Sophie Tucker

by Fields, Armond

• ISBN13: 9780786415779
• ISBN10: 0786415770
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Sophie Tucker appeared in only seven American stage musicals and appeared only twice on Broadway but, then, it was difficult to cast her in a show. A buxom and ebullient performer, she-and her audiences-quickly found that playing herself was most effective. This is a biography of a vaudeville and cabaret performer who saw herself as one of the first liberated women and one of the last "red hot mamas." It tells the story of her birth as her mother traveled to Boston from Russia, her childhood in Boston, and her first public performance at Poli's Vaudeville Theatre at the age of 13. It also tells the story of her troubled marriage to Louis Tuck and the birth of their son, her meeting with Willie Howard, a vaudeville veteran who encouraged her to go to New York and pursue a stage career, her discovery by Flo Ziegfeld (of the Ziegfeld Follies), and her rise to headliner status under the guidance of her agent William Morris. She was best known for appearing on stage with just a piano player, and openly discussing her life and Jewish upbringing.

Author Biography

Armond Fields is a social historian specializing in American popular theater

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	v
Introduction	1	(6)
Welcome to America	7	(11)
Breaking In	18	(14)
The Mary Garden of Ragtime (1)	32	(12)
The Mary Garden of Ragtime (2)	44	(11)
Vaudeville Stardom	55	(16)
Celebrating Cabarets	71	(14)
Risky Business	85	(17)
At the Top of Her Game	102	(21)
Burning Up the Boards	123	(13)
Honky Tonk	136	(12)
Escape to London	148	(16)
Looking Back Over Her Shoulder	164	(20)
The Labor Union Blues	184	(10)
Fast Becoming a Legend	194	(16)
The Glory Years	210	(17)
A Fabulous Character	227	(19)
Epilogue	246	(5)
Notes	251	(4)
Selected Bibliography and Source Material	255	(4)
Index	259