ABSTRACT
Bom to poverty in North Carolina, Mabley ran away at the age of 14 to join a minstrel show. After many difficult years, she gained renown and worldly success through her frank portrayals of race and sex before all black audiences. Mabley was a favorite at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club and at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, where she performed with such headliners as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. In her last years, she was able to achieve a "cross-over" to general audi ences, appearing on television with Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson, Flip Wilson, and Bill Cosby.
