
Person
Mae Mercer
Acting · 1932–2008
Biography
Mae Mercer (June 12, 1932 – October 29, 2008) was an American blues singer and actress. She was born in the Temperance Hall community of Edgecombe County. Mercer lived in North Carolina through age 15. She spent eight years in the 1960s singing in a blues bar in Paris, the Blues Club, owned by publisher Maurice Girodias and touring Europe. She eventually came to own and operate a blues club in the city. Mercer returned to the United States in the early 1970s to begin a career as an actress in films and television. Films in which she appeared included Dirty Harry (1971), The Beguiled (1971), Frogs (1972), Cindy (1978), and Pretty Baby (1978). She was co-producer of the documentary film Angela Davis: Portrait of a Revolutionary (1972). In 1996, the Mayor of Rocky Mount, NC, Fred Turnage, declared June 12 Mae Mercer Day. During this time, Mercer sought to produce her own biographical picture through her production company Black Owl Productions and was backed by local pastor Reverend James Bullock. Filming was slated to take place in Edgecombe County and other parts of North Carolina, New York, Paris and Southern California.
Known for

ER
Margeret

Mannix
1967

The Shield
Selma

Ironside
1967

Medical Center
1969

Pretty Baby
Mama Mosebery

L.A. Dragnet
Mother

Dirty Harry
Mrs. Russell

A Woman Called Moses
Aunt Juba

The Beguiled
Hallie
Filmography
- 2003L.A. DragnetMother
- 2002The ShieldSelma
- 1994ERMargeret
- 1989Homer and EddieEllen
- 1978A Woman Called MosesAunt Juba
- 1978Pretty BabyMama Mosebery
- 1978CindySara Hayes
- 1976WidowSocial Security Woman
- 1974The Swinging CheerleadersJessica Thorpe
- 1972Kung FuElizabeth Brown
- 1972FrogsMaybelle
- 1972Angela Davis: Portrait of a RevolutionaryProducer
- 1971Dirty HarryMrs. Russell
- 1971The BeguiledHallie
- 1969Medical Center
- 1968The Hell with HeroesChanteuse
- 1967Mannix
- 1967Ironside
- 1963The Sword and the Balance
- 1962Mondo SexualitySinger
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