{"id":89333,"date":"2022-10-07T00:52:02","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T00:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/comedienne-was-72-the-hollywood-reporter\/"},"modified":"2022-10-07T00:52:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T00:52:02","slug":"comedienne-was-72-the-hollywood-reporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/comedienne-was-72-the-hollywood-reporter\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedienne Was 72 \u2013 The Hollywood Reporter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tJudy Tenuta, the eclectic comedienne known as \u201cThe Love Goddess\u201d and \u201cAphrodite of the Accordion\u201d to her legions of fans, has died. She was 72.<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta died Thursday at her home Studio City after a battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer, publicist Harlan Boll announced.<\/p>\n

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\tDuring her first solo stand-up performance, Tenuta shocked audiences by dressing up as the Virgin Mary, and after being encouraged by her friends to incorporate an accordion into her routine \u2014 an instrument her mother, a fan of Lawrence Welk, encouraged her to learn \u2014 she developed the character into the wisecracking \u201cLove Goddess.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta soon introduced the public to such other exaggerated, campy and offbeat personas as \u201cThe Petite Flower,\u201d \u201cFashion-Plate Saint,\u201d \u201cQueen of Candy-Pants,\u201d \u201cPrincess of Panty Shields,\u201d \u201cEmpress of Elvis Impersonators\u201d and \u201cBuffers of Foreheads.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tLike \u201cThe Love Goddess\u201d and \u201cAphrodite of the Accordion,\u201d these characters sported an array of fantastical costumes made up of feather boots, egg bras, nippy cup necklace and gauzy capes to go with a variety of props \u2015 including her accordion, now on display at the Hollywood Museum.<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta also portrayed the dominatrix Samantha Rottweiler in Butch Camp<\/em> (1996) and a former child star bent on a comeback in Desperation Boulevard<\/em> (1998) in a movie she also produced; she co-starred with Bruce Vilanch in Sister Mary<\/em> (2011); and had a featured role in Material Girls<\/em> (2006), starring Hilary and Haylie Duff and directed by Martha Coolidge.<\/p>\n

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\tShe worked often with a kindred spirit, \u201cWeird Al\u201d Yankovic.<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta appeared onstage in Los Angeles and Chicago in The Vagina Monologues<\/em> and Menopause the Musical<\/em> and headlined stand-up specials on HBO, Showtime and Lifetime.<\/p>\n

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\tShe received Grammy noms for best comedy album for Attention Butt-Pirates<\/em> and Lesbetarians!<\/em> and In Goddess We Trust<\/em> and wrote the books The Power of Judyism<\/em>published in 1991, and Full Frontal Tenudity<\/em>published in 2014.<\/p>\n

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\tOne of nine siblings, Tenuda (named after Judy Garland) was born into a Catholic family in Oak Park, Illinois on Nov. 7, 1949. Her mother, Johanna, was Polish and her father, Caesar, was Italian. She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she majored in theater and was the first of her family to graduate college.<\/p>\n

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\tHer interest in comedy began when she took an improv class with The Second City and she was quickly opening for other comics in the Windy City throughout the 1970s.<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta left Chicago and moved to New York City in the ’80s to co-host an HBO comedy special with Ellen DeGeneres, Rita Rudner, Martin Short and Paula Poundstone.<\/p>\n

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\tTenuta gained mainstream notoriety for a series of television ads for MTV and Diet Dr. Pepper and headed to Los Angeles, where she harbored a fiercely independent attitude, openly rejecting Hollywood beauty standards and celebrity. <\/p>\n

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\tTenuta was an outspoken advocate for gay rights and had a faithful following in the LGBTQ community. Early on, she performed at gay bars and clubs around Chicago, appeared as a grand marshal at Gay Pride festivals and became ordained as a minister to officiate same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n

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\tShe recently completed an inspirational video she called Kicking Cancer’s Ass<\/em>which was shot during isolation and quarantine at home during the months of COVID-19. <\/p>\n

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\tSurvivors include her life partner, Vern Pang; brothers Daniel, John, Steven, Thomas and James; sister Barbara; and two nephews, four nieces and a grand-niece. She will be interred at the Hollywood Forever cemetery.<\/p>\n

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\tDonations in her memory can be made to Make a Wish Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or City of Hope.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n