Ms. Gardella was a white Italian-American stage performer, but her usual
stage persona, and actual stage name, was "Aunt Jemima", which she
performed in blackface. It was in this persona that she played Queenie,
the African-American cook, and wife of Joe, the deckhand, in the
original Broadway production of "Show Boat" in 1927, as well as the
first Broadway revival in 1932. She was the only white performer in the
entire cast to play a role in blackface. She also appeared in the prologue of the first film adaptation,
Show Boat (1929).
