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Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating look at the original 'Red Hot Mama'
Review: Armond Fields has produced another in his series of fascinating portraits of show business icons from an almost forgotten era. Sophie Tucker is a rich subject, indeed and Armond depicts her humor and gumption with great authority. This guy is both a wonderful historian and cultural detective, finding out the truth about leading figures in the formative years of the American entertainment business. I particularly like how he gets beneath the myth-making that Sophie Tucker spun, to discover the full-bodied, hot-blooded human being beneath the blarney.
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Summary: The Last of the Red Hot Biographies
Review: I learned a great deal in this easy-to-read, well-written biography, and not just about sophie Tucker but about the world of entertainment during much of the twentieth century.Armond Fields' book is a must read for lovers of Sophie, theatre, vaudeville, cabaret, or just plain histiory.
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Summary: This book is not the success that Sophie Tucker was.
Review: I looked forward to reading Armand Fields' book about Sophie Tucker. This is only the fourth book about the late "Queen of Show Business". There is indeed much new material not included in the other books and that makes this one worthwhile. However, this book is filled with errors. One photograph of Sophie Tucker and her grown son Bert is captioned as Sophie and her husband Frank Westphal. Also an ad from the Florentine Gardens circa 1947 is captioned as from the 1930s despite her 40s coiffure and shoulder pads. Mr. Fields seems not to have bothered to watch her films. He calls her role in "Broadway Melody of 1938" a cameo. A role with three songs and five wardrobe changes is hardly a cameo. Sophie does sing two songs in "Sensations of 1945" but not the titles listed by Mr. Fields. He also claims that her scene was cut out of "The Joker Is Wild". She appears in every print of this film that I have ever seen. Shelton Brooks, writer of Sophie Tucker's anthem "Some Of These Days" has his name spelled as "Sheldon" Brooks. Also, songwriter Jack Yellen's name appears as "Yellin" despite the reproduction in the book of a piece of sheet music with the correct spelling.
The author also states that Tucker recorded every song on which her picture appears on the cover. If only that were true! There are many such errors in this biography. To pay (money) for a paperback, you really should have an accurate book as well as more pictures for your money. Sophie Tucker still has not had the treatment she desereves.
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Summary: About Time Soph Got a Good Bio
Review: One of the most colorful and important performers of her time--and "her time" stretched from 1906 to 1966! Fields is a seasoned biographer and has done his homework; this is a thoroughly balanced and well-researched book, a must for students of theater and fans of Soph.
Rating:
Summary: About Time Soph Got a Good Bio
Review: One of the most colorful and important performers of her time--and "her time" stretched from 1906 to 1966! Fields is a seasoned biographer and has done his homework; this is a thoroughly balanced and well-researched book, a must for students of theater and fans of Soph.
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Summary: Armond Fields has done it again!
Review: With this wonderful portrait of legendary American entertainer Sophie Tucker, Fields continues his important series of biographies of vaudeville and musical stage legends who came to prominence before World War One. Previous to Sophie Tucker, much needed full-length biographical treatments have been given to the vaudeville comedy act of Weber and Fields, musical stage star Lillian Russell, comedian Eddie Foy, heavyweight boxing champion turned entertainer James J. Corbett, and neglected musical comedy star Fred Stone. At the rate of one per year, with legendary actress Maud Adams next due for the Fields' treatment, one can only marvel at the uniform thoroughness of research and the excellence of each new book from this prolific author. Sophie Tucker was one of those larger than life entertainers, inimitable and irreplaceable, and the first one of Fields's subjects I can actually remember seeing on television in my teenage years. Such unique entertainers are often difficult to capture with the printed word, but Fields does it, as my own vivid memories of seeing Sophie came back to me. Her triumphant story was unusual- she was a pioneer in many aspects of feminism and its portrayal in various entertainment media in the twentieth century, and Fields conveys it, warts and all, in a way that makes it come alive. Lavishly illustrated with photos, period billboards, and even some of Sophie's hilariously risqué lyrics, this book is a must for anyone interested in fabled American entertainment giants, or in just a plain old superb biographical writing.
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