- Moms Mabley (1895-1975) always got a big laugh before she opened her mouth. Audiences roared at her bulging eyes, her toothless grin, and her attire – a frumpy hat with mismatched skirt, top, and apron, falling stockings, and oversized shoes. When she Page 422 →spoke, it was in a gravelly voice that called the audience her “chilrun.” On stage she gave advice, told stories about having tea at the White House with Eleanor (Roosevelt, her friend), delivered raunchy jokes with exquisite timing, and sang a little. Mabley was born Loretta Mary Aiken, in Brevard, North Carolina, into a family of fifteen. Her great-grandmother, born into slavery, was the person she most adored and upon whom she based her character. Mabley left home at age fourteen and worked her way north singing and dancing. She arrived in Harlem by the mid-1920s with a comic routine that was a big hit in the two famous Harlem clubs, Connie’s Inn and the Cotton Club. For thirty years she was the star attraction at the Apollo Theater and a frequent guest on television. Her first record album in 1960 went gold, selling over a million copies. From it she earned the title “Funniest Woman in the World.”
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