English There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Openly lesbian, she sang raunchy remakes of popular tunes in a deep voice, dressed in her signature mens style of tuxedo and top hat. While Wilson says there is no record of that union taking place, the story is still a glimpse into Bentleys unapologetic openness about her sexual orientation, and her acute understanding of the power of shock value. She took a seat at the piano on the set and performed a song that showed a vocal range and confidence that hadnt diminished since her days in Harlem. Gladys Bentley Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth How did Elvis's mother die? Elvis's fame contributed to her death For many years, I lived in a personal hell, she wrote. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? In an interview with Ebony magazine,[6] Bentley stated that "It seems I was born different. This is a carousel with slides. Gladyspassed away on month day1963, at age 54 at death place, Kentucky. Drag performers often backed her up at the Ubangi Club. Even as a teenage girl of 16, Bentley had grown into a headstrong young woman, and she was sick and tired of feeling rejected. The article was accompanied by photos of Bentley wearing a matronly white housedress and performing the role of homemakerpreparing meals, making the bed for her husband, wearing a dress and flowers in her hair. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Gladys fell seriously ill just a few months after Elvis enlisted in the US Army. National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gladys Bentley, Prentiss Taylor, and Nora Holt, Letter to Paul Kalmanovitz from the Musicians' Protective Association, Musicians' Protective Association Local 767 claim form, Photograph of two men and a woman taken at the Ubangi Club, Photograph of a group of men and women taken at the Ubangi Club, Photograph of Leroy Broomfield and the Ubangi Club dancers, Carl Van Vechten Photographs of Prentiss Taylor with Gladys Bentley and Nora Holt. Singing the Gender-Bending Blues - Smithsonian Institution Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. No doubt, Gladys Bentley won a fair few beautiful conquests in her day by picking them out of the crowd and mixing business with pleasure. She rose to fame during Prohibition in New York City, entertaining speakeasy audiences with performances testing the boundaries of gender and sexuality. She was frequently harassed for wearing men's clothing. By some accounts, Bentleys marriage with Roberts was brief and tragic, but according to Roberts himself, it didnt happen at all. Please try again later. My mom never told me how her best friend died. There she received many complaints about her raunchy performances which resulted in the police locking up the doors of places she performed. For the customers of the club, one of the unique things about my act was the way I dressed, she wrote. 0 references. Drag images here or select from your computer for Gladys Alberta Bentley memorial. Get the latest on what's happening At the Smithsonian in your inbox. This was long before the gay rights or the civil rights movements, yet Bentley became a darling of the Harlem Renaissance alongside icons like . By 1934, just a year after her debut, Gladys Bentley had to give up on her Broadway baby dreams, and she slunk back to Ubangi Club with her white coat tails between her legs. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Haleema Shah Gladys Bentley - Wikidata Gladys Bentley: Gender-Bending Performer and Musician Lila Gladys Young was a Canadian woman who operated The Ideal Maternity Home, a discreet residence for unwed pregnant mothers in Nova Scotia between 1928 and 1947. . You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Her act drew white patrons from outside of Harlem, including writer and photographer Carl van Vechten, who based a fictional blues singer in one of his novels off of her, writing that when she pounds the piano the dawn comes up like thunder.. "She was always my best girl." At her funeral, Elvis was inconsolable. Gladys Alberta Bentley was born on August 12, 1907, which makes her a Leo. Gladys Presley died on August 14, 1958, at the age of 46 after suffering from heart failure. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Photograph of Gladys Bentley by an unidentified photographer, 1927-45. Gipson shortly after arriving on the West coast. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. In it, she not only repudiates her homosexuality, but also her entire identity before that moment, revealing that she now only wears dresses and other acceptable housewife attire in order to please her husband and herself. Your Privacy Rights From an early age, Bentley defied gender normative behaviors and femininity. Bentley began singing at rent parties and buffet flats. As Bentley put it, My hands fairly flew over the keys. And the response was legendary. He wondered whether Bentley's father's sudden death resulted from an undiagnosed arrhythmia that triggered a . He demanded she stop trying to perform on Broadway, and took his suit all the way up to the Supreme Court. [27] Bentley was one of the featured obituaries in Overlooked No More. When Bentley showed up for a given performance, shed soon find that officers had locked up her venues in an attempt to drive away her business. I finally convinced him. The Tragic Life Of Elvis Presley's Mother Gladys | Ben Vaughn Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Years before Bentley played midtown nightclubs, she got her musical career started at rent parties, where people in Harlem would cover the costs by charging admission for private parties with alcohol and live performances. The eldest of four children, Bentley was born on August 12, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to George L. Bentley from the U.S. and Mary (Mote) Bentley from Trinidad. Cara Williams Dead: 'The Defiant Ones,' 'Pete And Gladys' Star Was 96 Some pearl-clutching patrons complained, and the citys response was swift and brutal. Unable to express her talent on Broadway, she was forced to move back to Harlem in 1934, where she then played at the Ubangi Club for three years before it closed in 1937. Ergo, no charges. Gladys George - Turner Classic Movies You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. [2], Recorded November 15, 1928, and March 26, 1929, McBreen, Ellen (1998). Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. Gladys Bentley was a triple threata singer, a dancer, and a lesbian. . The family struggled financially. I Am A Woman Again, Bentley declared, disavowing the gender-bending performances that had made her famous. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. Yow. