Patrice Holloway side Barbra Pariot created Valerie Brown

[richardmurray]

Valerie Brown was the tambourinest for the premiere of Josie and the Pussy Cats a comic girl group and one of the best mystery solving crews, and trailblazing characters in comics.

The first black female lead and first regular featured black character in morning cartoons, after the Harlem Globetrotters and a Hardy Boys character which was not voiced by a black person.

Valerie was voiced by Barbra Pariot, another black actress, but owes her existence to Patrice Halloway who was related to Motown’s Brenda Halloway (her younger sister). With the launch of the show which was a tv made band (alá the partridges and monkeys) the music producer and writer Danny Jansen casted Halloway. He wanted a Jackson 5 pop sound and attributing her vocals was the magic that was needed in the group.

Though pressure to maintain an all-white trio which had already been featured in the early Archie Comics Halloway’s vocals with support from cartoonist Valerie Brown was born. Halloway would sing lead on many tracks. Valerie would go on to be the smart, sensible, genius of the group. Other black cartoon characters would not come for years.