Sophie Tucker (13 January, 1884 - 9 February, 1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular United States entertainers of the first third of the 20th century. She was born as Sophia Kalish in Russia; her family immigrated to the United States when she was an infant and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1903 she was briefly married to Louis Tuck; from which she decided to change her name to "Tucker." (She would marry twice more in her life, but neither marriage lasted more than five years.) Tucker played piano and sang burlesque and vaudeville tunes, at first in blackface. She later said that this was at the insistence of theater managers, who said she was "too fat and ugly" to be accepted by the audience in any other context. She even sang songs that acknowledged her heft, like "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love." She made a name for herself in a style that was known at the time as a "Coon Shouter," performing African American influenced songs. Not content with performing in the simple minstrel show traditions, Tucker hired some of the best African American singers of the time to give her lessons and hired African American composers to write songs for her act. At a 1908 appearance the luggage containing Tucker's makeup kit was stolen shortly before the show, and she hastily went on stage without her customary blackface. To the theater manager's surprise, Tucker was a bigger hit without her makeup than with it, and she never wore blackface again. She did, however, continue to draw much of her material from African American writers and culture, singing in a ragtime- and blues-influenced style, becoming known for a time as "The Ragtime Mary Garden," a reference to a famous operatic soprano of the era. Tucker made her first appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1909, but didn't last long there because Florenz Ziegfeld's other female stars soon refused to share the spotlight with the popular Tucker. She made the first of her several recordings of "Some of These Days" in 1911 for Edison Records. The tune, written by Shelton Brooks, was a hit and became Tucker's theme song, and later was the title of her 1945 autobiography. In 1921 Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for Tucker, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920s, and hired stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters to give her lessons. She also made the first of her many film appearances in the 1929 sound picture "Honky Tonk." In the 1930s Tucker brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," as her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era. In the 1950s and early 1960s she made television appearances on the popular Ed Sullivan Show, What's My Line, and the Tonight Show. She continued performing in the U.S. and United Kingdom until shortly before dying of lung cancer in 1966. She was interred at Emanuel Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Sophie Tucker's comic style is credited with influencing later female entertainers, including Bette Midler, Joan Rivers, and Roseanne. In addition to her performing, Tucker was active in efforts to Labor union professional actors, and was elected president of the American Federation of Actors in 1938. == Quotes == * "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better." == External links == * [http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/6/sophie.htm Sophie Tucker on ibiblio.org] * [http://womenshistory.miningco.com/library/bio/blbio_tucker_sophie.htm Sophie Tucker on WomensHistory.miningco.com] * [http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_tucker_sophie.htm An informative biography on About.com] * [http://www.cwhf.org/hall/tucker/tucker.htm A Tucker biography from the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame] * [http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-9706.htm#e10449 Sophie Tucker sings "Reuben Rag", 1910, on Tinfoil.com] listen to one of her earliest recordings * Several [http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/days.html original recordings] of Sophie Tucker singing, including "Some of These Days." Audio links are at bottom of page. (Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco.) 1884 births 1966 deaths Blues singers Female singers Vaudeville performers
The below was removed from the article by User:Dablaze. Pending an explanation, I've moved it here to the talk page. -- User:Infrogmation 19:57, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC) : In 1921 Tucker hired pianist Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director; Shapiro would remain with Tucker the rest of her career. User:Dablaze responds: First, thanks to Infrogmation for the kind words on my talk page and for raising the question about my edit of the above sentence. I actually cut it out only because the rest of the article didn't really focus on Tucker's personal or professional relationships, but rather on her own artistic achievements and significance. I know the article mentioned other musicians who had contributed songs and so forth, but it seemed evident that these were musicians who had artistic reputations in their own right, independent of Tucker. Shapiro didn't seem to share that distinction. I did some net searches just now just to make sure, but it doesn't look as if Shapiro was anything other than a member of "Team Sophie Tucker." That's not a bad thing, of course, but it just didn't seem significant enough to keep in the article, especially since it was a one sentence-paragraph surrounded by unrelated information above and below. It just seemed out of place. However, if anyone cares to do a bit more research -- enough to turn Shapiro from a lonely sentence into a full-fledged paragraph -- then I don't think his inclusion would be the non sequitur that it originally appeared to be. Um... OK, that's all! --dablaze">User:Dablaze 08:00, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)
:: In some film footage from both c. 1930 and sometime in the 1950s I've seen, Shapiro was hardly in the background. Shapiro was at the piano on stage with Tucker, and they exchanged banter and wisecracks between numbers. He was also a Tin Pan Alley songwriter with a few hits under his belt, so a short article on him would IMO be reasonable. I'd like the mention to go back in the article. -- User:Infrogmation 08:28, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::: Well, you seem to know more about him than I do, so I'll agree on both the separate article and the mention within this one. Why not whip up a few sentences about him, then, based on what you wrote here? :-) Even 2-3 would, IMO, be sufficient. --dablaze">User:Dablaze 08:55, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)
