Background
King was born Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington and Joseph Washington.
King was born Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington and Joseph Washington.
She is best known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas on the American Broadcasting Company sitcom What"s Happening!! from its premiere on August 5, 1976 until the end of its second season on May 11, 1978. King"s next most-remembered role is that of Evillene the Witch, a role she originated in the stage musical The Wiz and reprised in Sidney Lumet"s film adaptation (1978). She was raised in Harlem, New York where she eventually became a gospel and nightclub singer.
Television and film In 1976, she was offered the role of Mabel Thomas on the sitcom What"s Happening!!, a role she played from 1976 to 1978.
Due to disagreements with the direction the creators wanted to take the show, King left What"s Happening!! in 1978 after two seasons. That same year, she reprised the role of Evillene for the 1978 film version of The Wiz.
lieutenant was the second time in her career that she appeared in a movie after being in the stage version, the first being Don"t Play Us Cheap. The following year she appeared in The Jerk as the mother to Steve Martin"s character.
King received mostly guest spots on television shows including Fantasy Island, The Jeffersons, Amazing Stories, and Tales from the Darkside.
In between, she signed on with then Hollywood agent Ruben Malaret, who negotiated the reprised role of Mama Johnson in the 1984 made-for-television movie The Jerk, Too. Her last two movie roles were 1988"s Scrooged starring Bill Murray and 1990"s Dead Men Don"t Die starring Elliott Gould. In 1989, King suffered a stroke and entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.
She also battled diabetes, and eventually lost both of her legs and an arm to the disease.
King was a staunch conservative Republican who strongly supported the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Mabel died on November 9, 1999 at the age of 66.