In Memory of TV's 'What's Happening!!' Star Mabel King: 25 Years After Her Tragic Life and Death

Mabel King is surrounded by her TV children and fellow her original 'What's Happening!!' co-stars Ernest Thomas and Danielle Spencer.Photo bylistal.com

It’s been twenty-five years since the tragic death of Mabel King, best known for her role as Mrs. Thomas (“Mama”) on the original rendition of TV’s beloved sitcom What’s Happening!! (ABC, 1976–1979). Ten years later, she divorced Melvin King, her husband of 22 years, and lived her last days sick and alone, with the loss of three limbs. She was only 66 years old, and this is her story.

A Closer Look

Mabel King was born Mabel Elizabeth Washington on Christmas Day 1932, in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington and Joseph Washington. She was raised in Harlem, New York, where she eventually began singing in church and later became a nightclub singer.

King began acting in her mid-thirties and made her Broadway debut as Maria in Porgy and Bess. That performance was followed by Broadway musicals such as Hello, Dolly! (as Ernestina), and The Wiz. In the latter, she played the Wicked Witch of the West, which earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination.

In the mid-1970s, King was then cast as Mama in ABC’s What’s Happening!!, but she declined to participate in the 1985 syndicated reboot of the series.

Big Screen Stardom

In the late 70s, Mabel King was seen on the big screen in movies like The Jerk, playing Steve Martin’s adoptive mother, Mamma Johnson, which she had performed on stage. King also once more played the Wicked Witch of the West, this time in Sidney Lumet’s feature film adaptation of The Wiz.

In 1988 King appeared in the movie Scrooged, starring Bill Murray, and two years later was seen on film in Dead Men Don’t Die, starring Elliott Gould.

Around this time, King’s health began to fail. The heavy-set actress was diagnosed with diabetes, which ultimately led to the amputation of one of her toes. In 1991, she suffered a stroke and entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. That same year, her left leg was amputated followed three years later by her right leg, and then one of her arms.

Adding to these horrific developments, her only son, Larry, died in 1996.

Three years later, on November 9, 1999, King herself passed away at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital from organ failure, following years of being on dialysis.

Lasting Impression

Mabel King suffered great physical and emotional anguish in her life and died much too young. But her legacy of talent will live on at least and at most in her dynamic screen performances on television and at the movies.