Thelma Harper

Thelma Harper (nee Crowley) is a fictional character, who first appeared as a supporting character in The Family sketches on The Carol Burnett Show, followed by the Eunice movie (in which the Mama character dies, creating discrepancies in the life of the character), then as the main character in the sitcom Mama's Family (first on NBC, then revolutionized in first-run syndication), and finally in the ongoing Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show. The Mama character has also made numerous post-television show guest appearances on various television programs, such as Hollywood Squares and The Talk. The character is portrayed by actress Vicki Lawrence. On Mama's Family, Thelma ruled the roost with a smart mouth, snappy retorts, a fiery temper, and an abrasive manner. She solves every problem with a can of budweiser, a slab of meat loaf, a smack upside the head, and a healthy dose of the unvarnished truth."

Lawrence performed on the Carol Burnett Show for 11 seasons. In the seventh season, in 1974, The Family skit was created, which debuted the "Mama" role. Four years after the Carol Burnett show ended, a TV movie special, titled "Eunice" (the character of Mama's daughter) was broadcast. The special included the key characters from The Family sketches, including Mama. In 1983, Mama's Family was then spun off as a separate sitcom based on the Mama character. In syndication, the show and Thelma role continued into 1990.

Lawrence has continued to play the role in various comedy tours and other television venues to the present day. In her autobiography, Vicki called Thelma "the only role which I got to go to makeup to get ugly!" It is Lawrence's most well-known role.

Lawrence originally turned down the offer of starring as Mama in her own television series, having misgivings about playing the role without Harvey Korman (who played Mama's son-in-law, Ed Higgins) and Carol Burnett (who played Mama's daughter, Eunice Higgins) constantly by her side. Burnett and Korman had told Lawrence that they'd only appear as guest stars and that it was Lawrence's time to take what she learned off of The Carol Burnett Show and make it on her own. After continual urgings by Korman and Burnett, however, Lawrence finally accepted the offer shortly after the Eunice movie.