Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabely, An HBO Documentary on the Pioneering African American Comedienne

In her directorial debut, Whoopi Goldberg celebrates the life of the pioneering African American comedienne Jackie “Moms” Mabely in the new HBO documentary Whoopi Goldberg Presents Mom’s Mabely. With a career that spanned from the early days of the Chitlin Circuit to being the first woman to perform at the Apollo theater to a performance at Carnegie Hall to various television and radio appearances, Moms Mabely, dubbed the “funniest woman in the world”, was a woman whose story needed to be told. Here’s an interview that Whoopi did with HBO about Moms Mabely.

“Moms Mabley has been a huge inspiration to me and so many others, but not a lot of folks outside of the comedy world know about her legacy,” says Goldberg. “There are a lot of us who wouldn’t be working today without pioneers like her. HBO gave me my first break on TV, so it’s only fitting that Moms has a home there now.”

A 1975 interview with Tanya Hart.

“Children”

image via The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour