Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (born January 13, 1887 in Tultschyn , Podolia Governorate , Russian Empire , today Vinnytsia Oblast , Ukraine ; † February 9, 1966 in New York City ; born Sophia Kalish ) was an American comedian and singer. She was a successful entertainer in the United States in the first third of the 20th century .
When Sophie was a child, her family immigrated to the United States. Her father ran a restaurant in Hartford, Connecticut , where she sang to guests. In 1903 she married Louis Tuck and changed her name to Tucker. The marriage was short-lived; her descendants are Tucker's only son Albert.
Tucker made his debut in New York in 1906 at the German Village Club ; she played the piano and sang burlesque. In 1909 she appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and was nicknamed "Last of the Red-Hot Mamas" by Jack Yellen . On May 1, 1910, she recorded her first track "That lovin 'Rag" on the phonograph cylinder for Edison . Their most famous track “ Some of These Days ” followed in 1911, also on Edison's roller. This Shelton Brooks song became a huge hit and became Tucker's lead melody.
In 1917 she married the vaudeville pianist Frank Westphal , but kept her name from her first marriage. The marriage was divorced in 1919.
In 1921 Tucker hired the pianist and composer Ted Shapiro . He was her longtime companion and music director and wrote some songs for her. One of her hit titles was "My Yiddishe Momme", written by and made famous by Jack Yellen and Lew Pollack . Tucker sang it in 1925 after the death of her own mother; it became a # 5 hit in the US, in English on the A and in Yiddish on the B side.
In the 1920s, Sophie Tucker worked with stars like Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters . In 1925 she made a guest appearance in Berlin ; In 1929 she took part in the sound film Honky Tonk . In 1938 she played a role in the grand finale of Broadway's Melody of 1938 . She also starred in the US musical films Follow the Boys and Sensations of 1945 from 1944. In the 1950s and 60s, Sophie Tucker appeared on several American television shows. A few more successful albums were created for Mercury Records , such as My Dream, Cabaret Days and Fifty Golden Years .
Ken Bloom describes "the first lady of show business" as an aggressive, hilarious and confident singer and comedian who was fat and made fun of it. She was gleefully open about her interest in sex, as in the songs "He hadn't Up till Yesterday, but I bet he Will Tonight" or "I May be Getting Older Every Day, but Getting Younger Every Night". In 1925 she caused a scandal when she returned from her Berlin engagement and appeared in shorts. She caused controversy with the song “Mr. Siegel ”, in which she told the story of a girl who is impregnated by her boss, in it the line“ Mr. Siegel, please make it legal ”.
Bette Midler made Sophie Tucker one of her character figures in her live shows since the mid-1970s.
In 2015 Menemsha Films released a documentary about Sophie Tucker.
literature
- Ken Bloom: The American Songbook. The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs. 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers. Black Dog & Leventhal, New York City 2005, ISBN 1-57912-448-8 .
- Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff: Red Hot Mama. The Life of Sophie Tucker. University of Texas, Austin 2018, ISBN 978-1-4773-1236-0 .
Web links
- Sophie Tucker in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sophie Tucker
- Edison National Historic Site, with “Some of these Days” from 1911 for download
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tucker, Sophie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kalish, Sophia; Tuck, Sophia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American comedian and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 13, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tultschyn , today Ukraine |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1966 |
| Place of death | New York City |