Mabel Ridley (January 1894 – April 18, 1938) was an American mezzo-soprano singer who appeared in

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

and

revues A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

in the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Mabel Ridley was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, to Charles and Katherine Ridley in January 1894. Her family were

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

Catholics who had been in the area for several generations. Back in 1843, on the occasion of their marriage, Mabel Ridley's grandparents Ulysses Ridley and Antoinette (Dugas) Ridley had been recorded as

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

. Ridley had two sisters, Julia and Antoinette. Ridley later said that her first language was

Gullah The Gullah () are a subgroup of the African Americans, African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within ...

and her second English. It appears that Ridley may have been married to a man surnamed Edwards.

Career as performer

Mabel Ridley was educated at Augusta's Haines Institute, which was founded by African-American educator Lucy Craft Laney. The school nurtured her musical abilities, and after she left she moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Early on, Ridley appeared in several productions by the

Tutt Brothers Salem Tutt Whitney ( Salem Tutt; 15 November 1875 – 12 February 1934) and J. Homer Tutt ( Jacob Homer Tutt; 31 January 1882 – 10 February 1951), known collectively as the Tutt Brothers, were American vaudeville producers, writers, and performe ...

, including a touring musical, ''Non-Sense'' (1925), and two touring revues, ''Rainbow Chasers'' (1925) and ''Everybody's Talking'' (1925). Also in 1926, she appeared in the musical revue ''Desires of 1927'', which was cowritten by

Andy Razaf Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was the American lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". He was also a composer, poet and vocalist. Biograph ...

. In 1927, she appeared in the touring vaudeville revue ''Miss Bandanna'', by

Clarence Muse Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a major studio film, 1929's '' Hearts in Dixie''. ...

and starring

Moms Mabley Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1897 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the ...

. In 1929, she appeared on Broadway in another Tutt Brothers production, the musical comedy ''Deep Harlem'', which took as its subject black history in America from slavery through the 1920s. It featured music by Joe Jordan, and Ridley played several roles in the show, including Princess Ola. Underfunded, it closed quickly, and Ridley shortly thereafter joined a revue, ''Ebony Show Boat'', that opened in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, toured to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and then returned to New York. A year later, Ridley performed in the first run of

Marc Connelly Marcus Cook Connelly (December 13, 1890 – December 21, 1980) was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. Biogra ...

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

–winning drama ''

The Green Pastures ''The Green Pastures'' is a play written in 1929 by Marc Connelly adapted from '' Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun'' (1928), a collection of stories written by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It ha ...

''. That same year, she performed with the Heaven Gate Singers in ''Scarlet Sister Mary'', a play based on a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name by South Carolina author Julia Peterkin and starring

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

. The last role Ridley is known to have performed was Clara in a Charleston, South Carolina, production of

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

's opera ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

''. Ridley died in New York on April 18, 1938. Her funeral was attended by an estimated 3,000 people. Students from the Peter Pan Dancing School, where she taught, performed a song. Members of the newly-formed Negro Actors Guild also took part. A second funeral was held April 24 at the Immaculate Conception church in Augusta. She was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in that city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Mabel 1894 births 1938 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women opera singers African-American women opera singers