System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Mabel Mercer
February 03, 1900 - April 20, 1984
Mabel Mercer was born Mabel Alice Wadham, in Staffordshire on February 3, 1900 to inter-racial parents in show business. Mercer’s father (an African-American jazz musician) died before she was born. Since her mother and stepfather (English vaudeville performers) were usually on the road, her maternal aunt took responsibility for her care. At around age seven she was sent to a Catholic convent school, and remained a devout Catholic all of her life. She quit school at age 14 and joined her aunt Rhoda King's vaudeville act, touring England and Europe, insecure and barely making a living.
Josephine Baker saw the young singer/dancer and was impressed enough to helped her get engagements in the better London nightclubs, but it wasn't until she settled in Paris, that Mabel Mercer became known and appreciated. She joined Bricktop, an American singer who owned a nightclub, and became part of the colony including Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Noel Coward.
Mabel Mercer left Paris just before World War II, when she was offered a job at Le Ruban Bleu in New York followed by one in the Bahamas. When war broke out, she was stranded in the Bahamas. To get back to the States, she arranged a marriage of convenience to an openly gay, black, American southerner, Kelsey Pharr. Although they remained good friends, the two of them never lived together and hardly saw each other. But as a devout Catholic Mabel refused to divorce Pharr and so remained legally married to him until he died.
Once she arrived in New York, she appeared at nightclubs like, Tony's, The Blue Angel, Spivy's, and other clubs on 52nd Street. She honed her style and became a vital part of the golden cabaret age, performing later in the posh rooms at the St. Regis and Carlyle Hotels, as well as recording. But it was singing in the small clubs, including her own Byline Club, where her following grew and included some of the greatest popular singers of the era, including Billie Holiday and Nat "King" Cole. Her accompanists were the best, including Bart Howard, Jimmy Lyons, and Buddy Barnes. It often took some listening to get used to her unique way with a lyric, her meticulous diction and rolling r's, but after exposure most audiences responded to her. She brought the greatest songwriters to her audiences, like Rodgers and Hart, and Harold Arlen. She also sought out less familiar songs and made them her own.
The 1960s were mostly lean times for Mercer, as they were for jazz and cabaret generally, but by the summer of 1968 things picked up when she and Bobby Short appeared in the now-legendary concerts at Town Hall in New York.
In 1977, she returned to England where she was received with great acclaim, appearing on television and radio. In the US, she was honoured by the Whitney Museum of American Art in its cabaret celebration; she's received two honorary Doctor of Music degrees, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mabel Mercer died in 1984, at the age of 84 after a career spanning more than 60 years. Her incomparable talent helped shape and enrich American music. Her special style helped influence some of America's most famous performers. As an enduring testament to Ms. Mercer, her long-time friend and publicist, Donald Smith formed a foundation in her name.
