SHERMAN OAKS, Calif., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Barbara McNair, star of stage, screen and music in the 1960s and 1970s, has died in her Sherman Oaks, Calif., home of throat cancer at the age of 73.
McNair was among a group of black performers who broke through to mainstream audiences in the 1960s, Playbill.com said.
McNair raised eyebrows when she appeared nude in the film "If He Hollers, Let Him Go!" in 1968, Playbill said. She went in the opposite direction the next year, playing a nun in "Change of Habit," Elvis Presley's last film.
She played the wife of Sydney Poitier's police lieutenant Virgil Tibbs in both "They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!" and "The Organization."
Around this same period, she hosted her own variety show, "The Barbara McNair Show."
She also released eight albums under several labels.
McNair, who died Sunday, is survived by a sister.
