jimct
MusicFan
Joined: 07 April 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3906
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| Posted: 20 April 2015 at 8:26pm | IP Logged
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Not a Top 40 hit, and I have no specific question, but among my Top 5
all-time personal faves is a June 1962, #61 peaking hit on the Hot 100:
"Oh My Angel" by Bertha Tillman (Brent 7029). Aside from one alleged, b-
w publicity photo (that has her looking amazingly similar to Connie
Francis, and which I do believe to actually be Bertha; as some info I've
seen also said she dabbled in modeling), any information on her at all has
been just about impossible for anyone to glean. As a result, an unusually
high number of "Whatever happened to Bertha Tillman?" queries have
emerged over the years, especially given her single, low-charting hit, and
minimal overall success as a popular recording artist.
Using a combination of of old public records, some valuable, key, later-
confirmed details shared by a former daughter-in-law of Tillman's
(Michelle H. (I have the full last name) in NV), and a good deal of follow-
up research, however, I have been able to finally cobble and piece
together enough solid info where I am now basically 100% confident with
her basic life details. So I thought I'd include them here, for the official
record, for anyone curious about her, be it past, present or future. I 100%
pursued this mini-project out of nothing but having total respect for Ms.
Tillman's talents, life and family. I truly hope that she had a great life, and
that this provides a bit of closure for fans of her musical talent. Here
goes:
Born: Bertha Louise Tillman
Date: June 28, 1942
Place: Smith County (Tyler area), TX
Race: African-American
Parents: Rudolph and Janeva (Vaughn) Tillman
Marriage #1: To Raymon Hill
Race: African-American
Date: June 28, 1963 (on Bertha's 21st birthday!)
Place: San Diego, CA (Hill was a San Diego native, and spent most of his
life living there)
Ended in divorce before 3-9-1966
Marriage #2: To Rubert Lee Ward
Race: White
Date: March 9, 1966 (Bertha was 23; Rubert was 19 or 20)
Place: Los Angeles, CA
Ended in divorce before 3-16-1974, when Ward was re-married in FL; at
least two children resulted from Ward's post-Tillman marriage.)
No other marriage records for Bertha were found. I have also found
evidence that she had at least one son (who Michelle says she was married
to, until around the year 2000. They were together when Bertha died, and
they are still in touch. She says he surely has some old pictures; no
surprise there. And I do have an e-mail for her, so we'll see. I obviously
have more questions, (son's name, who was the father, was cause of
death perhaps cancer of some sort, etc.) but I will proceed slowly,
cautiously, respectfully, and stay patient. I'll never get a better source.
Every single detail I've gotten from her has come up aces so far, including
several I'd gotten from no other source. Just amazing. She sounds level
headed, reasonable, is just trying to help, and said, "I have no reason to
lie." Once every one of her provided details checked out, I now trust her
100%. I'll update this if/when more specifics are obtained/confirmed.)
She retained the name Bertha Louise Ward for the rest of her life.
Bertha Tillman passed away on May 31, 1993, in San Diego, CA, at the age
of 50. I know the specific cemetery, and I've seen her headstone. I've been
unable to determine a specific cause of death, but it didn't appear to be
anything "suspicious"; simply natural causes.
Edited by jimct on 20 April 2015 at 11:41pm
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Topic: The Mysterious Bertha Tillman...
