Even though he grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., the theater lights of Broadway could have been thousands of miles away, actor and entertainer Ben Vereen tells Mo Rocca in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD to be broadcast today, June 7 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.
"I had never been to a Broadway show," Vereen tells Rocca. "Because it wasn't in our vocabulary. You've got to understand something. My background did not warrant me to be on the stage. We didn't talk about theater. We watched television. We didn't talk in my home about Broadway."
Now, he's a Broadway veteran, having earned a Tony award for his work in "Pippin." He's also a multi-faceted performer, having earned critical praise for his work in the film "All That Jazz" and the TV miniseries "Roots."
He's also endured a career - and life - of highs and lows that might have knocked others out for good, Rocca reports.
Vereen was riding a career high in the 1970s. However, his performance in blackface at
Ronald Reagan's 1981 inaugural, meant to be a commentary on race relations, backfired. "I was flying at that time. I was doing fantastic. My career was taking off," Vereen recalls. "And then, bam, knocked me down. I had no friends."
Six years later, his daughter, Naja, then 16, was killed in a car accident. And in 1992, Vereen was hit by an SUV while stumbling along a dark road near his Malibu home. He said he suffered a stroke while driving. He says doctors also pronounced him dead at one point.
He survived, and was back on stage 10 months later, though he remains in physical therapy today for injuries suffered more than two
Decades ago. Entertaining and the craft of performing helped him thrive, he says.
"I believe the arts can heal anything - and everything," Vereen says.
CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the
CBS Television Network.
Rand Morrison is the executive producer.
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