Bertha Levine (September 30, 1906 – January 7, 1971),
who used the stage name Spivy ( ), was an American entertainer, nightclub owner, and actress.
Biography
Early life
Bertha Levine was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1906, the eldest of the four daughters of Louis and Helen Levine, Jewish immigrants from Russia.
She played organ in churches and theaters before establishing a career as a singer-pianist in
speakeasies
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
and nightclubs under the name Spivy Le Voe, which she later shortened to Spivy.
Her stage name was reportedly based on a younger sister's mispronunciation of the word "sister."
Performing career
In 1936 she became a regular act at Tony's, a New York nightclub on West 52nd Street, where she performed satirical songs, some of which were written by
John LaTouche, Charlotte Kent and
Jill Rainsford.
In 1939, the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that "Spivy's material, witty, acid, and tragicomic, is better than most of the essays one hears about town, and her delivery is that of a sophisticated artist on her own grounds. She knows the value of surprise in punching a line, she uses understatement unerringly, and her piano accompaniment is superb."
From 1940–1951 she ran her own nightclub, Spivy's Roof, on the top floor of 139
East 57th Street
57th Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan, one of the major two-way, east-west streets in the borough's grid. As with Manhattan's other "crosstown" streets, it is divided into its east and west sections at ...
.
The club was noted for its tolerance of gay performers and patrons; Spivy herself was a lesbian in private life. Among the artists who performed there were
Frances Faye
Frances Faye (November 4, 1912 – November 8, 1991) was an American cabaret and show tune singer and pianist. Born to a working-class Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City, she was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye.
Career
Born as Fran ...
,
Mabel Mercer
Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984) was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned ...
,
Moms Mabley
Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1894 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the ...
,
Alberta Hunter,
Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter (January 15, 1922 – May 14, 1997) was an American jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie ''The Wiz''. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fred and Mary C ...
,
Martha Raye
Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway.
She was honored ...
,
Bea Arthur
Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Arthur began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving ...
,
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
, and actor-magician
Fred Keating.
Although it was reported that Spivy and Keating intended to marry on Christmas Eve 1942, this appears to have been a publicity stunt or
lavender marriage
A lavender marriage is a male–female mixed-orientation marriage, undertaken as a marriage of convenience to conceal the socially stigmatised sexual orientation of one or both partners. The term dates from the early 20th century and is used al ...
.
She released two
78 rpm
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
albums of songs that she regularly performed in her live sets, including "The Tarantella" and "The Alley Cat".
These 13 recordings have never been reissued on CD. Her recordings indicate that her performing style was to "recite" (rather than sing) the lyrics over piano accompaniment. In 1951,
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was we ...
was appearing at Spivy's Roof when the club closed. He later talked about Spivy and her club on the April 30, 1976 episode of
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
.
Later acting career
In the 1950s, Spivy spent several years touring Paris, London, and Rome before returning to the U.S. in 1957, where she embarked on a new career as a
character actor, usually billed as Madame Spivy.
In 1957-58, she appeared as Mother Burnside in the Broadway production of ''
Auntie Mame
''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father.
The book is often desc ...
''.
Spivy had supporting roles in the films ''
The Fugitive Kind
''The Fugitive Kind'' is a 1960 American drama film starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, and Joanne Woodward, directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Meade Roberts and Tennessee Williams was based on the latter's 1957 play ''Orpheus Des ...
,
Studs Lonigan
''Studs Lonigan'' is a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: ''Young Lonigan'' (1932), '' The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan'' (1934), and ''Judgment Day'' (1935). In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on ...
,
All Fall Down,
Requiem for a Heavyweight
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
'', and ''
The Manchurian Candidate
''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy.
Th ...
'', where her stout physique led to her being cast as matronly or villainous characters. Her best-remembered television appearance is a darkly humorous installment of ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', the 1959 episode
"Specialty of the House" in which she played the manager of a restaurant whose unsuspecting guests implicitly end up on the menu.
Death
By 1969, Spivy had been diagnosed with cancer. Her friend
Patsy Kelly
Patsy Kelly (born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal R ...
arranged for her to move into the
Motion Picture Country Home
The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as temp ...
in
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...
,
where she died on January 7, 1971, aged 64.
[ ]
Discography
*''Seven Gay Sophisticated Songs by Spivy'' (1939)
*''An Evening with Spivy'' (1947)
Filmography
Selected television appearances
Notes
References
External links
*
Queer Music Heritage
{{authority control
1906 births
1971 deaths
American film actresses
American television actresses
Jewish American actresses
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Nightclub owners
LGBT actresses
American LGBT actors
Actresses from New York City
People from Brooklyn
LGBT people from New York (state)
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American Jews
20th-century LGBT people