Today's hero: Jackie "Moms" Mabley

June 8, 10:19 PMDenver Gay Parenting ExaminerRene Rosechild

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Today's hero, because your kids need heroes, and so do you: Jackie "Moms" Mabley.

Jackie "Moms" Mabley is a hero first because she made the world a funnier place, and anyone who does that is a hero to me. She was also a pioneer, the first female comedian to appear at the Apollo Theate, in 1939. She went on to play there more than any other performer in history, eventually earning $10,000 a week. At the height of her career, in the 1950's, she was called "The funniest woman in the world." Moms Mabley was the first successful female comedian.

Moms Mabley's career spanned sixty years. As a teenager, she sang, danced and told jokes on the Black vaudeville, or "chitlin" circuit. In the twenties she played the Savoy and the Cotton Club, and later the Apollo. She appeared in films and plays with everyone from Zora Neale Hurston to Paul Robeson. In the forties and fifties she was a favorite of African-American audiences, with her scathing commentary and raunchy observations delivered in the safe persona of an ornery Grandma. Finally, after the civil rights movement opened up new venues in the sixties, she crossed over to white audiences,  she appeared on shows such as Ed Sullivan, Flip Wilson and The Smothers Brothers.

Although she had four children, and five grandchildren, she lived her adult life as a lesbian.

Born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, North Carolina, in 1897, Moms Mabley ran away from a horrible childhood. After her father died, her mother's husband forced her to marry an older man she hated. Instead, she ran away and joined a minstrel show. After her brother disowned her, she re-named herself Jackie Mable. Other comedians gave her the nickname "Moms" because she took care of so many of them. She turned tragedy and poverty into laughter and generosity, making herself a damn good living in the process.For all these reasons I salute you, Moms Mabley.