Born about in Brevard, Transylvania, North Carolina, United States
Daughter of James P Aiken
and Mary M (Smith) Parton
Sister of
Jennie Aiken [half], James Willis Aiken, Jessie E (Aiken) Lucas, George Labe Harry Aiken, John Frank Aiken, Marjorie (Aiken) Kirklen and Melvin Pink Aiken
[spouse(s) unknown]
Mother of
Bonnie Bell Mabley
Died
at about age 78
in White Plains, Westchester, New York, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 16 Jul 2018
This page has been accessed 1,953 times.
| Loretta (Aiken) Mabley is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage |
Contents |
Biography
Loretta (Aiken) Mabley is Notable.
Jackie "Moms" Mabley, born Loretta Mary Aiken, was a famous stand-up comedian known for her stage persona as a bedraggled old woman. She became well-known in the 1960s, appearing on TV and in Carnegie Hall. She recorded over 20 albums of her routines and appeared in several films.[1]
Loretta Mary Aiken, later known as Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was born on March 19th 1897 in Brevard, North Carolina. She was one of at least ten children of James Aiken and Mary Smith.[2][3][4]
In 1900 around age 3 she was the youngest child in the household of her parents in Brevard, North Carolina, where her father was a merchant.[2] Her father was also a member of the Brevard Volunteer Fire Department, and died when a fire engine exploded in 1909. [5]
In 1910 Jackie was one of 7 children living with their widowed mother in Brevard, where she continued to run a store and also take in boarders to support the family.[6]
Besides losing her father at an early age, Jackie suffered two rapes by two different men and bore two children from these rapes before she was 15; these children were given up for adoption. The second child, a girl, was born while she was working in a comedy play in Baltimore.[4]
Jackie began her professional career around age 15, leaving home at the encouragement of her great-grandmother. She caught her first big break when she was in Dallas, making just $14 a week, and the comedy team of Butterbeans and Suzy caught her act. They hooked her up with an agent and soon she was in Baltimore making $90 a week. By 1923 she was in New York City, playing in the Cotton Club and appearing with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Cab Calloway.[7]
She eventually adopted the name "Jackie Mabley", in honor of a Canadian man named Jack Mabley to whom she had been engaged. They never married as he would not move to the U.S. and she would not move to Canada. [4] Jackie came out as a lesbian at age 27, and was one of the first openly gay comedians.[1]
Jackie became one of the most well-known and well-paid stand-up comics of her time, although she wasn't allowed to appear on television until the 1960's.[8] She starred in her first film, "American Grace", at age 77, not too long before her death.[9]
Jackie passed away in a hospital in White Plains, New York on May 23rd, 1975. Prior to her death she had been living with her daughter Bonnie in Hartford, New York.[10][3] Jackie was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. [11]
Jackie's will mentioned 3 daughters, and 1 son, however it is unknown if all of those were biological children as she was said to have adopted some. She was not known to have ever married. Her will also named a sister, Marjorie Kirkland, and a niece.[12]
Quotes
- "A woman is a woman until the day she dies, but a man's a man only as long as he can."[13]
- "Life is like a game of poker: If you don't put any in the pot, there won't be any to take out."[13]
Research Notes
- Possible first & 2nd born children: male b. 20 Oct 1913 (no father identified)[14], and Jamie Reynolds, b. 21 Jun 1916 to a 20 yo Loretta Aiken, m. James Reynolds b.1891. [15]
- Information about extended family: A newspaper article[4] said Jackie had a great grandmother Harriet Smith who lived to be 118 and lived on the Davidson River (presumably near Brevard, North Carolina). The same article said that when Jackie was 15 she lived with a cousin, Beulah Walker, in a house on Hill Street right off of Montrose Avenue.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wikipedia: Moms Mabley, accessed 16 July 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Census, 1900 database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS1W-QY5 : accessed 16 November 2018), Loretter Aiken in household of James P Aiken, Brevard Township (south part) Brevard town, Transylvania, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 112, sheet 5A, family 85, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,219
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J5XM-L6K : 11 January 2021), Jackie Mabley, May 1975; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Moms Mabley...Genuine Mountain Bred Character", Asheville Citizen-Times, 22 Oct 1971, Fri, p. 17,Free View of Clipping
- ↑ "Chemical Engine Explodes," James P Aiken death, Brevard [North Carolina] News, 27 Aug 1909, p. 4, col. 2; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57785557/ : accessed 12 Jan 2022), citing UNC University Library.
- ↑ United States Census, 1910, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML9X-HNR : accessed 16 November 2018), Loretta Aiken in household of Mary M Aiken, Brevard, Transylvania, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 156, sheet 7A, family 147, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1134; FHL microfilm 1,375,147.
- ↑ "Moms Mabley: She Finally Makes The Movies", Ebony Magazine, April 1974, pp.87-90, image copy.
- ↑ "Funny Ladies." Pioneers of Television (Season 3, Episode 1). PBS. 15 Jan 2013.
- ↑ "Moms Mabley makes a film at 77, and now she wants to make another", Hattiesburg American, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2 Mar 1975, Sun, p.69. Free View of Clipping
- ↑ Obituary for Moms Mabley: "Death Takes Moms Mabley," The Times-Tribune [Scranton, Pennsylvania], 24 May 1975, page 2, columns 7-8; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118483498/ : accessed 12 Feb 2023).
- ↑ Find a Grave:Find A Grave: Memorial #655, accessed 16 July 2018.Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, USA
- ↑ "Moms Mabley Leaves $1/2 Million Estate; Disinherits Daughter", Jet Magazine, 24 Jul 1975, p.59
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 IMDb: Moms Mabley (bio), accessed 16 July 2018.
- ↑ Possible birth record for child: "North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VC3X-4D9 : 8 December 2014), Loretta Aiken in entry for Male Aiken, 20 Oct 1913; from "North Carolina, Birth and Death Indexes, 1800-2000," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing vol. 1, p. 107, Transylvania, North Carolina, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.
- ↑ Possible birth record for child: "North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:C66Z-6B2M : 10 March 2020), Loretta Aiken in entry for Jamie Aiken, 1916.
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Categories: LGBTQPlus | Apollo Theater | Brevard, North Carolina | White Plains, New York | Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, New York | Comedians | North Carolina, Notables | Featured Connections Archive 2023 | US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles | African-American Notables | Notables
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