Where Are They Now? The Black TV Moms Edition
- By
Kendra Koger
Mabel King as Mabel “Mama” Thompson
“What’s Happening!!” was a fun show about the teenage trials of inner city teenagers from Watts in Los Angeles. While Raj, his sister Dee, and their friend Rerun were trying to navigate their way through teenaged peril, Raj’s mother, Mama was able to always steer them in the right direction.
After the show went into a direction that Mabel King didn’t agree with, she left “What’s Happening!!” and was cast as “Evillene” in the motion picture version of the hit musical, The Wiz. She was also in films and shows like The Jerk, “Fantasy Island,” “Tales from the Darkside,” “Wiseguy” and “Dead Men Don’t Die.”
The former theater heavy hitter sadly died from complications from diabetes in 1999 at the age of 66.
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