Moms Mabley

Loretta Mary Aiken was born in Brevard, North Carolina, on March 19, 1894.[2] She was one of 16 children born to James Aiken and Mary Smith,[3] who had married in 1891.[4] Her father owned and operated several successful businesses, while her mother kept house and took in boarders.

Her teenage years were tumultuous. At the age of 14, at the encouragement of her grandmother, Aiken ran away to Cleveland, Ohio, joining a traveling vaudeville-style minstrel show starring Butterbeans and Susie, where she sang and entertained.[5][6] By that time, Aiken had given birth to two children that had resulted from her being raped at age 11, by an elderly black man, and at age 13, by a white sheriff. Both children were given up for adoption.[7][5] In 1909, a year after leaving, her father was killed when a fire engine exploded while he was volunteering as a fire fighter.[8][3] Her mother took over the family's primary business, a general store. She was killed a few years later, run over by a truck while returning home from church on Christmas Day.[3]

Aiken adopted the stage name Jackie Mabley, borrowing the name of an early boyfriend, Jack Mabley, who was also a performer.[9] She remarked in a 1970 Ebony interview that he had taken so much from her, the least she could do was take his name from him.[10]

Mabley with Pearl Bailey on The Pearl Bailey Show in 1971

Mabley quickly became one of the most successful entertainers of the Chitlin' Circuit (although, as a Black woman, her wages were meager).[5] She made her New York City debut at Connie's Inn in Harlem.[11]

She came out as a lesbian at the age of twenty-seven, becoming one of the first openly gay comedians.[12] During the 1920s and 1930s she appeared in androgynous clothing and recorded several "lesbian stand-up" routines.[13]

During the 1950s, Mabley—influenced by the maternal role she was filling for other comedians on the circuit—adopted the name "Moms" and the appearance of a toothless, bedraggled woman in a house dress and floppy hat. (Mabley also credited the name to her grandmother, who had been a driving force in the pursuit of her dreams.)[14] The non-threatening persona aided her in addressing topics too edgy for most comics of the time, including racism, sexuality and having children after becoming a widow.[15][16][17] A preference for handsome young men rather than "old washed-up geezers" became a signature bit.

In the 1960s, Mabley became known to a wider white audience, playing Carnegie Hall in 1962,[18] and making a number of mainstream TV appearances, with multiple appearances on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.[19][20] Music became a regular part of her act, and a cover version of "Abraham, Martin and John" hit #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 19, 1969, making Mabley, at 75, the oldest living person to have a U.S. Top 40 hit.[21]

Mabley continued performing in the 1970s. In 1971, she appeared on The Pearl Bailey Show. Later that year, she opened for Ike & Tina Turner at the Greek Theatre and sang a tribute to Louis Armstrong as part of her set.[22] While filming the 1974 film Amazing Grace, Mabley suffered a heart attack. She returned to work three weeks later, after receiving a pacemaker.[14]

Mabley died from heart failure in White Plains, New York, on May 23, 1975.[1] She is interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

Over the course of her life, Mabley had six children: Bonnie, Christine, Charles, and Yvonne Ailey,[11][23] and two given up for adoption when she was a teenager.[24]

Mabley was the inspiration for the character of Grandma Klump in The Nutty Professor. She is the subject of Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley, a documentary film which first aired on HBO on November 18, 2013.[25]

This documentary was nominated for two Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the 66th ceremony held on August 16, 2014, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Narrator for Whoopi Goldberg. In 2015, she was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month.[26]

Mabley was featured during the "HerStory" video tribute to notable women on U2's tour in 2017 for the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree during a performance of "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"[27] from the band's 1991 album Achtung Baby.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Mabley among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[28]

Mabley, portrayed by Wanda Sykes, appeared in an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Discography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moms Mabley.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Moms Mabley

• Agitation in Moderation: The Moms Mabley Story by Kliph Nesteroff
• Moms Mabley at Find a Grave
• Moms Mabley at the Internet Broadway Database
• Moms Mabley at IMDb
• Moms Mabley on NPR