Moms Mabley: I Got Something To Tell You

Jackie "Moms" Mabley (March 19, 1894 - May 23, 1975)





Born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, Transylvania County, North Carolina, Mabley was one of the most successful entertainers of the vaudeville stage ("Chitlin' Circuit"), earning $10,000 a week at Harlem's Apollo Theater at the height of her career. She took her stage name, Jackie Mabley, from an early boyfriend, commenting to Ebony magazine in a 1970's interview that he'd taken so much from her, it was the least she could do to take his name. Later she became known as "Moms" because she was indeed "Mom" to many other comedians on the circuit in the 1950s and 60s. She was one of the top women doing stand-up in her heyday, and recorded more than 20 albums of comedy routines. She appeared in movies, on television, and in clubs. Many comedians today owe their inspiration, sense of comedy and timing to Moms having followed in her ragged but legendary house slippers.