Gladys Bentley

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Gladys Bentley

Gladys Alberta Bentley (* 12. August 1907 in Philadelphia , † 18 January 1960 in Los Angeles ) was an American blues - singer and entertainer of African-American descent.

Life

Gladys Alberta Bentley was the eldest of four children of warehouse worker George L. Bentley and his Trinidadian wife Mary Mote.

Bentley was one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s in the speakeasy and gay clubs such as Harry Hansberry's Clam-House and Ubangi Club in New York City . She was accompanied both on her tours and during recordings by the then new talents of jazz , such as Louis Armstrong , Coleman Hawkins and Fletcher Henderson . In the 1950s, during the Cold War , Gladys Bentley was one of the victims of the anti-communist persecution of Senator Joseph McCarthy ( McCarthy era ). On the one hand she now distanced herself from her earlier views, on the other hand she tried to maintain her humanistic vision. In 1952 Bentley married Charles Roberts, 16 years his junior, and claimed to have been cured of "female hormones".

Gladys Bentley died of complications from pneumonia and was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Awards

Discography

  • 1945 Thrill Me Till I get My Fill
  • 1945 Find Out What He Likes
  • 1945 Notoriety Papa

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bentley, Gladys
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bentley, Gladys Alberta (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues singer and entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1960
Place of death los Angeles