Jackie “Moms” Mabley was born Loretta Mary Aiken on March 19,1884 in Brevard, North Carolina. She was raised in a large family of 12 children by her parents James and Mary Aiken. Her father, the main provider for the family, died when she was 11 years old and her mother was forced to get remarried. When she was 15, she was raped twice, resulting in two pregnancies that ended with her giving the children away for adoption. Her relationship with her stepfather became turbulent when he made her marry an older man she didn’t like. She felt trapped, and with her grandmother’s encouragement, she decided to run away to Cleveland, Ohio and become an entertainer.
When Jackie arrived in Cleveland, she fell in love with the lifestyle of the musicians and performers she encountered. It was during this time, she was discovered by a vaudeville team named “Butterbeans and Susie”. She accompanied the group to New York City where she made her performing debut at Connie’s Inn. She started appearing at nightclubs all over town including Harlem’s Cotton Club and became the first female comedian to perform at the Apollo Theater. When she learned that her brother disapproved of her career choice, she became known as Jackie Mabley, a name she derived for her ex-boyfriend and fellow performer, Jack Mabley.
Jackie’s on stage persona of an old, frumpy, and toothless woman dressed in a housecoat and floppy hat, was based on her grandmother. Her stand up routines consisted of sexual innuendo and her character’s interest in younger men. She became known as “Moms” because she was like a mother figure, showing compassion to many of the other comedians and performers she came across. Throughout her career, she recorded and released many albums of her live comedy routines including “Moms Mabley at the “UN” “, “On Stage (Funniest Woman in the World)”, and “Moms Mabley at the Geneva Conference. Although most of her recordings were of her stand-up performances, she released the hit song “Abraham, Martin, and John” when she was 75 years old, making her one of the oldest people to ever have a hit on Billboard’s Top 40 list. She managed to have four children named Bonnie, Christina, Charles and Yvonne, although she lived most of her life as a lesbian. She continued to perform up until shortly before her death. Jackie died on May 23, 1975, due to heart failure, in White Plains, New York.
Sources:
Moms Mabley – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia.org.
Mabley, Moms.” Encyclopedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD.
