Mabley did manage to make some audio recordings during her career, so we have that as a lasting non-film record. (She also guest starred on Bill Cosby's eponymous 70s sitcom as a crotchety relation in conflict with fellow comic Mantan Moreland). Although her only top 40 hit, bizarrely, was a version of Richard Holler's protest anthem "Abraham, Martin and John", famously recorded by Dion in the pop market and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles for the R&B crowd.
She was such a beloved figure in the comedy realm that "SCTV" memorably spoofed the Joan Crawford biopic "Mommie Dearest" with "Moms Dearest", where she handed out physical abuse (with comic sound effects) to her fictional daughter "Christina" over a gooseberry pie.
Mabley did manage to make some audio recordings during her career, so we have that as a lasting non-film record. (She also guest starred on Bill Cosby's eponymous 70s sitcom as a crotchety relation in conflict with fellow comic Mantan Moreland). Although her only top 40 hit, bizarrely, was a version of Richard Holler's protest anthem "Abraham, Martin and John", famously recorded by Dion in the pop market and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles for the R&B crowd.
She was such a beloved figure in the comedy realm that "SCTV" memorably spoofed the Joan Crawford biopic "Mommie Dearest" with "Moms Dearest", where she handed out physical abuse (with comic sound effects) to her fictional daughter "Christina" over a gooseberry pie.
That all sounds like stuff I'll need to try to check out!