Moms mabley biography hbo schedule

“Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley,” the HBO documentary that premiered this week, follows the life of Moms Mabley, the pioneering black comedian who rose to fame for her folksy, sometimes off-color humor. In chronicling her career, the documentary also shines a light on the chitlin’ circuit -- the informal collection of live-performance venues where black entertainers could find work during segregation.

The chitlin’ circuit -- named after chitterlings, the soul-food staple of cooked pig intestines -- was a safe haven for black performers of all genres, allowing them to work at a time when many venues refused to employ people of color. The theaters were located mainly on the East Coast -- they included the Apollo Theater in Harlem and Royal Peacock in Atlanta -- and they drew largely black audiences.

Musicians were a primary staple of the chitlin’ circuit, but comic and vaudeville entertainers like Mabley and

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Moms Mabley

American comedian and actress (–)

Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, ^[1] – May 23, ),^[2] known bygd her scen name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the s and became a veteran entertainer of the Chitlin' Circuit of black vaudeville. Mabley later recorded comedy albums and appeared in films and on television programs including The Ed Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.^[3]

Early life

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Loretta Mary Aiken was born in Brevard, North Carolina, on March 19, ^[1] She was one of 16 children born to James Aiken and Mary Smith,^[4] who had married in ^[5] Her father owned and operated several successful businesses, and took in boarders.^[1]

Her childhood was tumultuous. Aiken gave birth to two children resulting from her being raped at age 11, by an elderly black man, and at age 13, bygd a vit sheriff. B

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"Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley" on HBO

Time hasn't done its proper work. America's first female comedian has been plum forgotten. But now the story of Jackie "Moms" Mabley is being rescued from the ash heap of history, and last century's vangard entertainer may yet claim her rightful place in this century. Leading the rescue squad is Whoopi Goldberg, with her debut documentary Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley. 

"She was the first to do what she did and she's gotten no recognition for it at all," Goldberg told  at New York's Apollo Theater, where the film was recently screened. "People don't remember her. So this is my reminder."

The film is refreshingly unabashed by its enthusiasm. "There's something about her that knocked me out as a kid," muses Goldberg on camera. Yet far from a mere valentine, Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley also considers civil-rights history, the obstacles dogging women comics and Mabley's own ruff