:::: I've made a starter article about Ted Shapiro and will now put the reference back in. -- User:Infrogmation 21:55, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)
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Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (13 January, 1884 - 9 February, 1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular United States entertainers of the first third of the 20th century. She was born as Sophia Kalish in Russia; her family immigrated to the United States when she was an infant and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1903 she was briefly married to Louis Tuck; from which she decided to change her name to "Tucker." (She would marry twice more in her life, but neither marriage lasted more than five years.) Tucker played piano and sang burlesque and vaudeville tunes, at first in blackface. She later said that this was at the insistence of theater managers, who said she was "too fat and ugly" to be accepted by the audience in any other context. She even sang songs that acknowledged her heft, like "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love." She made a name for herself in a style that was known at the time as a "Coon Shouter," performing African American influenced songs. Not content with performing in the simple minstrel show traditions, Tucker hired some of the best African American singers of the time to give her lessons and hired African American composers to write songs for her act. At a 1908 appearance the luggage containing Tucker's makeup kit was stolen shortly before the show, and she hastily went on stage without her customary blackface. To the theater manager's surprise, Tucker was a bigger hit without her makeup than with it, and she never wore blackface again. She did, however, continue to draw much of her material from African American writers and culture, singing in a ragtime- and blues-influenced style, becoming known for a time as "The Ragtime Mary Garden," a reference to a famous operatic soprano of the era. Tucker made her first appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1909, but didn't last long there because Florenz Ziegfeld's other female stars soon refused to share the spotlight with the popular Tucker. She made the first of her several recordings of "Some of These Days" in 1911 for Edison Records. The tune, written by Shelton Brooks, was a hit and became Tucker's theme song, and later was the title of her 1945 autobiography. In 1921 Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for Tucker, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920s, and hired stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters to give her lessons. She also made the first of her many film appearances in the 1929 sound picture "Honky Tonk." In the 1930s Tucker brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," as her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era. In the 1950s and early 1960s she made television appearances on the popular Ed Sullivan Show, What's My Line, and the Tonight Show. She continued performing in the U.S. and United Kingdom until shortly before dying of lung cancer in 1966. She was interred at Emanuel Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Sophie Tucker's comic style is credited with influencing later female entertainers, including Bette Midler, Joan Rivers, and Roseanne. In addition to her performing, Tucker was active in efforts to Labor union professional actors, and was elected president of the American Federation of Actors in 1938. == Quotes == * "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better." == External links == * [http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/6/sophie.htm Sophie Tucker on ibiblio.org] * [http://womenshistory.miningco.com/library/bio/blbio_tucker_sophie.htm Sophie Tucker on WomensHistory.miningco.com] * [http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_tucker_sophie.htm An informative biography on About.com] * [http://www.cwhf.org/hall/tucker/tucker.htm A Tucker biography from the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame] * [http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-9706.htm#e10449 Sophie Tucker sings "Reuben Rag", 1910, on Tinfoil.com] listen to one of her earliest recordings * Several [http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/days.html original recordings] of Sophie Tucker singing, including "Some of These Days." Audio links are at bottom of page. (Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco.) 1884 births 1966 deaths Blues singers Female singers Vaudeville performers
Sophie Tucker
The below was removed from the article by User:Dablaze. Pending an explanation, I've moved it here to the talk page. -- User:Infrogmation 19:57, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC) : In 1921 Tucker hired pianist Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director; Shapiro would remain with Tucker the rest of her career. User:Dablaze responds: First, thanks to Infrogmation for the kind words on my talk page and for raising the question about my edit of the above sentence. I actually cut it out only because the rest of the article didn't really focus on Tucker's personal or professional relationships, but rather on her own artistic achievements and significance. I know the article mentioned other musicians who had contributed songs and so forth, but it seemed evident that these were musicians who had artistic reputations in their own right, independent of Tucker. Shapiro didn't seem to share that distinction. I did some net searches just now just to make sure, but it doesn't look as if Shapiro was anything other than a member of "Team Sophie Tucker." That's not a bad thing, of course, but it just didn't seem significant enough to keep in the article, especially since it was a one sentence-paragraph surrounded by unrelated information above and below. It just seemed out of place. However, if anyone cares to do a bit more research -- enough to turn Shapiro from a lonely sentence into a full-fledged paragraph -- then I don't think his inclusion would be the non sequitur that it originally appeared to be. Um... OK, that's all! --da
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