Bertice Reading

Bertice Reading (22 July 1933 - 8 June 1991) was an American singer, actress and revue artiste.

Bertice Reading was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. Her performing career started at the tender age of three, where she was talent-spotted by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the tap dancer who had also brought the young star Shirley Temple to fame.

During a crisis in her family finances, Reading was propelled to enter a talent competition. Her subsequent victory earned her her first break - a place in the orchestral ensemble of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. After performing at the inauguration ceremony of President Dwight D. Eisenhower her temporary engagement with the Orchestra was extended.

She appeared in the all-black revue, The Jazz Train, in Paris in the spring of 1955. She had notable success playing the great blues singer Bessie Smith. Adept at a whole range of musical styles, from gospel to blues to musical comedy, she added to her formidable talent and striking appearance a fervour for performing with a renowned sense of humour.

Her straight-acting performance as a nurse in William Faulkner's play "Requiem for a Nun" in 1957, earned her a nomination for a Tony Award when it transferred to Broadway. The next years saw Reading spending time abroad in cabaret, as well as having two marriages.

In 1985 she put on one of her solo shows, Every Inch a Lady, in which she donned a pink satin tutu and danced to a version of The Sugar Plum Fairy, which had been choreographed by the dancer Wayne Sleep. She was later quoted to say 'Nobody loves a fairy when she's 40'.

She also appeared in "South Pacific" as Bloody Mary in London in 1987. Her final appearance was as the downtown old lady in the 'Skid row' segment of the movie "Little Shop of Horrors". During which she sang the opening words of the song, a true testament to a brilliant and powerful voice.

Being described as one of the last of the 'Red Hot Mamas', Reading died at the age of 58.

References

*http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/cvvpw/gallery/reading2.html
*The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries (Entertainers) - Edited by Hugh Massingberd

External links

* [http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0713931/ The Internet Movie Database]