The Funniest Woman in the World: Jackie "Moms" Mably

March is Women's History Month so why not revisit the life of the Jackie "Moms" Mably, billed "The Funniest Woman in the World".

Moms was born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, North Carolina on March 19, 1894. (Happy Belated Birthday, Moms.) She claimed to be one of a family of twenty children, but she was actually the youngest of five children. Her biracial father owned and operated several businesses. He died when Moms was eleven. Her mother, Bettie, was able to read and write in the 1870 census, five years after the abolition of slavery. This suggests that she was a free woman of color.

By the age of fifteen, Moms had been raped twice and had two children who were given up for adoption. She ran away to Cleveland, Ohio and joined a traveling minstrel show when her stepfather tried to pressure her into marrying an older man. She took her stage name, Jackie Mably,  from an early boyfriend and became known as "Moms" while fostering young talent on the "Chitlin Circuit".

These were the performance venues that were safe and acceptable for African American entertainers, musicians and comedians during the age of segregation in the U. S. from the early 19th Century through the 1960s. The name derives from the soul food item "chitterlings" (stewed pig intestines). "The Circuit" hosted many notable performers in addition to "Moms"Mably, including The Supremes, The Temptations, Billie Holiday, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Smokey Robinson .

Moms recorded 20 albums between 1961 and her death and her appearances on talk shows made her one of the most popular comedians of the 1960s. She came out as a lesbian at the age of twenty-seven.  Moms tackled topics too edgy for many other comics of the time, including racism, becoming one of the first triple-X rated comedians on the comedy circuit.  One of her regular themes was a romantic interest in handsome young men rather than old "washed-up geezers". She got away with it using her stage persona, appearing toothless and bedraggled in a house dress with her signature floppy hat. She added an occasional satirical song to her jokes and at 75 years and 4 months, Moms Mably became the oldest person ever to have a U. S. top 40 hit with "Abraham, Martin and John" which hit #35 on July 19, 1969.

Moms had four children, aside from the two who were given up for adoption when she was a teen, and five grandchildren. She died in White Plains N.Y. on May 23, 1975 of heart failure after six weeks in the hospital. Her funeral services were held at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church and she was interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, N.Y.

Although largely forgotten today, Jackie "Moms" Mably is still one of the funniest women to work a stage.

Posted in: Chitlin Circuit,comedian,Culture. Lifestyles,entertainer,Funniest Woman in the World,Jackie Moms Mably,The Emerald Quill