Mae Mercer

Mae Mercer June 12 1932 October 29 2008 was an American blues singer and actress She was born in the Temperance Hall community of Edgecombe County Mercer lived in North Carolina through age 15 She spent eight years in the 1960s singing in a blues bar in Paris the Blues Club owned by publisher Maurice Girodias and touring Europe She eventually came to own and operate a blues club in the city Mercer returned to the United States in the early 1970s to begin a career as an actress in films and television Films in which she appeared included Dirty Harry 1971 The Beguiled 1971 Frogs 1972 Cindy 1978 and Pretty Baby 1978 She was coproducer of the documentary film Angela Davis Portrait of a Revolutionary 1972 In 1996 the Mayor of Rocky Mount NC Fred Turnage declared June 12 Mae Mercer Day During this time Mercer sought to produce her own biographical picture through her production company Black Owl Productions and was backed by local pastor Reverend James Bullock Filming was slated to take place in Edgecombe County and other parts of North Carolina New York Paris and Southern California