Artie Hall (c. 1881–1939) 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]
^Lynn Abbott; Doug Seroff (2007). Ragged But Right: Black Travelling Shows, "Coon Songs", and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 17–20. ISBN978-1-57806-901-9.