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Thanks for your help! Date of Death: July 19, 2017. . Gladys Bentley - Performer (1907-1960) At the height of her career during the 1920s and 1930s, Gladys Bentley was the most well-known and financially successful black women in the United States. She recorded in 1945 for the Excelsior label. When prohibition ended in the 1930s, it was a slow, painful death for Bentleys career, and her speakeasy gigs started to dry up as booze flooded the public markets. Bentley died on March 2 at Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center. They cried, laughing so hard; they were doubled over from the ache of it, they blushed, and they fed on the anomalous beauty of Bentley. Gladys Bentley (1907-1960) was a blues pianist, singer, performer, and drag king pioneer. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. It makes you wonder and ask more questions about what her challenges were in the professional arena and if this was all easy for her, Reece says. Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House, a well-known gay speakeasy in New York in the 1920s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. After leaving her hometown of Philadelphia as a teenager, she arrived in New York during the Harlem Renaissance and was absorbed into a vibrant artistic and intellectual community. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. On Thursday (April 27) the singer's reps officially confirmed that Gladys Knight is not dead. Louisiana Death Records Her mother had desperately wanted a boy, and when the nurses told her she had a little girl instead, the matriarch refused to even touch her baby. And then he went after everything she held dear. Singing the Gender-Bending Blues. Bentley had great talent as a piano player, singer, and entertainer. She was predeceased by : her parents, Lloyd . That year, Bentley took up with kitchen cook Charles Roberts, marrying him after a whirlwind courtship. Try again later. cemeteries found in Carson, Los Angeles County, California, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. I Am A Woman Again is a fraught, heartbreaking artifact of Bentleys life. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. The Life And Death Of Gladys Presley, Elvis Presley's Beloved Mother Gladys Bentley Society on Instagram: "This incredible human is a living I won't pretend to know enough astrology to deduce any meaning from this, but it felt important to note. For the Smithsonians Sidedoor podcast, host Haleema Shah tells the story of an unapologetically gay African-American performer in 1920s and 30s. On the decline of the Harlem speakeasies with the repeal of Prohibition, she relocated to southern California, where she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs". In 1958, Bentley, who grew up in Philadelphia, appeared on Groucho Marxs game show You Bet Your Life where she said she was from Port-au-Spain (her mother happened to be Trinidadian). Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA. Gladys Bentley wasnt just popular with the common people; she had all of New York eating out of the palm of her hand. Gladys Bentley: Blues Singer - Smithsonian American Women's History However, later that year, she did wed Charles Roberts, a cook sixteen years her junior. Get it, Gladys. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. Not only did her own time not know what to do with her, but Bentleys impact is also still a hot topic now. She tried to continue her musical career but did not achieve as much success as she had had in the past. She was only 46 years old. Her salary started at $35 per week plus tips and went to $125 per week, and the club was soon renamed Barbara's Exclusive Club, after her stage name at the time, Barbara "Bobbie" Minton. 5. At the time of her death, she had been more involved in the church and had just been ordained as a minister despite never getting her official paperwork. Elvis' cause of death was NOT what you think: His - Express Her success picked up again during World War II with the expansion of gay bars on the West Coast. Already a big girl, her parents and siblings saw this masculine turn as shamefully unladylike, while her classmates teased her at school. The red flags were there from the start when it came to Charles Roberts. . Fictional characters based on Bentley appeared in Carl Van Vechten's novel Parties, Clement Woods' novel Deep River, and Blair Niles' novel Strange Brother. Yet the reality behind her death was far too simple, and far too tragic. Gladys Bentley (1907-1960) was a blues pianist, singer, performer, and drag king pioneer. It's up there with being a communist, Wilson says. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. The headline sent shockwaves through America. Photograph of Gladys Bentley by an unidentified photographer, 1927-45. Michael Bekoev. 20072023 Blackpast.org. His autopsy was legally sealed for fifty years but, in. It wouldnt be long before she shot to fame. [21] In 1931, Bentley had a civil ceremony in New Jersey, in a public union with a white woman whose identity is unknown. The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The Presley Family - Grunge And while the performance of what an observer called a masculine garbed smut-singing entertainer led to the shutdown of Kings Terrace, Bentleys powerful voice, fiery energy on the piano and bold lyrics still made her a star of New York City nightclubs. Elvis would go on to talk about his brother throughout his career, and as Peter Whitmer, author of the 1996 psychological biography The Inner Elvis explains (via the Billings Gazette), the singer's mother, Gladys Presley, always thought that Jesse's death was "the crucible that forged [Elvis'] 'destiny to do great things.'". Langston Hughes praised Bentley as an amazing exhibition of musical energya large, dark, masculine lady, whose feet pounded the floor while her fingers pounded the keyboarda perfect piece of African sculpture, animated by her own rhythm., As her star rose, Bentley began playing larger Harlem venues, like the Cotton Club and the iconic gay speakeasy the Clam House. But trouble started as soon as Gladys was born. Bentley became an active member of the "Temple of Love In Christ" Church and was on her way to becoming an ordained minister at the time of her death from pneumonia at the age of 52. The Grammy-nominated artist's prolonged absence from social media . Gladys George was one of the movies' greatest hard-luck dames, both on- and off-screen. "She was just defiant in who she was, and for gender and sexuality studies today, she shows the performance of . In Bentleys account of her life, her audience was as fascinated by her style as it was by her music. One of the frustrating and actually joyous things about Gladys Bentley was she was constantly inventing herself, Wilson says. For all her revelations in her Ebony article, Bentleys confessions may not be what they seem. During the late 1920's, Bentley recorded for the OKeh Record label and then for Victor Records in 1930. pneumonia. Sadly, Bentleys confessions dont stop there. Bawdy Facts About Gladys Bentley, The Dapper Diva - Factinate