During this period, Gibson also pursued her long-held aspirations in the entertainment industry. A talented vocalist and saxophonist—and runner-up in the Apollo Theater's amateur talent contest in 1943—she made her professional singing debut at W. C. Handy's 84th birthday tribute at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1957. An executive from Dot Records was impressed with her performance, and signed her to record an album of popular standards. "Althea Gibson Sings" was released in 1959, and Gibson performed two of its songs on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in May and July of that year, but sales were disappointing. She appeared as a celebrity guest on the TV panel show "What's My Line?" and was cast as a slave woman in the John Ford motion picture "The Horse Soldiers" (1959), which was notable for her refusal to speak in the stereotypic "Negro" dialect mandated by the script. She also worked as a sports commentator, appeared in print and television advertisements for various products, and increased her involvement in social issues and community activities. In 1960 her first memoir, "I Always Wanted to Be Somebody", written with sportswriter Ed Fitzgerald, was published.