Wilma Reading is a singer from Cairns, Queensland

Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...

.

Reading begun her singing career in 1959 after singing for friends in a Brisbane jazz club. She has performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

, had a residency at New York's Copacabana

Copacabana (nightclub)

The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...

 nightclub, and toured with Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

. She made numerous appearances on The Morecambe & Wise Show

The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968)

The Morecambe & Wise Show that began airing in 1968 was the second TV series for comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.-Beginnings:The first series of the "new" Morecambe & Wise Show was broadcast in colour on BBC Two in 1968 and was deemed to be a success. Though now established as a popular star, Eric...

in 1973 and 1974 and played Julie in a West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 production of Showboat

Showboat

A showboat, or show boat, was a form of theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers . A showboat was basically a barge that resembled a long, flat-roofed house, and in order to move down the river, it was pushed by a small tugboat...

, taking over from Cleo Laine

Cleo Laine

Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...

. She has performed with the national orchestras of Belgium, Holland, Iceland, and Germany and toured with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. She appeared alongside Jim Brown

Jim Brown

James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...

 in the film Pacific Inferno.

Reading is of English, Irish, Torres Strait Islander, Jamaican, Afghan, Scottish, and Australian Aboriginal ancestry. She is the daughter of Heather Pitt and niece of singer Georgia Lee

Georgia Lee (singer)

Georgia Lee was a jazz and blues singer from Cairns, Queensland, Australia.Born as Dulcie Rama Pitt, her father was of Jamaican descent and her mother was Indian, Australian Aboriginal, Islander and Scottish. With her sisters Sophie and Heather Pitt, she formed the Harmony Sisters and performed as...

.

Discography

• "In My Little Corner Of The World/If I Were A Bell" (1960) Rex
• "Nature Boy/Fool Fool Fool" (1960) Rex
• "I Only Came To Say Goodbye/That's How I Go For You" (1961) Rex

External links

• Official site
• The Wilma Reading Story ABC TV Message Stick
  Message Stick
  Message Stick is an Australian television series about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lifestyles, culture and issues. It began screening in 1999 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It features features profile stories, interviews, video clips, short films and cooking segments.The...
  
  documentary broadcast in May 2011 with video and transcript.