![]() ![]() Tucker learned from these women and became one of the early performers to introduce jazz to white vaudeville audiences. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920s and became friends with stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters, who introduced her to jazz. Besides writing a number of songs for her, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. In 1921, Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. The title of the song was used as the title of Tucker's 1945 biography. Two years later, Tucker released " Some of These Days" on Edison Records, written by Shelton Brooks. This caught the attention of William Morris, a theater owner and future founder of the William Morris Agency. Though she was a hit, the other female stars refused to share the spotlight with her, and the company was forced to let her go. In 1909, Tucker performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. Her songs included "I Don't Want to Get Thin" and "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love." Some of These Days recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1911 on wax cylinder Tucker also began integrating "fat girl" humor, which became a common thread in her acts. The producers thought that the crowd would tease her for being "so big and ugly." Early in her career, Tucker appeared in blackface as a minstrel singer, but she disliked this work and would sabotage the act by revealing that she was white at the end of the show, first removing a glove to reveal her white hand, then by pulling off her wig and exposing her blonde hair. In 1907, Tucker made her first theater appearance, singing at an amateur night in a vaudeville establishment. She sent most of what she made back home to Connecticut to support her son and family. When it failed to bring her work, Tucker found jobs in cafés and beer gardens, singing for food and tips from the customers. Career Īfter she left her husband, Willie Howard gave Tucker a letter of recommendation to Harold Von Tilzer, a composer and theatrical producer in New York. However, shortly after Albert was born, the couple separated, and Tucker left the baby with her family and moved to New York City. In 1905, she gave birth to a son, Albert. When she returned home, her parents arranged an Orthodox wedding for the couple. In 1903, around the age of 17, Tucker eloped with Louis Tuck, a beer cart driver, from whom she later derived her professional surname. At the end of the last chorus, between me and the onions, there wasn't a dry eye in the place." ![]() Between taking orders and serving customers, Tucker recalled that she "would stand up in the narrow space by the door and sing with all the drama I could put into it. Īt a young age, she began singing at her parents' restaurant for tips. The family lived in Boston's North End for eight years, then settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and opened a restaurant. The family adopted the surname Abuza before immigrating, her father fearing repercussions for having deserted from the Imperial Russian Army. (Sonya is a pet name for Sofiya in both Russian and Ukrainian as well as for Sofya, the Yiddish form of the name Sophia.) They arrived in Boston on September 26, 1887. Tucker was born Sofiya "Sonya" Kalish (in Russian, Софья «Соня» Калиш Yiddish: סאָפיאַ קאַליש) in 1886 to a Jewish family in Tulchyn, Russian Empire, now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. She was known by the nickname "the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas". during the first half of the 20th century. ![]() Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in the U.S. ![]() Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish Janu – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. ![]()
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