Artie Hall Explained

Artie Hall
Birth Place:Georgia, United States
Death Place:Queens, New York
Nationality:American
Occupation:Vaudeville performer
Spouse:Robert Fulgora[1]

Artie Hall (–1939) was an American vaudeville singer and actress, known for her blackface performances as a coon shouter. She was a "petite vocalist with a strong voice".[2] Her most successful role was Topsy in William A. Brady's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. A controversial part of her act was the removal of a glove to reveal her white skin at the end of a song.[3]

Artie Hall was initially reported to have died during the April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake.[4] This apparently was misconstrued, and misquoted by the New York Times before it was discovered she didn't die.[5]

Hall was married circa 1899 to an actor named Robert Fulgora. They were divorced by September 1914.[6] She later married William Atwell, a vaudeville agent. Hall died from a kidney ailment at her home in Astoria, Queens, New York on March 20, 1939, aged 58.[7]

Her sister, Pauline Des Landes (known professionally as Bonita) was also a vaudeville actress.[8]

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=-LqHGT4EPSQC&q=mrs.+robert%25fulgora&pg=PA355 Monarchs of Minstrelsy from "Daddy" Rice to Date, page 355 by Edward Le Roy Rice c.1911
  2. Book: Armond Fields. Armond Fields. Tony Pastor, father of vaudeville. 2007. McFarland. 978-0-7864-3054-3. 170.
  3. Book: Lynn Abbott. Doug Seroff. Ragged But Right: Black Travelling Shows, "Coon Songs", and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. 2007. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-57806-901-9. 17–20.
  4. News: Artie Hall is killed. April 21, 1906. New York Times. ... PDF version readout
  5. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1906-04-24/ed-1/seq-6/#date1=1906&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Artie+Hall&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=11&state=&date2=1916&proxtext=artie+hall&y=10&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2 Los Angeles Herald
  6. Variety, September 1914 [PDF]
  7. Artie Hall . Variety . March 29, 1939 . 46 .
  8. Book: Frank Cullen. Florence Hackman. Donald McNeilly. Vaudeville, old and new. 2007. Routledge. 978-0-415-93853-2. 499.