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Vicki Lawrence called Thelma Harper ''a lonely old lady''
"The only thing I can figure out is that Mama strikes home," said the actor.
While Thelma Harper might have started on a variety show, she somehow became a relatable figure by the time Mama's Family ended its run in 1990. It seemed that more often than not, Thelma Harper was yelling at her family members for something. But somewhere along the line, her pessimistic attitude became endearing to viewers.
Vicki Lawrence, who played Harper throughout the show's tenure on television, also seemed to be stumped by the character's appeal. However, in an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, Lawrence offered a sentimental reason audiences were latching onto Harper.
"The only thing I can figure out is that Mama strikes home," said Lawrence. "Everybody I talk to has somebody in their family like this."
Lawrence even went so far as to call Mama "lonely" and insinuated that the character was hiding a fair amount of emotion underneath all that gruff behavior.
"There are a lot of unhappy people," said Lawrence. "A lot of people are unpleasant to one another. Mama is feisty, but she's basically a lonely old lady."
It might seem a bit depressing, but Harper was a character that audiences seemed to recognize when they saw her on television. When viewers see Mama, they see their own mother or grandmother.
"She parallels many people in everybody's family," said Lawrence.
Although the relationships in Mama's Family can seem a bit antagonistic at times, there's no doubt that real love exists in that family. Luckily, while Thelma might have felt lonely at times, there's no doubt that she was never truly alone.
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2 Comments
But she was OUR Ratbag.