She Was the Funny Fat Lady

Women comics were once not the norm, they were a novelty. One of the few early stand up women was Totie Fields. She was born with the name Sophie Feldman but took her stage name from a childhood nick name mispronunciation of Sophie (Totie) and in an effort to sound less Jewish became Fields. Fields got her start in Boston singing on the radio at age four. She moved onto performing on the Borscht Belt circuit eventually hosting a show back in Boston when she was 20. She then moved on to nightclubs after marrying fellow comic George Johnson. It was when she was performing at the Copacabana she was discovered by Ed Sullivan who asked her to be on his show. Fields was fat and this was a major part of her act. She would start out stating it right away so there would be no hecklers telling her what she already knew. Much of her act was self deprecating. 
She became a big hit on the talk show circuit as well appearing on Mike Douglas, Merv Griffen, The Tonight Show and others. Fields was also a popular draw in Las Vegas where she made her home. Her career was slowed down at times because of health problems brought on by her weight. She was a diabetic and lost a leg because of it. This didn't stop her and she would incorporate her health problems into her act, famously appearing on an a comedy special in a wheel chair after her leg was amputated announcing that she was thrilled to say she was finally weighed less than Elizabeth Taylor.
Fields was scheduled to start a two week engagement at the Sahara in Las Vegas when she was stricken with a blood clot and taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Totie Fields was 48 years old.