Mabel King gives comic mothers a firmness that leaves room for tenderness. Her small part in The Jerk is worth attending to: she treats a ridiculous family revelation with enough care to make the joke work.
Fi1m perspective
In The Jerk (1979), Mabel King tells Navin that he is adopted with the gentleness of someone who has spent years postponing the conversation. The news is absurd, but Mother has a son's feelings to consider. King gives those feelings their due without interrupting the comedy to demand a tender moment. We were touched by her care over the announcement, because she makes the mother's reluctance to hurt him more than a convenient way of setting up a joke. It is a small part, and she makes it count.
Her singing offered a much louder means of getting attention. After stage work in Don't Play Us Cheap (1972), she originated Evillene in The Wiz (1975), then reprised the role in Sidney Lumet's 1978 film. The gospel force of ‘No Bad News’ lets her turn vocal power into a threat; this is authority exercised without much concern for anyone's feelings. Her television work as Mama Thomas from 1976 to 1978 kept her closer to the household. In The Jerk, that maternal authority could be used at a quieter volume.
The family scenes give her good company. Richard Ward delivers Father's advice without a flicker, while Dick Anthony Williams's Taj joins the porch singing and Navin claps on the wrong beat. Reiner holds the shot long enough for the mistimed clapping to get funnier, and King belongs in a household that need not strain to accommodate Martin's foolishness. These early scenes are among the film's strongest; the later stretches sag. King helps make the family's affection credible, so the comedy can be daft without turning everyone into an idiot.
The recurring maternal parts also narrow what we get to see. Gramma in Scrooged (1988) continued the pattern, and we would not mistake repeated casting for a complete account of what King could do. Her authority is useful to a comedy, but The Jerk reminds us how much depends on the warmth underneath it. Start there for her gentleness, then try The Wiz (1978) for the singing.
Biography
Mabel King was an American actress and singer. She played Mother in the 1979 film The Jerk.
She originated the role of Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and reprised it in the 1978 film adaptation. King was also known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas in the ABC sitcom What's Happening!! from 1976 to 1978.
Her other screen credits include Scrooged (1988) and guest appearances in series such as The Jeffersons, Fantasy Island, Amazing Stories and Tales from the Darkside. She was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1932 and died in 1999.
