http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455028/bio

I knew she lost her legs, but I didn't know she was being mistreated by a careless ambulance crew.

I didn't know any of that. :(

Considering it is IMDB, we kinda have to take that information with a grain of salt. I know that Mabel did in fact lose her legs to diabetes. There was also some chat we had here on the board abt her health and how she was being taken care of. I feel so bad knowing that she had that happen to her. It is possible she may have fallen or been dropped and that is just so horrible to think abt that having happened. :eek:

Ok Kool, here is the link to the thread and here is the link on that thread where a supposed person close to Mabel posted a pic of her (supposed, remember that) and he too mentions the ambulance dropping her story:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=155854&highlight=Mabel+King

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/k/mabel%20king/mabel_king.htm

Here is a some more information to back up the fall from the wheelchair:

http://www.wockhardtdiabetic.com/eng/m_diet_hope.asp#4



Mabel King
The actress best known simply as Mama--the oversized, all-powerful matriarch of 1970s sitcom What's Happening!!--has died of complications from diabetes, it has been learned. Mabel King died November 9,1999 in Woodland Hills, California. She was 66. Movie fans will remember King for her turn as Steve Martin mother in 1979's The Jerk and for her life force of a performance in the 1978 musical, The Wiz ,where she played the Wicked Witch of the West (name of Evillene). But it is in the forever world of TV reruns where King arguably leaves her biggest mark. In the 1976-79 ABC sitcom, she played the no-nonsense life advisor to a trio of teen boys, son Raj (Ernest Thomas), and his friends Dwayne (Haywood Nelson) and Rerun (Fred Berry). Poor health plagued King for years--she worked little following the What's Happening!! run. More recent credits included a bit in the 1988Bill Murray comedy, Scrooged. Diabetes cost King both her legs; a stroke damaged her left hand; a fall from a wheelchair knocked out her upper teeth. She lived at Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills for nine years. "Sure enough, I've been through a lot," King told the Los Angeles Times in 1995, "but so what? I thank God for my life

Thanks for those links, Irene. I can't believe I bypassed that one thread about her and the ambulance. I couldn't see to bring up the picture that someone said it was a scary photo, is it still up?

Thanks for those links, Irene. I can't believe I bypassed that one thread about her and the ambulance. I couldn't see to bring up the picture that someone said it was a scary photo, is it still up?
Yeah I posted the link above with the pic (the second link), but here is a link to the picture directly: http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/k/mabel%20king/this%20is%20what%20she%20looked%20like.JPG


I just found out the other day that people who suffer from diabetes (some people mind you) tend to have bugged out eyes, which can be a symptom or a result of kidney problems and/or other problems. So, it is possible this is Mabel in the pic with the bugged out eyes, since her diabetes was so bad.

Garfieldkool this info is too sad to share with everyone on a message board, damm. Try and bring someting to eveyone's attention that is more FUN and TRIVAL, like what shows she guest starred on or what movies she played in. Not sad health stories.

Garfieldkool this info is too sad to share with everyone on a message board, damm. Try and bring someting to eveyone's attention that is more FUN and TRIVAL, like what shows she guest starred on or what movies she played in. Not sad health stories.

Since when did you become moderater of the What's Happening board? You decide to reply to my nearly 2 month old thread to add that BS reply?! I will post what I want to. It was interesting info to me, and I thought I would share it with everyone. Why don't you get in someone's face who posts about an actor or actress that passes away this instead of telling me this?! Either contribute or don't reply at all!

I agree. Solomon, you get mad when people post "I agree" or you get mad because they didn't post like you wanted them to, now you are posting telling Kool NOT to make a thread. What's going on here? If you don't like the thread, don't look at it or don't post on it. I found the story informative and we did chat abt the topic before, that's why I posted links in my posts to show what was discussed before abt Mabel's health.

:thanks: I agree. Solomon, you get mad when people post "I agree" or you get mad because they didn't post like you wanted them to, now you are posting telling Kool NOT to make a thread. What's going on here? If you don't like the thread, don't look at it or don't post on it. I found the story informative and we did chat abt the topic before, that's why I posted links in my posts to show what was discussed before abt Mabel's health.

:thanks:

Since when did you become moderater of the What's Happening board? You decide to reply to my nearly 2 month old thread to add that BS reply?! I will post what I want to. It was interesting info to me, and I thought I would share it with everyone. Why don't you get in someone's face who posts about an actor or actress that passes away this instead of telling me this?! Either contribute or don't reply at all!


The title just didn't have a sad tone to it so when I clicked on it i wasn't expecting to read what I read. so i guess if you had hinted at what kind of info it was in the title it would have been cool. i was expecting to read something fun

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455028/bio

I knew she lost her legs, but I didn't know she was being mistreated by a careless ambulance crew.


Another sad tidbit is how very little media coverage her death received. Mabel was an exceptional actress that did not get the credit or opportunities she deserved. I wish she took better care of her health.

Another sad tidbit is how very little media coverage her death received. Mabel was an exceptional actress that did not get the credit or opportunities she deserved. I wish she took better care of her health.
Goes to show the era we are in now. Had this occurred NOW, you would have seen and heard abt it on TMZ, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT AND all those gossip shows. :rolleyes: I do agree, Mabel deserved more coverage than she was given regarding her actual death. She was a great actress and deserved something better than she was given.

I loved Mabel King and was so disappointed how by the third season, she was just a non-entity on the show. Her life is definitely a lesson for those with diabetes (such as myself) to take top notch care of your health. I appreciated seeing this, Gar!

If you want to know why Mabel King left What's Happening!! by the third season, read this review of a new book and buy the book:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2008/05/sitcom-book-review-close-ups.html

Sounds like an awesome book, I'll probably get this one.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455028/bio

I knew she lost her legs, but I didn't know she was being mistreated by a careless ambulance crew.

She fell out of her wheelchair at some point, and got her top teeth knocked out. Sad. Allegedly, the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills put her up, to stop her from suing.

In 1986, she lost a toe to diabetes. In 1989 she had a stroke, leaving her left side paralyzed, and virtually speechless for over a year. Her son died of cirrhosis, because of a drug problem. One of the last things he did was try to con Mabel out of 50 bucks. Around this time she lost the will to live, but friends organized a benefit for her, which cheered her immensely. It made enough money to get her a new wheelchair, and a new outlook on her sad, miserable life. A couple of years later, she almost died while they tried replacing her hip.

Other articles reported that in addition to her two legs, she also had an arm amputated.

At the time of her death, Mabel was living on Exhibit Court. Here is the house. It was no secret she was ill. They were already taking her away, piece by piece. On the 9th of November, 1999 – she was in the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, also in Woodland Hills. She had been on dialysis for years, and finally her kidneys shut down at 3:55 in the morning. She was 66 years old.

Sources stated she had a son who died prior to her death due to his drug problem. It was never confirmed nor denied. King had many talents and sadly, they were not used to the fullest potential. She could act, dance and sing! Other sources I saw over the years stated she was offered to come work on What's Happening Now and declined due to them not meeting her offer of the money she wanted. Given her veteran status in the industry by the 1980's, she could have least been offered a producer gig on it in addition to acting to provide insight on storylines and more.

She apparently left the Motion Picture home to die in her caregiver's home and that was it. I know that often times people who are dying have the option to go home to die or die at those facilities. Her story would make a great bio special for someone who can really dig research. I am sure some of the What's Happening survivors and Wiz survivors are some good folks to interview for it.