From the archives: The history of Moms Mabley, who was the first successful female standup comedian and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Moms bridged the gap between vaudeville and modern stand up comedy. She was also the first woman comic to play the Apollo theater and Carnegie Hall in 1962.

Moms influenced the style of comedy legends Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Whoopie Goldberg, and Eddie Murphy -who modeled the grandma character in Nutty Professor after her.