Ethel Louise Ayler (1930 - 2018)

Born 1 May 1930 in Whistler, Mobile, Alabama, USA

Died 18 Nov 2018 at age 88 in Loma Linda, San Bernardino, California, USA

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Biography

Ethel Spraggins Ayler is Notable.

Ethel Spraggins Ayler was an Alabamian.

Ethel Spraggins Ayler was a stage and television character actress whose career lasted over five decades. ^[1]

Ethel was born in Whistler, Mobile County, Alabama in 1930. Her parents were teen-aged Paul Ayler and Ethel Spragginss. She was counted on the census with them in Whistler, Alabama in 1930.^[2] Raised by her mother and her maternal grandparents, in 1940 ten-year-old Ethel Louise Ayler was living in her maternal grandparents' large Spraggins household, with her mother, a cousin, and nine aunts and uncles.^[3]

In 1950 Ethel was living with her mother and stepfather, Alexander Reid, in Mobile, Alabama.^[4]

Ethel was 21 when she married Howard William Creecy in Mobile in 1951,^[5] around the time that she graduated from Fisk University in Nashville.^[1] No known children.

She married again, before June of 1955, when she traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as Ethel Ayler Matthew.^[6] No known children.

Her mother also remarried, first to a Reid,^[6] and later to Donald J. Flowers. Ethel was living in New York when her stepfather died in 1974.^[7]

Her entry into New York theater was in an off-Broadway production of a Langston Hughes play, Simply Heavenly, in 1957. She went on from there to become Lena Horne's understudy in the Broadway musical, Jamaica. Her career spanned over five decades working on stage, in film, and on television. For years she had a recurring part as Claire Huxtable's mother on The Cosby Show. She also gave memorable performances in the films To Sleep with Anger (1990) and Eve's Bayou (1997). Her last Broadway role was in The Little Foxes (1997).

She was 88 when she died in California in 2018.^{[1] [8]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia contributors, "Ethel Ayler," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethel_Ayler&oldid=1010504891 (accessed August 6, 2021).
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:3V9D-16Z : accessed 6 August 2021), Ethel L Ayler in household of Paul W Ayler, Whistler and Plateau, Mobile, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 16, sheet 8B, line 89, family 203, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 40; FHL microfilm 2,339,775.

   Paul W Ayler Head Male 18 Alabama

   Ethel Ayler Wife Female 16 Mississippi

   Ethel L Ayler Daughter Female 0 Alabama

3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1PX-JTG : 5 January 2021), Ethel L Ayler in household of Martin Spraggins, Election Precinct 9 Whistler and Plateau, Mobile, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 49-12, sheet 17A, line 27, family 310, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 62.

   Martin Spraggins Head Male 58 Mississippi

   Carrie Spraggins Wife Female 48 Alabama

   Marcus Spraggins Son Male 20 Alabama

   Rachel Spraggins Daughter Female 22 Alabama

   Willie W Spraggins Son Male 15 Alabama

   Joseph Spraggins Son Male 13 Alabama

   Francis Spraggins Daughter Female 11 Alabama

   Donald Spraggins Son Male 9 Alabama

   James F Spraggins Son Male 7 Alabama

   Ethel Ayler Daughter Female 27 Mississippi

   Louise Gordon Daughter Female 25 Tennessee

   Paul Spraggins Son Male 18 Alabama

   Ethel L Ayler Granddaughter Female 10 Alabama

   Alberta Gordon Grandaughter Female 3 Alabama

4. ↑ 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
   United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Mobile, Alabama; Roll: 4152; Sheet Number: 73; Enumeration District: 49-16
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #99105318 (accessed 24 October 2022)
   Ethel L Ayler (20), single daughter, in Mobile, Alabama, USA. Born in Alabama.
5. ↑ Marriage:
   • "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRVM-TPV : 19 February 2021), Howard William Creecy and Ethel Louise Ayler, 04 May 1951; citing Mobile, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,294,441.
   • "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRVS-7CH : 19 February 2021), Howard William Creecy and Ethel Louise Ayler, 04 May 1951; citing Mobile, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,294,441.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJY-TNG5 : 4 March 2021), Ethel Ayler Matthew, Immigration; citing 1955, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro). Passport photo included.

   Ethel Ayler Matthew

   Immigration Date: 22 Jun 1955 (temporario-artista)

   Immigration Place: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

   Birth Date: 5 Mar 1930

   Birthplace: Alabama

   Marital Status: Married

   Nationality: United States

   Traveling With Children: No

   Father's name: Paul Ayler

   Mother's name: Ethel Ayler Reid

7. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5QL-TTN6 : 18 July 2020), Miss Ethel Ayler in entry for Mr Donald J Flowers, 1974.
8. ↑ [https://deadline.com/2018/12/ethel-ayler-dies-actress-for-stage-film-and-tvs-cosby-show-was-88-1202525016/ Death announcement for Ethel Ayers on Deadline.com