Tucker was born Sofya "Sonya" Kalish (in Russian, Sof'ia <<Sonia>> Kalish) in 1887 to a Jewish family en route to America from Tulchyn, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire, now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. ("Sonya" is a nickname for the name "Sofya", the Russian form of the name Sophie.) The family adopted the surname Abuza, settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and opened a restaurant. At a young age, she began singing at her parents' restaurant for tips.
Stage
In 1907, Tucker made her first theater appearance, singing at an amateur night in a vaudeville establishment. It was here that she was first made to wear blackface during performance, as her producers thought that the crowd would tease her for being "so big and ugly." By 1908, she had joined a burlesque show in Pittsburgh but was ashamed to tell her family that she was performing in a deep southern accent wearing burnt cork on her face. While touring later that year, luggage including her makeup kit was lost, and Tucker was allowed to go on stage without the blackface.  She then stunned the crowd by saying, "You all can see I'm a white girl. Well, I'll tell you something more: I'm not Southern. I'm a Jewish girl and I just learned this Southern accent doing a blackface act for two years. And now, Mr. Leader, please play my song." Tucker also began integrating "fat girl" humor, which became a common thread in her acts. Her songs included "I Don't Want to Get Thin" and "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love."  In 1909, at the age of 22, Tucker performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. Though she was a hit, the other female stars refused to share the spotlight with her, and the company was forced to let her go. This caught the attention of William Morris, a theater owner and future founder of the William Morris Agency, which would become one of the largest and most powerful talent agencies of the era. Two years later, Tucker released "Some of These Days" on Edison Records, written by Shelton Brooks. The title of the song was later used as the title of Tucker's 1945 biography.  In 1921, Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for her, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920s and became friends with stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters, who introduced her to jazz. Tucker learned from these talented women and became one of the first performers to introduce jazz to white vaudeville audiences.  In 1925, Jack Yellen wrote one of her most famous songs, "My Yiddishe Momme". The song was performed in large American cities where there were sizable Jewish audiences. Tucker explained, "Even though I loved the song and it was a sensational hit every time I sang it, I was always careful to use it only when I knew the majority of the house would understand Yiddish. However, you didn't have to be a Jew to be moved by My Yiddishe Momme." During the Hitler regime, the song was banned by the German government for evoking Jewish culture.

Q: When did she first take stage?
A: In 1907,

Q: What did she sing on stage?
A: singing at an amateur night in a vaudeville establishment. It was here that she was first made to wear blackface during performance, as her producers

Q: Was she well received at first?
A: as her producers thought that the crowd would tease her for being "so big and ugly."

Q: When did she find success on stage?
A: In 1909, at the age of 22, Tucker performed with the Ziegfeld Follies.

Q: Did she perform with anyone else of note?
A: Ted Shapiro
What did she do with Ted?
a position he would keep throughout her career.
a position he would keep throughout her career.