found: Martin, D. Simply heavenly, 1957.
found: Internet Movie Database, July 20, 2012(Claudia McNeil; b. Aug. 13, 1917, Baltimore, Md., d. Nov. 25, 1993, Englewood, N.J.; actress)
found: Claudia McNeil scrapbooks, 1938-1981:(Actress, singer, dancer, Claudia McNeil is best known for her contralto voice and for her portrayal of Mama, Lena Younger in both film and stage versions of "A Raisin in the Sun" by playwright, Lorraine Hansberry)
found: African American National Biography, accessed February 24, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(McNeil, Claudia; actress, singer; born 13 August 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States; was featured singer in Katherine Dunham Dance Company (1951); had first stage appearance in Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953); appeared in Broadway musical comedy, Simply Heavenly (1957); received stage credentials in Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun; last Broadway play, The Wrong Way Light Bulb, (1969); appeared in film production of, A Raisin in the Sun (1961); other films included There Was a Crooked Man and Black Girl (1970, 1972); her most significant television appearances was on, To Be Young, Gifted, and on Black Roots: The Next Generations (1972, 1979); Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama (1961); died 25 November 1993 in Englewood, New Jersey, United States)