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. The

Aunt Jemima Pearl Milling Company (formerly known as Aunt Jemima from 1889 to 2021) is an American breakfast brand for Baking mix, pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix for the brand was developed i ...

brand name used for pancake mix and related products in the United States was patterned after her performance persona. She performed on both stage and screen, usually in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

. Tess was born in

Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania Glen Lyon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Newport Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,873 at the 2010 census. History The town of Glen Lyon was founded after anthracite coal mining began in Newport Tow ...

, to John and Louisa Gardella. She came to New York City in 1918, singing in dances and nightclubs and also political rallies. She died of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

in Brooklyn, New York, on January 3, 1950.''obituary, ''Variety''Jan. 11,1950

Vaudeville

She was introduced to the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

stage by Lew Leslie, who gave her the stage name of Aunt Jemima. She appeared at the

Palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

and the

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the wor ...

, and attracted very favorable reviews from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. For her final performance, she returned to vaudeville, playing the Palace once more in 1949.

Theater

Her first performance in the legitimate theater was in the 1921 version of ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. F ...

.'' But she was best known for her role in the classic stage musical ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' in 1927, where she originated the role of Queenie. She was the only member of the original Broadway cast to appear in blackface; the show featured an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

chorus.

Jules Bledsoe Julius Lorenzo Cobb Bledsoe (1898 – July 14, 1943)
by John Troesser. Retrieved ...

, who originated the role of Joe in the same production and sang ''

Ol' Man River "Ol' Man River" is a show tune from the 1927 musical '' Show Boat'' with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississi ...

'', was also African-American. She played the entire original run of the show, which ended in May 1929, and even returned for a 1932 Broadway revival which reunited most of the original 1927 cast. After Show Boat, she returned to the vaudeville stage.

Film

During the 1930s, Gardella appeared in occasional movie shorts filmed in New York, including the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

series ''

Rambling 'Round Radio Row ''Rambling 'Round Radio Row'' (1932 - 1934) is a series of short subjects, produced by Jerry Wald, and released by the Vitaphone division of Warner Brothers. The final film in the series, released 1934, was #3 of the second season, and starred ...

'' (1932–34). She appeared in the film that made

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

a star, '' Stand Up and Cheer!'' (1934). She was usually billed as "Aunt Jemima". In 1938, the Vitaphone studio starred her as "Tess Gardella (Aunt Jemima)" in the two-reel musical short ''A Swing Opera''. In this updated condensation of the famous operetta ''

The Bohemian Girl ''The Bohemian Girl'' is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, ''La Gitanilla''. The best-known aria from the piece is "I Dreamt I D ...

'', with special lyrics by

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...

and

Saul Chaplin Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American composer and musical director. He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he wo ...

, Gardella was top-billed as the gypsy queen and does not wear blackface. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' summed up her appeal as the personification of the "colored mammy."'' Billboard, ''March 21, 1931

References

External links

* * * 1894 births 1950 deaths American stage actresses American film actresses American people of Italian descent Blackface minstrel performers Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Deaths from diabetes Vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers {{US-film-actor-1890s-stub