Open Writing

The second heavyweight champion to cruise across my bow was sometimes called "England’s Answer to Sophie Tucker." What Tessie herself thought of this soubriquet is not recorded, but it is not too hard to imagine that she would have made some comment on it when we consider that she was born in Welsh Wales’s City of Cardiff, to an Irish father and a Lancastrian mother.

Teresa O'Shea made her first appearance in public in 1913, and in 1919 at the age of six, 'The Wonder of Wales' as she was called, appeared onstage in variety theatres ranging from London to the North East of England. In another six years she abandoned her semi-professional status and took to the boards as a full time artiste.

She was not called "Two Ton Tessie" for nothing. The unflattering appellation was well deserved, for she had what we will genteelly term a certain plumpness. However, rather than hiding her size and girth, even as a young child, she capitalised on her noticeable bulk by rendering such songs as "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl," "I Wish I Was Thinner!" and other songs with similar themes.

Tessie was no more than a few years into her twenties when she added a song to her repertoire that was not only a big hit with her audiences, but would also become her theme song. That number was "Two Ton Tessie From Tennessee."

The high water mark of her success, popularity, and universal acceptance was when she became a regular bill topper and show stopper at the world famous London Palladium.

Almost two decades later, Noël Coward wrote a role – fish & chip peddler, "Ada Cockle" – especially for the big and well beloved lady in his hit Broadway musical, "The Girl Who Came To Supper''. Her appearance in that show proved to be her biggest break, for America had discovered the sizeable singer whose songs sizzled and scintillated as much as she did, and it took her to their hearts and made her feel at home. In due time, Hollywood gave her the part of Mrs Hobday in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks."

Ever the performer, Tessie O’Shea’s sunny and friendly disposition warmed her audiences, making them not only enjoy her performances, but also to feel ties of kinship and love for this extraordinary Star, who continued to please and entertain spectators in her ebullient, yet tender, style, until she died in the warmth of Florida sunshine that, despite its almost continuous presence, still fails to match the intense personal warmth that Tessie emitted, because whereas Old Sol warms the Body, Tessie made us forget our woes and worries by warming our souls and stealing coldness from our hearts, replacing it with optimism and a joy that makes us want to deal with our disappointments by kicking as high as we can, singing as loudly as we can, and by being a fountain of golden sunshine, friendliness, and good cheer, in the same way Tessie did, and that remains functions that though absent in body she performs through her gramophone recordings.

My understanding is that the greatness of an artiste is not measured by record sales, and the size of their audiences, but is determined by the affection felt by those among whom they work, and by the impressions gained by those who meet them outside of theatres.

An American musician from Jersey, Don Hunter, bears an impressive testimony of her. Don played drums in Tessie’s band in the US, North Africa, and Germany, and describes her as, "a great person [who] really commanded the stage and audience," concluding that she was, "A great loss to the stage."

Steve Barclay, a former variety artiste, says of her, "What a performer! I work in show business and have paid tribute to her on stage many times. All the people who knew her say what nice person she was."

Audience member, Susan Grant, of London explains, "I remember visiting the Metropolitan in London's Edgware Road with my family in the 1950s. Although I was very young I clearly remember Two Ton Tessie - she was an amazing woman - big in stature, voice, and personality. … Memories of Tessie will always remain for me."

David from Romsey, Hampshire, recalls, "I remember seeing Tessie at the Wood Green Empire in North London just after WWII. What a great act; she always had the audience singing along with her!"

Frank Palmer of Aylesbury, tells of ‘Auntie Tessie’s’ care and concern for the girls who formed ‘Terry’s Juveniles’ that played with her and his wife, Jean Chambers in the 1938 and 1939 summer seasons at Blackpool’s famous North Pier. He describes her ukulele playing as ‘wonderful.’ It is telling that Tessie paid attention to the young lasses, when she was only nineteen and twenty years old, and little more than a child herself.

Lynette O'Shea, Tessie’s cousin by marriage, affirms, "It's lovely to see some of the websites [dedicated to Tessie’s memory] and listen to some of the recordings lovingly put together by people who recognise her great talent, not only as an entertainer but as a grand lady."

That estimation of her as a ‘grand lady’ is echoed in former soldier, Jim Crawley’s memory. Steeped in all things to do with ‘Two Ton Tessie’ from an early age, he remembered fondly, "My most prized memory was when she came to Klagenfurt, Austria, which was then an occupied country in 1952. I was a British soldier then, and when she heard my Glasgow accent she hugged me, and said she once sang there in Barrowland, Britain's best ballroom dancehall. I was then nineteen and got a hug from her!"

Tessie O’Shea’s cousin, Clare, reports, She … autographed a photograph of herself, naming me as a cousin. She came to Newcastle upon Tyne’s Empire Theatre, sometime in the late 1950's or early 60's, and my late father visited her at the theatre. She made him very welcome. Shortly after that we heard she had moved to the States permanently. I think she ought to be recognised more, as she was a talented performer."

Pat Moony, the Irish comedian, said that when Tessie was at the City Varieties Theatre in Leeds, recording a show for the BBC series "The Good Old Days," she fell from the stage during rehearsals and broke a rib, but after going to hospital, the warm hearted trouper went on and did her act for the recording.

John Price of Rotherham, Yorkshire, treasures the memory of a particularly kind international star who never forgot that she was a human being, just like those who idolised her: "I remember Two Ton Tessie buying me an ice cream a few times in the Dowlais Hotel in Cardiff, either just towards the end of WW2 or just after. I was only a young boy then and used to go in there with my father."

Two Ton Tessie O’Shea was never embarrassed by her size, never altered by her success, not unduly flattered by the fame she achieved as payment for sharing her outstanding talent and personality. There are no reports of her taking drugs, getting violent, hitting photographers, refusing a request for a signed picture or an autograph, or of her trashing hotel rooms.

Whether as a performer or a human being, Two Ton Tessie O’Shea fills the bill. She weighed in at seventeen stones [238 lbs], a dimension that easily qualifies her for a place among the heavyweights, while her engaging and ardent disposition, coupled with more talent than you could shake a stick at, confirm her as a champion, and a Heavyweight Champion at that. Well done, Tessie!

Copyright © 2008 – Ronnie Bray

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