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Jazz and blues singer Linda Hopkins sings during a ceremony unveiling a new U.S. postage stamp honoring actress Hattie McDaniel Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006, at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. McDaniel's film credits include playing Mammy in "Gone With the Wind." The new stamp is to be available nationwide, Thursday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Image Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Actress and gospel singer Linda Hopkins, who won a Tony Award in 1972 for the musical Inner City, died Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to her great-niece Hazel Lindsey. She was 92.

Inspired by blues singer Bessie Smith, Hopkins wrote and starred in 1974’s one-woman musical Me and Bessie, and was later nominated for a Tony for musical Black and Blue.

The New Orleans-born singer toured with Sammy Davis Jr and jazz musician Branford Marsalis. Her film and television appearances include Clint Eastwood’s Honkytonk Man, the miniseries King and 1979’s Roots: The Next Generations.

Hopkins, whose biggest hit was a cover of Shake a Hand with Jackie Wilson, made her singing debut in church at age 3. When she was 11, she was discovered by gospel icon Mahalia Jackson.