Mayme Hatcher Johnson, 94, widow of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, undisputed king of Harlem underworld from the '30s to the '60
Hoodoo
Mayme Johnson, widow of Harlem crime boss, dies at 94
By JOHN F. MORRISON
Philadelphia Daily News
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090504_Mayme_Johnson__widow_of_Harlem_crime_boss__dies_at_94.html
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Mayme Hatcher Johnson
Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was the undisputed king of the Harlem
underworld from the '30s to the '60s.
And being Bumpy's girl was a title of rare prestige.
Mayme Hatcher Johnson told of her life with the infamous hoodlum in
her book "Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy"
Johnson," published last year.
In the tome, Mayme tells of the benefits of being the girlfriend, and
later the wife, of the legendary crime boss.
"It was a good title to possess," she said. "It meant I could get in
anywhere I wanted to go. I was treated as a queen wherever I went, and
I was showered with gifts and jewelry on a steady basis."
Mayme Johnson, who moved to Philadelphia in 2003, died Friday of
respiratory failure. She was 94.
One of her motives in writing the book was her anger at how her
husband's associate, Frank Lucas, was portrayed in the 2007 film
"American Gangster."
She insisted that Lucas, portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie,
was nothing more than a flunky in her husband's organization.
Daily News columnist Jenice Armstrong interviewed Mayme just before
the movie premiered.
"I remember walking into her room at the nursing home and was taken
aback by what I found," Armstrong said. "I'm not sure what I expected,
but it certainly wasn't this sweet, elegant grandmother.
"She was lovely and soft-spoken - unless she was talking about Frank
Lucas and what she thought of him and how he'd inflated his role in
her husband's crime syndicate. That's when she got all riled up. She
was furious about the movie."
Armstrong said that she was also impressed by Mayme's demeanor as she
talked about her late husband, who died in 1968, and the life they had
together.
"I was surprised at how idyllic she made it sound," Armstrong said.
"She talked about their travels to Europe and the furs he'd bought her
and this wonderful life they'd shared."
When Armstrong tried to press her about her husband's criminal
activities, which financed their idyllic existence, "she would pause
and look at me and say, 'We had a good life.'
"I'd expected her to weigh in from a moral standpoint and denounce her
husband's illegal activities, but she never did that. She never even
gave a hint of that."
Mayme was born in 1914 in North Carolina and moved to New York City in
1938, where she found work as a waitress at a club owned by singer and
actress Ethel Waters.
She met Johnson, who was called "Bumpy" because of a bump on the back
of his head, in a Harlem restaurant in 1948.
Bumpy was on his way to being a legend who eventually would be
depicted in films and TV shows.
"In October that year, we were driving past 116th Street and St.
Nicholas Avenue in his Cadillac when he suddenly turned to me and
said, 'Mayme, I think you and I should go ahead and get married.'
"I was stunned, but I kept my composure. I said simply, 'Is that
right?' He said, 'Yes, that's right,' and kept on driving."
They were married in a civil ceremony two weeks later. Bumpy collapsed
and died of a heart attack in a Harlem restaurant on July 7, 1968.
Mayme, a longtime member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Harlem,
was known for her charitable and volunteer activities."
"Mayme was a class act, and had a big heart," said Henry "Perk"
Perkins, a Harlem restaurateur and close friend of both Mayme and
Bumpy.
"She was the sweetest woman in the world, but she didn't take any
nonsense. She carried herself like a real lady and expected to be
treated as such."
Her book, written with author Karen E. Quinones Miller, may become a
film itself. Perkins said that Johnson was notified two days before
her death that a film company was negotiating to purchase the rights.
"Yeah, she was tickled pink to tell people she was an author at age
93," Perkins said. "Boy, it really made her proud to finally get that
book done."
She is survived by a sister, Lily Andrews; a brother, Melvin Hatcher;
and two grandchildren.
Services: Will be private.
--
"Think with your dipstick, Jimmy."