Theatre Register

Tess Gardella

Shows · Tess Gardella

Actor 1894–1950 On stage 19271932

Therese Gardella (December 19, 1894 – January 3, 1950) was an American performer on the stage and screen whose stage persona was Aunt Jemima. She was of Italian descent. She performed on both stage and screen, usually in blackface. Tess was born in Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania, to John and Louisa Gardella. She came to New York City in 1918, singing in dance halls and nightclubs and also political rallies. She died of diabetes in Brooklyn, New York, on January 3, 1950.

On stage 2 productions, 5 years

1927 Show Boat Ziegfeld Theatre · Original · directed by Zeke Colvan 572 perf.
1932 Show Boat Casino Theatre · Revival 180 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Thomas Gunn 2 productions
Tana Kamp 2 productions
Sammy White 2 productions
Rose Mariella 2 productions
Phil Sheridan 2 productions
Norma Terris 2 productions
Laura Clairon 2 productions
Jack Daley 2 productions
J Louis Johnson 2 productions
Helen Morgan 2 productions
Francis X. Mahoney 2 productions
Eva Puck 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 7 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature2 passages

  • Tess Gardella, a.k.a. Aunt Jemima, in blackface as Queenie in the original 1927 production of Show Boat. Credit: Photofestebooks/Hoffman, Warren/Great White Way_ Race and the Broadway Musical, The - Warren Hoffman.txt
  • Queenie (blackface specialist Tess Gardella, who worked as “Aunt Jemima”) and her husband, Joe (baritone recitalist Jules Bledsoe).ebooks/Mordden, Ethan/Anything Goes_ A History of American Musical Theatre - Ethan Mordden.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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