Tessie O'Shea

Teresa Mary "Tessie" O'Shea (13th March 1913 - 21st April 1995) was a Welsh entertainer and actress. Born in Cardiff to Nellie Theresa (née Carr) and James Peter O'Shea, a soldier who was the son of Irish emigrants, Tessie was reared in the British music hall tradition, appearing on stage as "The Wonder of Wales", beside her cousin Adam Dionne, as early as the age of six. By her teens she was a pro known for her popular BBC Radio broadcasts and appearing on stages in places as far afield as South Africa. She frequently finished her act by accompanying herself on the banjolele. While appearing in Blackpool in the 1930s, O'Shea capitalised on her bulk and girth by adopting "Two Ton Tessie from Tennessee" as her theme song. A decade later she was a frequent headliner at the London Palladium, and following the decline of variety theatre, she established herself as a hit recording artist in the late 1950s. Tessie O'Shea died of congestive heart failure in Leesburg, Florida, aged 82.