Teena Marie Parents: Meet Thomas Leslie Brockert & Mary Anne Brockert

Teena Maria was the daughter of a construction worker, Thomas Leslie Brocket and a home renovator, Mary Anne. She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills, California.

She said that her ethnic heritage was Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Italian, Irish and Native American. She took to singing naturally, performing Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song” by age two.

When she was eight years old, her parents began sending Teena on auditions which, among other things, netted her an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, created as Tina Marie Brocket.

Teena later taught herself the guitar, bass and congas. She would go on to form a semi-professional R&B band with her younger brother Anthony and her cousin.