Biography
Mae Mercer was an American actress and blues singer. Born Mary Ruth Mercer on 12 June 1932 in Battleboro, North Carolina, she began singing in church and left home as a teenager to pursue a career in New York.
She spent much of the 1960s performing and later managing a blues club in Paris before returning to the United States in the early 1970s. Mercer appeared in films including Dirty Harry (1971) as Mrs. Russell, The Beguiled (1971) as Hallie, Frogs (1972) as Maybelle, Pretty Baby (1978) as Mama Mosebery and Homer and Eddie (1989) as Ellen. She was also a producer of the 1972 documentary Angela Davis: Portrait of a Revolutionary and made guest appearances in television series such as Kung Fu, ER and The Shield.
Mercer died on 29 October 2008 in Northridge, California.
