Talk:Sophie Tucker

Biography assessment rating comment

WikiProject Biography Summer 2007 Assessment Drive

Needs references, but otherwise a B.

Thanks to MegaMom for adding the {{WPBiography}} tag!

The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 08:16, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Discussion

The below was removed from the article by User:Dablaze. Pending an explanation, I've moved it here to the talk page. -- Infrogmation 19:57, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

In 1921 Tucker hired pianist Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director; Shapiro would remain with Tucker the rest of her career.

Dablaze responds: First, thanks to Infrogmation for the kind words on my talk page and for raising the question about my edit of the above sentence.

I actually cut it out only because the rest of the article didn't really focus on Tucker's personal or professional relationships, but rather on her own artistic achievements and significance. I know the article mentioned other musicians who had contributed songs and so forth, but it seemed evident that these were musicians who had artistic reputations in their own right, independent of Tucker. Shapiro didn't seem to share that distinction.

I did some net searches just now just to make sure, but it doesn't look as if Shapiro was anything other than a member of "Team Sophie Tucker." That's not a bad thing, of course, but it just didn't seem significant enough to keep in the article, especially since it was a one sentence-paragraph surrounded by unrelated information above and below. It just seemed out of place.

However, if anyone cares to do a bit more research -- enough to turn Shapiro from a lonely sentence into a full-fledged paragraph -- then I don't think his inclusion would be the non sequitur that it originally appeared to be.

Um... OK, that's all! --dablaze 08:00, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)

In some film footage from both c. 1930 and sometime in the 1950s I've seen, Shapiro was hardly in the background. Shapiro was at the piano on stage with Tucker, and they exchanged banter and wisecracks between numbers. He was also a Tin Pan Alley songwriter with a few hits under his belt, so a short article on him would IMO be reasonable. I'd like the mention to go back in the article. -- Infrogmation 08:28, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, you seem to know more about him than I do, so I'll agree on both the separate article and the mention within this one. Why not whip up a few sentences about him, then, based on what you wrote here? :-) Even 2-3 would, IMO, be sufficient. --dablaze 08:55, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)

I've made a starter article about Ted Shapiro and will now put the reference back in. -- Infrogmation 21:55, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

A crossword clue asked for Sophie Tucker's real name, and the answer that fitted seemed to be Sonia Kalish - actually I don't know if this is the same piece of misinformation being spread - but it seems to be a common error, if it is an error. Geffers 11:47, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

The Beatles, Ed Sullivan, and Sophie Tucker

When the The Beatles played on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 16, 1964, Paul (I think) said that "this next song was recorded by our favorite American band, Sophie Tucker" (paraphrased), which got a laugh from some people, including John, I think. I have a feeling that John was confused by this statement, though, because they proceeded to play I Want to Hold Your Hand. I think the laugh was a nervous-like one, as he probably knew that that was the song that they planned to play, but also knew that that line didn't go with that song. Anyone know anything about that? Was Sophie Tucker on that particular episode? Did they know that she'd been on the show before? I don't actually know more than what's in this article, if that, about the relationship between Sophie Tucker, the Beatles, and the show. —Gordon P. Hemsley→✉ 03:03, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Clean up

This article could be written much better, outlined better. A number of improvements may be made. Bastique▼^parler _voir 17:25, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Broadway Credits

The list of stage credits is incomplete. Tucker appeared in the Follies of 1909 and a show called Follow A Star in 1930 in London that was entirely built around Tucker. She was also the subject of a big Broadway musical in 1963, Sophie, which ran a week. Further, the mention of "Some of these Days" as being recorded so early on is misleading; Tucker recorded this number many times over the years, and much more prominently. Fred Lane 16:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

1952 - Sophie Tucker for President

I know a recording exists of her explaining why she should be elected President of the United States. It would be truly cool if someone who knew any details could fill us all in! The recording itself is hilarious. Among other things, she states her approach to foreign affairs as "I've had a few foreign affairs, and I think I handled them OK!"

Typofixer76 04:40, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Comedian

The 1st sentence in the article is "Sophie Tucker ... was a singer and comedian..." but it's hard to find any reference to the comedy aspect of her career. most of the article is about her songs and recordings. Would you think this should be fixed? Thanks Kvsh5 (talk) 19:08, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Place of Birth

I find it odd that her place of birth is not mentioned other than being Russia. It's a pretty big place. Does anyone have anymore information concerning the matter? Dr. Dan (talk) 16:52, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

Tucker states on the first page of her auto bio; 'Some of These Days' that her mother couldn't remember where exactly she gave birth. Tucker notes it was in a house along the track used by emigrant wagons traveling to ports for America. Sarafinadh (talk) 16:47, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

Marriage to Frank Westphal

The details of her marriage to Frank Westphal, which gave the dates 1914-19, appeared to be incorrect. According to Cook County records (which I can access via Ancestry.com here), they married on 13 October 1917. At the time, she used the name Sophia B. Abuza (not Sophie). Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:47, 13 June 2013 (UTC) PS: Confirmed here, p.76. Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:40, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Gratuitous Beatles plug

Re: "Such was Tucker's cultural influence that, as late as 1963, three years before her death, Paul McCartney jokingly introduced the song 'Till There Was You' (from The Music Man) at the Beatles' Royal Command Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on 4 November by saying the song 'had also been recorded by our favourite American group, Sophie Tucker',[12] in reference to Tucker's notorious girth (Tucker never recorded the song). McCartney also used the same quip, this time for an American audience, to introduce the Beatles' performance of 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' as the finale of their set for The Ed Sullivan Show at The Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, on February 16, 1964. As there was a much smaller audience reaction to the line in Miami Beach, John Lennon sarcastically provided the laughs."

"Such was Tucker's cultural influence"? What could this possibly mean other than that Tucker was famous? If Tucker weren't famous, why would she be the subject of a Wikipedia article? This entire paragraph seem to me obvious irrelevant trivia disingenuously planted by an overly zealous Beatles enthusiast. TheScotch (talk) 07:03, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

There's no reference to the support the notability of the comment itself, so I removed the story.--Nowa (talk) 08:41, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Year of birth

I have changed the year 1884 back into 1887 because of this picture on Find A Grave, but please note what Armond Fields writes on page 176 of his biography Sophie Tucker: First Lady of Show Business: "She claimed to have been born in Boston in 1884." ErikvanB (talk) 23:51, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

In 'Some of these days', her auto bio,Tucker states she was born in a house along the road that went thru Russia and Poland to the Baltic while her mother, 17 at the time, was traveling to meet her husband in America. He brother Phillip was cited as being two years old at the time. Sarafinadh (talk) 16:51, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

possible bisexuality and affair with Edwina Mountbatten

In his book 'The Mountbattens', Andrew Lownie suggests that she may have had an affair with Edwina Mountbatten. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.30.54.44 (talk) 16:02, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Some of These Days (1926), by Sophie Tucker.ogg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:51, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

• Easily rectified. Tucker first released the song in 1911: Some of These Days (1911) Upload this version. Maineartists (talk) 02:07, 30 June 2022 (UTC)
• Uploaded 1911 version. 1926 should not have been deleted. 70 years for a recording (pre-1927) is WP allowed and out of copyright. Not sure why it keeps being deleted. Regardless, 1911 is certainly public domain. Maineartists (talk) 18:10, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Was she an Ashkenazi Jew?

If she was an Ashkenazi Jew, shouldn't we add that basic information to the article? 98.123.38.211 (talk) 15:39, 13 April 2024 (UTC)