Bessie Pitts is a multi-skilled, multi-gifted, multi-talented woman. Who would think she is a Certified Furniture Upholsterer? She has been a basic education teacher for over forty years, which includes several years as music director. She’s a wife, a mother, a grandmother and an ordained minister, where she has served at home and abroad.
Bessie’s strong suit is music. As a child, she sang in the church choir and as a teenager joined the Westcoast Gospel Chorus of Florida, of which she is still a member. As such, she has sung in most of the 50 United States, including: appeared on BET’s Gospel Explosion, hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones, performed at the White House, during the Clinton administration, serenaded at the Pentagon, appeared at the Multi-cultural Motion Picture Diversity Awards in Hollywood and sang the National Anthem during a campaign rally in Sarasota for Barack Obama (at that time, candidate for the President of the United States). In 2025, she released her first single, “Chips Won’t Fall.”
An original member of the HLP Love Campaign, Mrs. Pitts is an internationally known singer. Her gift has taken her overseas to Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and Italy.
No stranger to the theatrical stage, she has participated in school performances, church productions and several community engagements with Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT). This is Bessie’s debut performance on the main stage of WBTT.
She is married to Leon Pitts. They have five adult children, including stage favorite Leon Pitts II, and 19 grandchildren.