Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton"Suits Me is the biography of a now notorious jazz musician named Billy Tipton, who grew up as Dorothy Tipton in Oklahoma City and Kansas City but lived as a man from the time she was nineteen until she died at age seventy-four. Billy Tipton's death in Spokane, Washington, made news all over the world, not because he was celebrated as a musician but because the scale of his deception - he had been "married" to five women and had reared several adopted children - and the scarcity of ready explanations endowed the skimpy available facts with the aura of myth." "But locked away in Billy's office closet lay files of clippings and photographs documenting the transformation of Billy from she to he, as well as a legacy of annotated comic routines, musical arrangements, and program notes. These revealed to Diane Wood Middlebrook how Billy scattered clues and riddles night after night about the drag she wore. These hints were so bold that they helped conceal Billy's secrets." "With brio and pathos, Suits Me tells the life story of this brilliant deceiver, who lived and loved in two skins, one of each sex."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
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Page 127
... June was not really a professional singer and had no regular job with a band , she was sometimes billed as a torch singer , as in " carrying a torch , ” as in " tortured . " Her style evoked comparisons with some of the best jazz ...
... June was not really a professional singer and had no regular job with a band , she was sometimes billed as a torch singer , as in " carrying a torch , ” as in " tortured . " Her style evoked comparisons with some of the best jazz ...
Page 129
... June shared it after they married . He became quite friendly with Gladys , as he had with Helen Teagarden back in his Oklahoma City days . Both of these landladies were active , independent widows who had seen a lot of life , women who ...
... June shared it after they married . He became quite friendly with Gladys , as he had with Helen Teagarden back in his Oklahoma City days . Both of these landladies were active , independent widows who had seen a lot of life , women who ...
Page 135
... June were no longer together . Billy had a double identity , and quite possibly June had fallen in love with only half of it . “ Why not take all of me ? " was such stuff as songs were made of , but marriages needed firmer ground , and ...
... June were no longer together . Billy had a double identity , and quite possibly June had fallen in love with only half of it . “ Why not take all of me ? " was such stuff as songs were made of , but marriages needed firmer ground , and ...
Contents
But Who Was She? 18891928 12 | 12 |
Kansas City 19291932 | 33 |
The In Sex 19331934 | 49 |
Copyright | |
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band bandstand Banner Cavaliers began Benny Goodman Betty Cox Bill Pierson Billy booked Billy Tipton Billy Tipton Trio Billy's death boys brother Buck called Clarence Cagle Cotton Club cousins cross-dressing dance Dave Sobol Dick O'Neil Dorothy Dorothy's dressed Earl Eilene entertainment father female George Mayer Gerry Everding girl high school Hotel interview with DM jazz joke Joplin June Kansas City kids Kitty Kelly Kitty Oakes Kitty's knew lesbian Lew Raines lived look Madeline married Mary Lou Williams masculine mother movie musicians never night nightclub Non Earl Norma Teagarden Oklahoma City Paul Jensen person radio recalled records Reggie Reggie's remembered role Ron Kilde saxophone Spokane story Swing talk Teddy Wilson telephone interview things Thomas Tipton thought Tipton to Kitty told took town W. T. Tipton wanted wife William woman women