Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker proclaimed herself "the Last of the Red Hot Mamas" through one of her signature numbers, forging a bold, risqué stage identity that propelled her to major popularity across vaudeville and Broadway. Born Sonia Kalish on January 13, 1884, while her Jewish parents escaped Russia toward Poland and reached the United States when she turned three, the family adopted the surname Abuza during their journey. Following a period in Boston, her parents established a restaurant in Hartford, Connecticut, where young Sophie encountered numerous vaudeville performers and earned extra money by singing for them and other patrons. At sixteen she wed Louis Tuck and gave birth to son Albert the following year, after which Tuck departed. She altered her married name to Tucker to form her professional moniker and relocated to New York, beginning with appearances in modest cafés and beer halls. An agent eventually secured her entry into vaudeville in 1906. Early on, her managers directed her to perform in blackface, reasoning that her ample figure and unremarkable features might otherwise limit audience acceptance.

In 1909 Tucker joined the Ziegfeld Follies; she headlined by 1911. Once she abandoned blackface for flamboyant costumes and incorporated traditional Yiddish material alongside her risqué comic numbers, sentimental ballads, and ragtime selections, any prior doubts about her looks vanished and her appeal grew further. That same year brought the initial recording of her enduring hit "Some of These Days." Throughout World War I she incorporated jazz elements and traveled with the Five Kings of Syncopation; from 1914 to 1917 she also worked with second husband Frank Westphal, a pianist, though their union ended amid his envy of her success.

Tucker secured her Broadway debut in Shubert Gaieties in 1919. Two years later she engaged pianist Ted Shapiro as musical director; he remained with her for four decades and supplied much of her more provocative material. Her first London engagement came in 1922, when she starred in the revue Round in 50. During the 1920s she enjoyed success with renewed versions of "Some of These Days," "I'm the Last of the Red Hot Mamas," and "My Yiddishe Momme," the last two co-written by Jack Yellen, a frequent collaborator whom she compensated with steady salary and royalties. As cinema diminished vaudeville crowds, Tucker attempted films herself, debuting in Honky Tonk in 1929 before returning to London the next year for the musical comedy Follow a Star. For several seasons she alternated between London stage work and occasional pictures such as Gay Love (1936), Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), and Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937). Additional Broadway credits included Leave It to Me (1938), Gay Paree, and High Kickers (1941).

Her prominence slowly waned, and apart from sporadic film and television work she concentrated on nightclub engagements, favoring their closer setting and direct contact with listeners. Later performances often featured partly spoken reflective numbers that somewhat masked her vocal changes. Tucker directed substantial earnings toward charities and regularly appeared at benefit events. She died February 9, 1966, three years after the biographical musical Sophie opened.