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Thea Vidale

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Thea Vidale
Birth nameThea R. Vidale
Born (1956-11-20) November 20, 1956 (age 68)
Washington, D.C., United States
Medium
NationalityAmerican
Years active1986–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Notable works and rolesThea

Thea R. Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actress.[1] Vidale is perhaps best known for her role as Thea Armstrong-Turrell in the ABC sitcom Thea, which originally aired from 1993 until 1994. Vidale is noted as the first African American female comedian to have a television series named after her.

Biography

Early life and education

Vidale was born in Washington, D.C. into a military family with three sisters and moved around frequently. Her family moved to Victoria, Texas when she was 12 years old.[2] She graduated from Victoria High School in 1975 or 1976.[2][citation needed] After high school, Vidale worked as a waitress in Pasadena, Texas[2] before friends encouraged her to be a comedian.[3][2]

Career

Vidale began her career in 1986 performing at amateur stand-up comedy nights in Houston[2] before quickly progressing to comedy clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. She appeared in the cable comedy special Rodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place on HBO in 1989. On the same special were such notables as Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy, and Sam Kinison. She performed on Late Night With David Letterman and toured internationally.[2] Vidale's most prominent featured role on a TV series was as the title character, a single mother, on the short-lived 1993 sitcom Thea.[4] The show lasted only one season in which it was noted to be "ranked near 50 out of approximately 75 shows in the weekly Nielsen ratings" [4] Nevertheless, she was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series.[citation needed] She was regularly a judge on the BET comedy competition TV series Comic View.[2] She has performed on numerous sitcoms, including Ellen, The Wayans Bros., The Drew Carey Show, and My Wife and Kids. Vidale made a guest appearance, playing a hairdresser, in the episode "Queens for a Day" (2007) of the television series Ugly Betty. That same year, she played the part of Helen's grandmother on the Drake & Josh episode "Really Big Shrimp". Vidale provided the voice of Mammy Two Shoes in re-dubbed versions of 19 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1989 to 2001. She has performed in feature films such as 1995's Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Jerry Springer's Ringmaster[2] in 1998, and the 2006 Master P comedy Repos.

Vidale performed on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2006. She appeared as the mother to wrestler Shelton Benjamin, who had been going through difficulties in the preceding weeks. Her first appearance was on the January 2 episode of Raw.[5] Over the next several weeks, "Momma Benjamin" was involved in several backstage skits resulting in her challenging wrestlers to matches on Shelton's behalf. Shelton won the majority of these matches, breaking his losing streak before her arrival.[6][7][8]

On the February 6, 2006, episode of RAW, Momma Benjamin attempted to interfere in Shelton's match with the Big Show, only to have the Big Show turn to her and scream in her face. After he turned back to finish the match (which he won), Momma Benjamin fainted to the ground, prompting EMTs to rush to her side and wheel her backstage.[9] The official WWE website later announced that she was resting at home after suffering from a heart arrhythmia, which was what caused her to pass out. Momma Benjamin returned to Raw the next week,[10] but with an oxygen tank attached to her wheelchair that started being used as a weapon, especially on the February 20 episode when she led Shelton to winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship, in the process turning them both heel.[11] Momma Benjamin was mentioned for the final time on WWE television on March 13, with Shelton announcing to the crowd that she was having heart surgery, and had no plans to return to WWE.[12]

Later stand-up career

Her national comedy tour in 1999 was titled Thea Vidale, Down & Dirty.[2] In 2007, she competed on the reality television show Last Comic Standing, making it to the second round.[13] In 2009, Vidale was part of the Hot Tamales Live! presented by Kiki Melendez comedy tour, which was filmed for Showtime.[14] On December 12, 2012, she appeared on Standup in Stilettos, a standup comedy show on the TV Guide Network.[15] She performed on the third and seventh episode of the first season of the Gabriel Iglesias stand-up series Stand Up Revolution.

Other media appearances

In 1999, Vidale appeared at the Philadelphia GLBT Pride Fest, her first GLBT event, with comic Etta May. Both were honored by the city's mayor, who officially named the day simultaneously "Thea Vidale Day" & "Etta May Day". Vidale served as co-host for both the 2005 and 2009 AVN Awards.[16]

Personal life

Vidale has spoken often about her troubled marriage where she suffered physical abuse from her husband.[4] She has four children[17] (twin daughters and two sons,[2] slightly younger) from that marriage and later left the children with her ex-husband when she was touring.[4] She has spoken frequently about her faith in God.[4]

On October 21, 2010, Vidale was a guest on The Howard Stern Show, where she announced she had decided to have gastric bypass surgery because she had developed complications resulting from type 2 diabetes. She stated, "I have four children. This is not about vanity...I want it to be like a rebirth. A new me. A healthier me."[17]

References

  1. ^ O'Connor, John J. (September 29, 1993). "Review/Television; Finally, Mother Knows Best". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Comedienne Addicted To Laughter". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. February 1, 1999. p. 6A. Retrieved July 30, 2020 – via Google News. continued on p. 12
  3. ^ "ABC Comedy 'Thea' Falls Into Netherworld". Milwaukee Sentinel. September 8, 1993 – via Google News.
  4. ^ a b c d e Austin, Monette (May 20, 1994). "Will The Real Thea Vidale Do Stand-up?: Sassy TV Mom To Perform At Norfolk Comedy Theater May 20, 1994". Daily Press. Toronto. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "RAW results - January 2, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  6. ^ "RAW results - January 9, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  7. ^ "RAW results - January 16, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  8. ^ PWI Staff (May 2006). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated". Arena Reports. Kappa Publishing. p. 130. Shelton Benjamin pinned Goldust
  9. ^ "RAW results - February 6, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  10. ^ "RAW results - February 13, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  11. ^ "RAW results - February 20, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  12. ^ "RAW results - March 13, 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  13. ^ "Last Comic Standing: 32 minutes in". PunchlineMagazine.com. Retrieved 2007-06-21. And the LA winners are: Thea Vidale...
  14. ^ "'Hot Tamales Live': Comedy with a twist". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on 2009-10-08.
  15. ^ MacIntyre, April (October 8, 2012). "TV Guide 'StandUp In Stilettos' Premiering on November 10". Monstersandcritics.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29.
  16. ^ "A Missing Breast Does Not An Annulment Make". AVN.com. March 22, 2000. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Vidale, Thea (October 21, 2010). "Thea Vidale's Hard Life: The Howard Stern Show for October 21, 2010". HowardStern.com. Interviewed by Howard Stern. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
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