Sophie Tucker, 1917

Sophie Tucker (January 13, 1884 - February 9, 1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular United States entertainers of the first third of the 20th century. Sophie Tucker, scanned from 1917 sheet music. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice as an instrument to produce music. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

She was born Sophia Kalish to a Jewish family in Czarist Russia; her family emigrated to the United States when she was an infant and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1903, at the age of 19, 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.) The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Motto: Nickname: The Insurance Capital of the World or New Englands Rising Star Location in Hartford County, Connecticut Founded Incorporated 1849   County Hartford County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Eddie Perez Area  - Total  - Water 46. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

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." A grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument, widely used in western music for solo performance, chamber music, and accompaniment, and also as a convenient aid to composing and rehearsal. ... Burlesque was originally a form of art that mocked by imitation, referring to everything from comic sketches to dance routines and usually lampooning the social attitudes of the upper classes. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

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 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. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843. ...

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. Ragtime is an American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Mary Garden (February 20, 1874 - January 3, 1967) was a popular operatic soprano in the first third of the 20th century. ...

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. The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1928 Time cover featuring Ziegfeld Florenz Ziegfeld (March 21, 1869–July 22, 1932) was a Broadway impresario who achieved fame by perfecting the United States revue. ...

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. 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Edison Records was the first record label, pioneering recorded sound and an important player in the early record industry. ... Shelton Brooks Shelton Brooks (May 4, 1886 - September 6, 1975) was a popular music composer who wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. ...

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. 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Ted Shapiro (October 31, 1899 - March 26, 1980) was a United States popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher. ...

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 movie appearances in the 1929 sound picture Honky Tonk. Mamie Smith on the sleeve of volume 1 of the Complete Recorded Works reissue collection Mamie Smith (May 26, 1883 - September 16, 1946) was a vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, and appeared in several motion pictures late in her career. ... Ethel Waters, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1938 Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an African American blues vocalist who frequently performed jazz, big band, gospel, and popular music, on Broadway and off. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... -1... A sound film (or talkie) is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed to a silent movie. ...

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. She made numerous popular film appearances, including Broadway Melody of 1938. In that film Tucker sings a song during the big finale; even though she is playing a character and not herself, several neon lights displaying her real name light up in the background of the stage in tribute. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 musical film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Roy Del Ruth. ...

In the 1950s and early 1960s she made television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, What's My Line, and The Tonight Show. Ed Sullivan The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948, to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by Ed Sullivan. ... Whats My Line? was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. ... The Tonight Show is NBCs long-running late-night talk and variety show, currently hosted by Jay Leno in Burbank, CA (near Los Angeles). ...

She continued performing in the U.S. and the United Kingdom until shortly before dying of lung cancer in 1966 at the age of 82. The incidence of lung cancer is highly correlated with smoking. ...

She was interred at Emanuel Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Wethersfield is a census-designated place located in Hartford County, Connecticut. ...

Follow-ups

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 unionize professional actors, and was elected president of the American Federation of Actors in 1938. Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945), is a singer, actress, and comedian. ... Joan Rivers Joan Rivers (born 8 June 1933) is a United States comedian, talk show host, and celebrity. ... This article refers to the sitcom Roseanne. For the actress/comedian, see Roseanne Barr. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Early actors union. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Quotes

• "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better."
• When The Beatles performed the song Till There Was You from The Music Man early in their careers, Paul McCartney would often introduce the number by saying that "It's also been done by our favourite American group - Sophie Tucker."
• "From birth to age eighteen, a girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty-five she needs good looks. From thirty-five to fifty-five, she needs a good personality. From fifty-five on, she needs good cash"

The Beatles were a British pop music group from Liverpool, England held in very high regard for both their artistic achievements and their considerable commercial success, and have amassed an enormous worldwide fanbase that continues to exist to this day. ... The Music Man is a musical play with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson (story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey), which opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on December 19, 1957. ... Paul McCartney (1964) Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born June 18, 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. ...

Work on Broadway

• Lulu's Husbands (1910) - play - actress
• Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1924 (1924) - revue - actress
• Leave It to Me! (1938) - musical - actress in the role of "Mrs. Goodhue"
• High Kickers (1941) - musical - actress cast as herself
• Sophie (1963) - musical - based on the life of Sophie Tucker

This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A revue is a type of theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches that satirize contemporary figures, news, or literature. ... Musical theatre (sometimes, although less often than not, spelled theater rather than theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Musical theatre (sometimes, although less often than not, spelled theater rather than theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Musical theatre (sometimes, although less often than not, spelled theater rather than theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ...

Tributes

• Reference to Tucker is made (using somewhat salty language) in the song "Roxie" which is part of the score to the musical, Chicago.

Chicago is a musical, first performed in 1975, based on the play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins. ...

External links

• Works by Sophie Tucker at Project Gutenberg
• Sophie Tucker on ibiblio.org
• Sophie Tucker on WomensHistory.miningco.com
• An informative biography on About.com
• A Tucker biography from the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
• A Tucker biography from 'Big Bands and Big Names'
• Sophie Tucker sings "Reuben Rag", 1910, on Tinfoil.com listen to one of her earliest recordings
• Several 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.)
• Sophie Tucker cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.