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Portraits of Bentley are now held in the music collections of the African American History museum, where the performer is both a face of the Harlem Renaissance and an example of a woman who on her own terms navigated the entertainment business during the Great Depression and Prohibition Eras. See, the Clam House was actually looking for a male pianist. As a singer, Bentley became known for a deep, growling voice and a trumpet-like scat. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. Haleema Shah From early on, Bentley overtly included sexuality in her act with her song content, stage moves, and attire. So Gladys Bentley abandoned that and seems to want to restart her career as a more traditional black woman performer., In 1952, Bentley wrote her life story in an article for Ebony magazine, entitled I Am A Woman Again. In the article, she described the life of a glamorous performer who silently struggled with herself. While performing at the Manhattan nightclub Kings Terrace, the masculine garbed smut-singing entertainer, as one audience member put it, quickly got the authorities to shut the whole place down with her performance. When prohibition ended in the 1930s, it was a slow, painful death for Bentleys career, and her speakeasy gigs started to dry up as booze flooded the public markets. No doubt, Gladys Bentley won a fair few beautiful conquests in her day by picking them out of the crowd and mixing business with pleasure. Performing in a signature white top hat, tuxedo and tails, Bentley sang raunchy songs laced with double-entendres that thrilled and scandalized her audiences. It was supposed to be a new chapter in her life, and then tragedy hit. The eldest of four children, Bentley was born on August 12, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to George L. Bentley from the U.S. and Mary (Mote) Bentley from Trinidad. GladysCrawford1909IndianaGladys Crawfordin 1940 United States Federal Census Gladys Crawfordwas born circa 1909, at birth place, Indiana, to Lon H Crawfordand Pearl Crawford.