Ada Smith
Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith (born August 14, 1894 in Alderson , West Virginia , † February 1, 1984 in New York City ), better known as Bricktop , was an American vaudeville dancer and singer. For a long time she ran well-known nightclubs in Paris , Mexico City and Rome .
biography
Ada Smith was the youngest of four children. When her father died, the family moved to Chicago . She came into contact with the world of vaudeville at a young age. At the age of 16 she toured in TOBA and Pantages theaters. Because of her red hair and freckles she had the nickname "Bricktop" ( brick head ). Through her appearances in Barron Wilkins' Exclusive Club , for example , she met jazz musicians such as Jelly Roll Morton , Duke Ellington and Cole Porter .
In 1924, Ada Smith came to Paris, where Cole Porter booked her as an entertainer for his parties. She brought the latest fashion dances, such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom . Smith began to operate clubs where she performed, such as "The Music Box" and "Le Grand Duc". She called her next club "Chez Bricktop", which she moved to 66 Rue Pigalle in 1929 and ran until 1961.
1938-39 Smith hosted a radio show for the French government. She left Paris during the Second World War .
Chez Bricktop was attended by many celebrities, including Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and F. Scott Fitzgerald . Artists who appeared on "Chez Bricktop" included Duke Ellington, Mabel Mercer and Josephine Baker . Cole Porter wrote the song "Miss Otis Regrets" for Ada Smith. Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli dedicated the piece “Brick Top” to her. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes , Ernest Hemingway , Maya Angelou , Evelyn Waugh, and TS Eliot wrote about Ada Smith and her club.
In 1972 Ada Smith made her only record with Cy Coleman, So Long Baby . In 1974 she played herself in the film "Honeybaby, Honeybaby" as the owner of the nightclub "Bricktop's" in Beirut . In 1983 she made a cameo in Woody Allen's film " Zelig ". She wrote her autobiography Bricktop by Bricktop with James Haskins , which appeared in 1983 and is peppered with anecdotes about numerous celebrities.
Ada "Bricktop" Smith died in 1984 in her apartment in New York.
Web links
- Bricktop in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Obituary for "West Virginia Division of Culture and History"
- Review of Bricktop's autobiography on West Virginia Division of Culture and History
- Review of the Bricktop autobiography on "jazzscript.co.uk" ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Bricktop biography on "The African American Registry"
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Ada |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia (full name); Bricktop, Ada |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American vaudeville dancer, singer and nightclub operator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 14, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Alderson , West Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st February 1984 |
| Place of death | New York City |