Pamela R. Leak, Baltimore actress, model and comedian known as ‘Ms. Maybelle,’ dies

Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun
·5 min read

Pamela R. Leak, an actress, model and comedian whose alter ego, “Ms. Maybelle,” was known by her trademark line,”Tell Em Shuggar,” died of undetermined causes March 1 at Sinai Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 57.

“I’ve known Pam all of her life and her mother who used to work for me as a mixologist when I owned a club,” said Carlton C. Douglas, a Baltimore funeral director.

“Pam always had a gift for humor, and Baltimore has produced two great comedians, Mo’Nique and Ms. Maybelle,” Mr. Douglas said. “She did what the great Moms Mabley did years ago; she created a character out of herself.”

Pamela Rene Leak, daughter of Larry Leak, a steelworker, and Vivian Thornton Leak, a nursing assistant, was born in Baltimore and raised in West Baltimore.

After graduating in 1985 from Edmondson-Westside High School, Ms. Leak completed an assisted nursing program and became a certified nursing assistant.

As a youngster, she was a member of the Cecil Kirk Recreation Center, where she was exposed to modeling, theater and dancing.

“It was then that Pam realized she wanted to entertain people and make them laugh to ease their pain or suffering,” according to a biographical profile submitted by her family. “Having gone through difficult circumstances herself, she knew that laughter was indeed the best medicine.”

Ms. Leak hosted numerous shows, cabarets, and parties. She also appeared in commercials, including doing a gig at a funeral for a girlfriend’s brother who had been killed.

“They asked me to perform because they wanted comedy to be a part of the funeral,” she told The Sun in a 2007 interview.

At the beginning of the service and standing by the casket, Ms. Leak provided a running commentary as mourners passed by the deceased.

“I told them, ‘When y’all come up here, don’t put nothing in the casket because where he’s going, he can’t carry it with him,'” she said.

“Everybody laughed. Then people did something funny to make me say something funny. One of the guy’s brothers tried to pick up the body. I said, ‘If you pick him up, I’m gone. I’m still going to get paid today, but I’m gone.'”

When she wasn’t performing, Ms. Leak worked as a nursing assistant at Stella Maris and Deaton Specialty Hospital.

From 1999 until retiring, she worked for the late Frank Conaway Sr., who was clerk of the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

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Her quest to create a character resulted in the birth in 2001 of Ms. Maybelle.

“My vision for Ms. Maybelle was a hip, older aunt — the one that drinks and maybe smokes weed a little bit!” she told the Afro-American Newspapers in 2022.

To make Ms. Maybelle a reality, she went to a thrift store and purchased what she called “an ol’ lady wrap,” a fur coat, and other mismatched clothes which she topped with a coiffed gray wig.

In 2001, Ms. Maybelle made her debut appearance at the old Baltimore Comedy Club on Light Street.

“Her flabby midriff was exposed and a piece of toilet paper trailed from her pants,” The Sun reported.

“I had stacked the crowd with my friends and told them to laugh at everything I said and did,” she told The Sun.

“The show started, and I came running onto the stage. I came out and said, ‘I’m sorry, y’all, for running out here, but I was in the bathroom and some old man was trying to look up my dress,'” she said. “People were laughing, and then I knew I could make people laugh. The people who were laughing weren’t even the people I invited.”

A Sun reporter described her character as a “smart-mouth, grandmotherly quick-witted spitfire — a character modeled in the same vein as Moms Mabley.”

She described herself as being “shy,” whereas “Maybelle is not.”

Two years later, Ms. Leak began hosting “Maybelle Mondays” alongside former state Sen. Larry Young on WOLB-AM Radio, where she delivered advice and entertainment news.

In 2002, her “Ms. Maybelle’s One Woman Show” opened at the Arena Players.

When she wasn’t performing her comedy or appearing in plays at the Arena Players, she did plus-sized modeling with Baltimore designer Travis Winkey.

She also hosted her own fashion show for ‘big girls,” as she described them, that featured 22 models.

Off-stage and away from the limelight, Ms. Leak organized food drives to help feed the homeless.

She collected money and used her own funds to purchase personal hygiene items, clothing, socks and underwear, which she distributed at various encampments throughout the city.

With the help of Sen. Young, the National Action Network and the Arena Players, Ms. Leak organized a soup and sandwich pop-up to feed the hungry.

She also organized Ms. Maybelle & Friends Turkey Drive and Give Away.

“She was a giving person and at holidays, gave out turkeys to those in need,” Mr. Douglas said.

“She enjoyed fundraising for those in need and travel,” said a son, Antoine Spencer of Baltimore.

Services were Thursday at the House of Prayer for All People in Baltimore.

In addition to her son, Antoine, Ms. Leak is survived by two other sons, Nickolas “Nick” Riddick, of Pikesville, and Shawn Carter, of Baltimore; a sister, Michelle Wallace, of Baltimore; three grandchildren; several uncles and aunts; and many cousins.