Kelsey Pharr

Kelsey L. Pharr Jr. (January 10, 1917 – April 20, 1961) was an American performer and Rhythm and Blues singer whose career spanned Broadway, vocal ensemble work, and international touring. Born in Miami, Florida, he was the son of Kelsey Leroy Pharr, a retired mortician who was prominent in Afro-American civil rights efforts and who was interviewed in 1939 by Bertha R. Comstock for the Life History Project at the Library of Congress.

Pharr received his secondary education at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., where he attained the rank of Colonel of the Cadet Corps and graduated as valedictorian of his class. He subsequently enrolled at Northwestern University, where he became the first Afro-American man to appear in a drama production at the institution. He also performed in additional theatrical productions in Chicago before making his way to Broadway, where he appeared as a cast member of Porgy and Bess.

His Broadway career extended from 1939 to 1952 and included a range of productions across genres. He appeared in the opera Four Saints in Three Acts, the musical Swingin' The Dream, the musical Memphis Bound!, and the drama Big White Fog.

Pharr departed from musical theater to join the Delta Rhythm Boys, a quartet in which he sang baritone. The group performed extensively in Europe, Japan, and Hawaii and were among the first Afro-American groups to perform in Miami Beach. Pharr was referred to as "Miami's pride and joy" and was openly homosexual. During a tour in Sweden, he developed a personal friendship with boxer Ingemar Johansson. On January 21, 1941, Pharr married singer Mabel Mercer in an arranged marriage intended to provide her with a valid passport to leave Europe and enter the United States; the arrangement was made by Mercer's then lover, Joe Carstairs.

In 1960, while in Madrid, Spain, Pharr was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a major operation in Paris. He spent the Christmas season that year in Miami with his father before traveling to Japan for work. He later returned to Honolulu, where he fell ill again and was hospitalized. Pharr died on April 20, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii.