SOPHIE TUCKER:
"Last of the Red Hot Mamas"
You just cannot help
but like Sophie Tucker. She was ‘fat’ and proud of it. She had
a bold, raspy, belting voice that could make you sob or laugh uncontrollably.
She had a winning combination of street smarts, rebellion, sass, warmth
and wit that was irresistible to men and women alike. She had a ribald
type of humor that she herself said was "only as dirty as your mind
was."
Her wit was aimed at foibles, relationships everyday situations, families and women in the world trying to survive everything from heartache to being overweight.
She was somewhat of a shocker in those early 1900’s when even the words "hell" and "damn" were strictly taboo. She was called the "Queen and First Lady of Show Business", but she was most notable as the "Last of the Red Hot Mamas." However, in reality she may have been the first, because she obviously had a profound influence on such celebrity "red hot mamas" as Mae West, Bette Midler and Roseanne Barr.
All three of her marriages failed, which led to a fear of commitment so deep that she never did sign a contract with her trusted accompanist, Teddy Shapiro. She believed that true commitment didn’t need a piece of signed paper to validate it. It is interesting to note that her accompanist, Teddy, who was with her for 45 years, was the only one she called for on her deathbed.
She gave up the only child she ever had to her younger sister, Annie, to raise so that she could follow her dream. Her relationship with her son, Bert, never really bonded. She always felt guilty and he felt resentful. His resentment for her was so deep that he never even invited her to his wedding, but he apparently always knew how to keep Sophie’s guilt alive, so that he could tap her for money whenever he needed it.
