Gladys bentley biography
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Biography
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“It seems I was born different. At least, inom always thought I was.”
– Gladys Bentley
Born in Philadelphia in , Gladys Bentley was taunted as a child for being an overweight tomboy – but in a few years she had the last laugh. In her trademark white tuxedo and top hat, the pound gravelly voiced singer and piano player flaunted her reputation as a “bulldagger” or butch lesbian. A top entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance, she headlined at The Cotton Club and The Clam House where she openly flirted with the women in the audience. She took popular songs of the time – like ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ or ‘Alice Blue Gown’ – and added suggestive lyrics in her raspy alto voice, encouraging the audience to echo the chorus. The gender-busting act was a sensation, making her one of the most beloved icons of the era. In Bentley began a year recording career which sadly does not include any of her bawdy lyrics or lesbian references. Her “marriage” ceremony to a white w
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Born in Philadelphia, she moved to New York City at the age of 16 and began her career as a performer at Harry Hansberry's Clam House on rd Street, one of the city's most notorious gay speakeasies. In the early s, she headlined at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tuxedo and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience. Bentley was openly lesbian early in her career, but during the McCarthy Era in the s, she started wearing dresses and married (within five months of meeting) Charles Roberts, age 28, a cook, in a civil ceremony in Santa Barbara, California, in Roberts later denied that they had ever married. Bentley also studied to be a minister, claiming to have been "cured" by taking female hormones. In an effort to describe her supposed "cure" for homosexuality she wrote an essay,
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Gladys Bentley
American blues singer (–)
Gladys Bentley | |
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Bentley c. | |
| Birth name | Gladys Alberta Bentley |
| Also known as | Barbara "Bobbie" Minton |
| Born | ()August 12, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 18, () (aged&#;52) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | s–s |
Musical artist
Gladys Alberta Bentley (August 12, &#;– January 18, )[1] was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance.
Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House, a well-known gay speakeasy in New York in the s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. She headlined in the early s at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tail coat and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with