Diamond Teeth Mary with Liz Pennock and Dr. Blues
Mary Smith McClain was born on August 27, 1902. She was an African-American blues singer and entertainer. Better known as "Walking Mary" and later "Diamond Teeth Mary," she was born in Huntington, West Virginia. Mary McClain and was the half sister of Bessie Smith (Smith's mother was one of Mary's four stepmothers). At the age of 13, young McClain couldn't stand the beatings any longer and left home to join the circus disguised as a boy in her brother's clothes. It was Mary's own skills as an acrobat and singer that enabled her to survive. McClain spent the 1920’s and 1930’s performing in a variety of medicine and minstrel shows. She traveled in troupes like Irwin C. Miller's Brown Skin Models, the Davis S. Bell Medicine Show and for 11 years as part of the infamous Rabbit Foot Minstrels. She toured with the USO and sang at the Apollo Theater, the Cotton Club, and other prominent night clubs, where her show-stopping charisma received stand...