Tucker, Sophie

TUCKER, SOPHIE ABUZA World renowned entertainer. Born in Russia in 1889, daughter of Charles Poltiel and Jennie Lenz Abuza, she was brought to Boston as an infant. Eight years later, her family moved to Hartford and she began her career singing in her father's kosher restaurant on Front St. In the early 1900's she sang in cafes for her meals, did black face, went into burlesque, and then became a star entertainer. She shared billings with Will Rogers, W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, A1 Jolson, Jack Benny, Fannie Brice, Judy Garland, Jimmie Durante, and others. She knew Irving Berlin when he was a singing waiter and she taught the Duke of Windsor to dance the Charleston when he was the Prince of Wales. She entertained in London, Paris, and other European cities. In 1945, she wrote an autobiography titled, Some o f These Days, after her theme song, the profits of which were donated to charity. She was known for her generosity and is said to have contributed over two million dollars to various causes. Among her major beneficiaries were the Sophie Tucker Playground at Camp Williams for underprivileged children, the Sophie Tucker Chair for Theater Arts at Brandeis University, and the Sophie Tucker Free Maternity Clinic at the General Rose Memorial Hospital, Denver, Colo. In Israel she established the two Sophie Tucker Youth Centers, one located at Kibbutz Beeri and the other at Beit Shemesh. In addition to the youth centers, there is also the Sophie Tucker Forest at Beit Shemesh and her last project, just completed before her death, the Sophie Tucker Classrooms, a wing of the New High School in Dimona. Her appearance in Hartford in 1955 on behalf of the Hebrew Old People's Home, of which her mother was one of the organizers, yielded approximately a million dollars for that institution. The stage in the Emanuel Synagogue auditorium bears her name. She gave many performances for charitable causes. In her professional career, she performed in every type of entertainment from burlesque to theater in the round in which she appeared during the last year of her life. She performed in movies, radio, on the musical comedy stage, and on television, where she was a frequent guest on the Ed Sullivan Show. Her greatest successes were, of course, in vaudeville and night clubs. Her career extended over a 60 year period, and she was called the "Last of the Red Hot Mamas" and the "First Lady of Show Business." As late as 1962, she toured around the world performing in such distant countries as Australia and South Africa. She was a perennial favorite in London, where she was the only American performer to appear in command perform¬ances before three generations of English Royalty. Aside from her theme song, "Some of These Days," another song closely identified with her was "My Yiddishe Mama." No matter where Sophie Tucker was performing, in Europe or any other part of the world, she would come to Hartford annually before the High Holidays and, with her brother, Moe, and her sister, Anna, visit the graves of their parents and their brother, Phillip. Died Feb. 11, 1966. Survivors: son, Bert; brother, Moses Abuza (Brooklyn, N.Y.). She was married three times: her first husband was Louis Tucker from whom she acquired her stage name; her second husband was Frank Westphal, the pianist for her vaudeville act; her third husband was A1 Lackey, her business manager. On Nov. 24, 1968, the Sophie Tucker Community House of Mt. Sinai Temple, Brooklyn, N.Y., was dedicated.

From the Hartford Courant editorial, Feb. 11, 1966.

. . . Many another who went on to fame and fortune from Hartford never turned back for a second look at the old home town. Sophie remembered .... Hartford institutions were recipients of her many charitable deeds and dollars. Miss Tucker was more than a Red Hot Mama; she had a mama's love for people, and her memorial to her bard working parents was always to remember other people in need. Even in her own time, Sophie Tucker was unique as an artist and distinctive as a person.

Sophie Tucker (1884-1966) known as the “Last of the Red Hot Mamas” was a popular vaudeville performer during the early and mid twentieth century. Her humorous, slightly bawdy renditions of Yiddish and English songs captivated large audiences on the stage, radio, and television. Although less well-known today in her own right, Tucker provided the inspiration for comedian Bette Middler’s stage persona and performance style.

Tucker was born Sophie Kalish in Russia and grew up in Hartford from the age of three months. While traveling to the United States by ship, her father changed the family name to “Abuza.” Sophie’s musical career was launched when she began singing for customers in her parents’ kosher restaurant. After marrying Louis Tuck in 1903, Sophie changed her name to “Tucker.” She had one son, Burt, born in 1906, shortly before she divorced husband Louis.

Sophie left for New York as a very young woman, leaving her son in the care of her family. Her career began slowly, but she eventually became a noted celebrity. Although she never saw herself as an iconoclast, today Sophie Tucker is regarded as a daring female pioneer in the entertainment field.

During World War II copies of Tucker’s recordings of “My Yiddishe Momme” were destroyed by the Nazi in an effort to wipe out any traces of nostalgia for Jewish culture.

Tucker never forgot her Hartford roots and frequently performed for local charity benefits. She was particularly loyal to the Hebrew Home, of which her mother was a founder.