performance in a revival of A Cabin in the
Sky. Lester also had a recurring role as Vivica A. Fox's grandmother
on the 1998 sitcom Getting Personal.
Biography written by Ed Hogan, All Music Guide
