Belle Barth

Belle Barth (1911(?) ^¹ - 1971), née Annabelle Salzman (Epstein 2001:180), was a Jewish-American comedian who worked primarily during the 1950s and 1960s. She was known for her bawdy, unrepentantly irreverent humor. Barth released 11 albums (link title)^³ during her career and was married five times (Epstein 2001:180). Though she played at hotels and nightclubs in New York, had her own club in Miami, and even performed at Carnegie Hall (link)³ she did not achieve the lasting fame or notoriety of male comedians of the day. In 2007, Barth will be featured in the Off-Broadway production The J.A.P. Show: Jewish American Princesses of Comedy, which includes live standup routines by four female Jewish comics juxtaposed with the stories of legendary performers from the 1950s and 1960s, Jean Carroll, Pearl Williams and Betty Walker, Totie Fields, and Barth herself. She released 11 "adult party albums," which were recorded live at her club gigs:

   “If I Embarrass You Tell Your Friends”
   “Hell’s Belle”
   “Belle Barth’s Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild World!”
   “The Book of Knowledge”
   “I Don’t Mean to be Vulgar, but it’s Profitable” 
   “In Person”
   “My Next Story Is a Little Risque”
   “For Adults Only”
   “The Customer Comes First”
   “Censored!”
   “Battle of the Mothers!” (with Pearl Williams)
   “Party Snatches – the Best of . . .” (featured)

See also

• The Actors Temple

References

• ¹Klein, Alvin. "Three Funny Women, Joking Through Pain.” The New York Times, April 28, 1996.
• Epstein, Lawrence J. (2001). The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America, PublicAffairs™, a member of the Perseus Books Group. ISBN 1-58648-162-2 (pbk)

External links

• Princesses of Comedy official website