Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom!
Today I want to tell you about Mary Lillian Ellison, known as The Fabulous Moolah.
Mary Lillian Ellison was an iconic professional wrestler whose career spanned more than five decades, making her one of the most influential and groundbreaking figures in the history of women's wrestling. You can find my resources in the show notes.
Mary was born on July 22, 1933, in Kershaw, South Carolina, and grew up in Tookiedoo, 12 miles from Columbia. She was the youngest of five children, Ellison was the only daughter of Henry Lee and Suzann Atkinson Ellison.
When her mother died of cancer, eight-year-old Ellison went to live with her paternal grandmother and worked on her cousin's cotton farm to make money. At age 10, she was still deeply distraught over her mother's death; to cheer her up, her father took her to the local wrestling matches. She liked the matches, but it was not until she saw Women's Champion Mildred Burke wrestle that they began to mean much more to her.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fabulous_Moolah#Early_life
https://www.wwe.com/superstars/fabulousmoolah
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22652130/lillian-ellison
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/myrtlebeachonline/name/mary-ellison-obituary?id=15666334
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ellison-5242
https://www.npr.org/2007/11/07/16073575/remembering-the-fabulous-moolah
All the things:
Music: “Electronic Rock (King Around Here)” by Alex Grohl https://pixabay.com/music/search/electronic%20rock%20king
Logo Artwork: Strawbeary Studios https://www.youtube.com/@StrawbearyStudios/featured
Episode was researched, written and edited by Shanoa
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