Judy Tenuta

The veteran comic, known for her oddball deliveries, brutal insults, and accordion-accompanied songs, was 72.

(Tenuta was a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights from the earliest days of her career.) As with many of the alt-comedy heroes of the era, she also lent her face and voice to plenty of TV shows, including memorable appearances on Space Ghost Coast To Coast and Dr. (Fellow accordion devotee Weird Al Yankovic would be a long-time collaborator, including Tenuta in many of his film and TV projects.) (Hell of a bill.) Tenuta’s set in the special is typical her: A “Hi, pigs” greeting, followed by a massive burst of comedic energy that’s as disorienting as it is hilarious.

Judy Tenuta, a longtime stand-up comic who guested on numerous TV shows and appeared in two "Weird" Al Yankovic videos, died OCtober 6 of ovarian cancer in ...

She was an outspoken advocate for gay rights and has amassed a following in the LGBTQ community. It become an inspiration to others and an unexpected battle cry for those who are experiencing not only cancer but other health issues, including Covid. Known to fans as “The Love Goddess,” Tenuta’s stage act was delivered in a shrill, loud, sometimes gravelly voice and often included an accordion. She also had several specials on HBO, Showtime and Lifetime and performed stand-up on such TV shows as Late Night with David Letterman, One Night Stand, The Sunday Comics, The Pat Sajak Show, Comics Unleashed, The Dennis Miller Show, Gotham Comedy Live, An Evening at the Improv and others. Elsewhere on the small screen, she appeared on Hollywood Squares, Comedy Central Roasts, Celebrity Wife Swap, Who Wants to Date a Comedian? Tenuta appeared in about a half-dozen episodes of CBS’ short-lived Saturday-morning series The Weird Al Show in 1997 and was in the veteran song parodist’s videos for and “White & Nerdy” and “Headline News.”

Ms. Tenuta rose to prominence with an outlandish act in the 1980s and became one of the most prominent women comedians.

Ms. Rudner, Ms. She sometimes performed with a fellow accordion player, Weird Al Yankovic, including on the short-lived “Weird Al Show” in 1997. She learned improv during a stint with the Second City troupe in Chicago. ’Course, I had to clean their rooms — nice!” “Judyism is a religion where you can forget about your problems for a while and think about mine for a change,” she told The St. “Near the end of Friday’s opening-night show, she had an assistant choose two ‘stud-puppets’ from the audience whom she decorated with women’s undergarments and other sexually provocative regalia. Tenuta, who also called herself the “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” appeared frequently in New York in the late 1980s and into the ’90s. “I’m not sure just why Tenuta makes me laugh so hard,” he added. In 1985, she was one of the opening acts for Yakov Smirnoff at Zanies, the Chicago comedy club, and caught the attention of Larry Kart, who reviewed the show for The Chicago Tribune. The 1988 American Comedy Awards named her “comedy club female comic of the year.” (Jerry Seinfeld won the equivalent award for men that year.) Two of her comedy albums were nominated for Grammy Awards for best spoken comedy album, “Attention Butt Pirates & Lesbetarians” in 1995 and “In Goddess We Trust” in 1996. The stand-up scene was largely a male one when Ms.

Judy Tenuta, the eclectic comedienne known as "The Love Goddess" and "Aphrodite of the Accordion," has died. She was 65.

She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she majored in theater and was the first of her family to graduate college. Tenuta was an outspoken advocate for gay rights and had a faithful following in the LGBTQ community. Pepper and headed to Los Angeles, where she harbored a fiercely independent attitude, openly rejecting Hollywood beauty standards and celebrity. [Make a Wish Foundation](https://wish.org), [St. Her mother, Johanna, was Polish and her father, Caesar, was Italian. She received Grammy noms for best comedy album for Attention Butt-Pirates and Lesbetarians! One of nine siblings, Tenuda (named after Judy Garland) was born into a Catholic family in Oak Park, Illinois on Nov. Her 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. Like “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” 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 ― including her accordion, now on display at the Hollywood Museum. During 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 — an instrument her mother, a fan of Lawrence Welk, encouraged her to learn — she developed the character into the wisecracking “Love Goddess.” Tenuta soon introduced the public to such other exaggerated, campy and offbeat personas as “The Petite Flower,” “Fashion-Plate Saint,” “Queen of Candy-Pants,” “Princess of Panty Shields,” “Empress of Elvis Impersonators” and “Buffer of Foreheads.” Judy Tenuta, the eclectic comedienne known as “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion” to her legions of fans, has died.

Tenuta murió el jueves por la tarde en su casa en Los Ángeles, rodeada de su familia, dijo el publicista Roger Neal a The Associated Press. “Era una artista ...

Otros homenajeados ese año por su trabajo en el club o en la pantalla incluyeron a Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin y Bette Midler. El acordeón que hizo parte de su acto fue “un instrumento de amor y sumisión”, como ella lo llamó cariñosamente. Judy Tenuta, una atrevida comediante que descaradamente se presentó a sí misma como la “Diosa del amor” y estuvo de gira con George Carlin mientras construía su carrera en la época dorada de la comedia en la década de 1980, murió el jueves.

Comedian Judy Tenuta has died at the age of 72. The self-described “Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite Of The Accordion” was a two-time Grammy Nominee.

Known for a strikingly bold brand of comedy, Tenuta often called the men in her audience “pigs” or “stud puppets.” In 1987, she rose to national fame by starring in an HBO special with [Ellen DeGeneres](https://www.vulture.com/2022/09/greyson-chance-ellen-show-trauma.html), [Paula Poundstone](https://www.vulture.com/article/paula-poundstone-good-one-podcast.html), and [Rita Rudner](https://www.vulture.com/2011/01/illustrated-comediennes-of-the-stand-up-boom-rita-rudner.html). [leading figures of the stand-up boom of the ‘80s and ‘90s](http://www.vulture.com/2011/01/illustrated-comediennes-of-the-stand-up-boom-judy-tenutra.html). During her act, she spat her gum at the crowd and demanded that they “crawl for it!” The following year, she became the first woman stand-up to win “Best Female Comedian” at the American Comedy Awards, and accepted the honor by [quipping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vIuPHJLlHM), “I want to say to all the other women in my category… and In Goddess We Trust. Judy Tenuta, the Grammy-nominated comedian who described herself as a “Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” died of ovarian cancer on October 6 at her home in Los Angeles. Her publicist, Roger Neal, confirmed the news

Tenuta died Thursday afternoon at home in Los Angeles, with her family around her, publicist Roger Neal said. The cause of death was ovarian cancer.

“In my religion, I’m the only one that gets to complain. Tenuta grew up in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, attending Catholic schools that included one she dubbed “St. She was a supporter of LGBTQ rights, took part in pride festivals and counted members of the queer community as enthusiastic fans. “So the boss came in, and I guess he got kind of upset. She was a frequent guest on late-night talk shows and game shows and with radio shock jock Howard Stern. Her heart-shaped face, topped by bouffant hair with a flower accent, conveyed an impression of sweet innocence that was quickly shattered by her loud, gravelly delivery and acidic humor, expletives included.