Thomas Craig "T. C." Jones (October 26, 1920 â€" September 25, 1971)
was an American female impersonator, actor, and dancer who from the
mid-1940s to the late 1960s performed on stage, in nightclubs, films,
and on television. He was known chiefly in the entertainment industry
for his imitations in full costume of many famous actresses and other
women, including Tallulah Bankhead, Mae West, Judy Garland, Katharine
Hepburn, Bette Davis, Édith Piaf, and Carmen Miranda. In 1959, the
American magazine Time described Jones as "probably the best female
impersonator since vaudeville's late famed Julian Eltinge".T. C. Jones
was born in 1920 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Prior to his entertainment
career, he attended Bethany College in West Virginia to study for the
Campbellite ministry, but midway through his education there he was
"bitten by the acting bug" after spending one summer performing in
plays in a stock company. That stage experience convinced him to leave
Bethany and return to Pennsylvania to enroll in drama school at
Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh. Soon, with the outbreak of World War II,
Jones joined the United States Navy and served as a pharmacist's mate
at naval hospitals in Philadelphia and in Jacksonville, Florida.After
his discharge from naval service, Jones moved to New York City in the
fall of 1943, hoping to resume his plans for a stage career. He
secured a job as a "chorus boy" in Willie Howard's Broadway musical My
Dear Public before obtaining more substantial parts in the productions
Jackpot and Sadie Thompson. During times when he was not being cast in
additional plays, Jones served as an assistant stage manager, a
position that afforded him many opportunities to observe and study
closely the speech patterns, mannerisms, and costume choices of a
variety of actresses. Soon he began imitating those performers and
impressing his theatre colleagues with his talent for mimicry, so much
so that they encouraged him to display those abilities to audiences.
By 1946 Jones began working professionally in New York as a female
impersonator, first with the Provincetown Players in Greenwich
Village. Cast as "Fat Fanny", he performed his first impersonations on
stage in the Players' production of E. E. Cummings' play Him. He later
recalled how simply his performance specialty started at that time:
"One night...another of the players brought me some...material that
was hilarious. The only catch was that it more or less required a
woman to deliver it. He suggested I do an impersonation." Public
reaction to his performance was so positive that it led Jones to
develop a nightclub act featuring his female characters.Jones next
moved to the Jewel Box Revue in Miami, where he presented and refined
his impersonations of stars such as Tallulah Bankhead, Katherine
Hepburn, Édith Piaf, Claudette Colbert, and Bette Davis. Jones's
performances, especially his portrayal of Bankhead, attracted the
attention of theatrical producer Leonard Sillman, who cast him in New
Faces of 1956, a revue directed by Paul Lynde. Although some people
had strongly advised Sillman not to cast Jones, the producer stated,
"I never think of T.C. as a female impersonator, as a man imitating a
woman. T.C. on stage is simply an extraordinarily talented woman."
Jones in the revue entered the stage by descending a staircase to the
tune "Isn't She Lovely" and, as Bankhead, acted as mistress of
ceremonies. The show proved to be a hit, running for 220 performances.
The following year Jones starred in Mask and Gown, another Broadway
revue. Jones toured with Mask and Gown nationally and internationally,
but it was unsuccessful.
was an American female impersonator, actor, and dancer who from the
mid-1940s to the late 1960s performed on stage, in nightclubs, films,
and on television. He was known chiefly in the entertainment industry
for his imitations in full costume of many famous actresses and other
women, including Tallulah Bankhead, Mae West, Judy Garland, Katharine
Hepburn, Bette Davis, Édith Piaf, and Carmen Miranda. In 1959, the
American magazine Time described Jones as "probably the best female
impersonator since vaudeville's late famed Julian Eltinge".T. C. Jones
was born in 1920 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Prior to his entertainment
career, he attended Bethany College in West Virginia to study for the
Campbellite ministry, but midway through his education there he was
"bitten by the acting bug" after spending one summer performing in
plays in a stock company. That stage experience convinced him to leave
Bethany and return to Pennsylvania to enroll in drama school at
Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh. Soon, with the outbreak of World War II,
Jones joined the United States Navy and served as a pharmacist's mate
at naval hospitals in Philadelphia and in Jacksonville, Florida.After
his discharge from naval service, Jones moved to New York City in the
fall of 1943, hoping to resume his plans for a stage career. He
secured a job as a "chorus boy" in Willie Howard's Broadway musical My
Dear Public before obtaining more substantial parts in the productions
Jackpot and Sadie Thompson. During times when he was not being cast in
additional plays, Jones served as an assistant stage manager, a
position that afforded him many opportunities to observe and study
closely the speech patterns, mannerisms, and costume choices of a
variety of actresses. Soon he began imitating those performers and
impressing his theatre colleagues with his talent for mimicry, so much
so that they encouraged him to display those abilities to audiences.
By 1946 Jones began working professionally in New York as a female
impersonator, first with the Provincetown Players in Greenwich
Village. Cast as "Fat Fanny", he performed his first impersonations on
stage in the Players' production of E. E. Cummings' play Him. He later
recalled how simply his performance specialty started at that time:
"One night...another of the players brought me some...material that
was hilarious. The only catch was that it more or less required a
woman to deliver it. He suggested I do an impersonation." Public
reaction to his performance was so positive that it led Jones to
develop a nightclub act featuring his female characters.Jones next
moved to the Jewel Box Revue in Miami, where he presented and refined
his impersonations of stars such as Tallulah Bankhead, Katherine
Hepburn, Édith Piaf, Claudette Colbert, and Bette Davis. Jones's
performances, especially his portrayal of Bankhead, attracted the
attention of theatrical producer Leonard Sillman, who cast him in New
Faces of 1956, a revue directed by Paul Lynde. Although some people
had strongly advised Sillman not to cast Jones, the producer stated,
"I never think of T.C. as a female impersonator, as a man imitating a
woman. T.C. on stage is simply an extraordinarily talented woman."
Jones in the revue entered the stage by descending a staircase to the
tune "Isn't She Lovely" and, as Bankhead, acted as mistress of
ceremonies. The show proved to be a hit, running for 220 performances.
The following year Jones starred in Mask and Gown, another Broadway
revue. Jones toured with Mask and Gown nationally and internationally,
but it was unsuccessful.
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