[7] She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1975 for her performance as Edna Mae Sheridan in Doctor Jazz.

Pursuing a musical career became so important to her that, against her parents' wishes, she dropped out of Germantown High School[3] a few months before graduation and moved to New York City.

While dancing in a chorus line in Atlantic City, New Jersey,[3] Falana was discovered by Sammy Davis Jr.,[10] who gave her a featured role in his 1964 Broadway musical Golden Boy.

During this time she was busy touring with Davis as a singer and dancer, making films in Italy, and reprising her role in Golden Boy during its revival in London.

"If I didn't break away," she told TV Guide, "I would always be known as the little dancer with Sammy Davis Jr...I wanted to be known as something more."

She often appeared on The Joey Bishop Show and The Hollywood Palace, displaying her talent for music, dance, and light comedy.

Cosby had met Falana in his college days when he was a struggling comic and she was a teenager dancing in Philadelphia nightclubs.

When this project collapsed, she joined the cast of the short-lived CBS soap opera Capitol as Charity Blake, a wealthy entertainment mogul.

[citation needed] In 1995, Falana recorded the song "Don't Cry, Mary" with Catholic artist Joseph Lee Hooker.

When not on tour, she lives a quiet life in Las Vegas working on The Lambs of God Ministry, an apostolate she founded.

[10] Although she performed again in Las Vegas shows in 1987, Falana's practice of religion and faith became the center of her life.

After another bout with multiple sclerosis in 1996, Falana returned to Philadelphia and lived with her parents for a short time.