# Katherine Jackson

Katherine Esther Jackson (née Scruse; born May 4, 1930) is the matriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers that includes her children Michael and Janet Jackson. Michael dedicated his 1982 album Thriller to her. Janet did the same with her 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814. In 1985, acknowledging the positive impact on her children's successful music careers, national urban magazine Essence honored her as "Mother of the Year".

## Early life

Jackson was born as Kattie B. Screws in Clayton, Alabama on May 4, 1930, the elder daughter of Martha (née Upshaw; December 14, 1907 – April 30, 1990) and Prince Albert Screws (October 16, 1907 – January 21, 1997). Jackson contracted polio at age two, which left her with a noticeable limp. In 1934, her father changed his surname to Scruse and renamed her Katherine Esther Scruse.
As a child, Jackson aspired to become an actress or a country singer, but was dismayed to find no notable Black country stars. Her parents divorced when she was still a child. She attended Washington High School in East Chicago, Indiana, where she joined the school band.

## Matriarch of the Jackson family

In 1947, Scruse met Joseph "Joe" Jackson, a fellow resident of East Chicago, Indiana, and they began to date after Jackson obtained an annulment of his earlier marriage. After dating for a year, Scruse and Jackson married on November 5, 1949. In January 1950 they purchased a house on 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana that had just two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a small utility room for the washing machine and freezer. Their sons slept in bunk beds in one bedroom, Jackson and Joe in the other, and their daughters in the living room. From 1950 to 1966, ten children were born to them, including Brandon Jackson, who was the twin of Marlon but died a few hours after their birth. Those children are:
* Maureen Reillette "Rebbie" Jackson (born May 29, 1950)
* Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951)
* Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson (October 15, 1953 – September 15, 2024)
* Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954)
* La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956)
* Marlon David Jackson (born March 12, 1957)
* Brandon David Jackson (March 12, 1957 – March 12, 1957)
* Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)
* Steven Randall "Randy" Jackson (born October 29, 1961)
* Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966)

### The Jackson 5

The Jackson 5 was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana. It included brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, with younger brothers Marlon and Michael joining soon after. The Jackson 5 performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, then signed with Steeltown Records in 1967 and released two singles. The group was managed by Joe Jackson. In 1968, the group left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown and Berry Gordy, where they were the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There".
During the couple's early years in Gary, Indiana, Katherine sang together with Joe Jackson as he played guitar. Joe and his brother Luther also formed an R&B band, the Falcons, in the mid-1950s, for extra income. Joe had a boxing career, but later went on to work as a crane operator at East Chicago's Inland Steel Company to support the family. Katherine, a devout Jehovah's Witness, began to work part-time at Sears in Gary and played clarinet and piano on the side. She knew that her son Michael loved music and had rhythm from an early age; one day she saw him dancing to the rickety old Maytag washing machine. Another son, Tito, would sneak to play Joe’s guitar while he was not home and one day broke a guitar string. After the guitar was fixed, Tito played for Joe. That sparked the forming of the family group that was named “The Jackson Brothers 5”, that later became the Jackson 5. While Joe led the rehearsals in the living room, Katherine designed and hand-sewed the stage outfits for the boys, and visited The Salvation Army for shoes. Jackson also spent time singing harmonies with the boys around the kitchen table. Jackson served as the family's backbone.

## Personal life

Katherine filed for a divorce from Joe Jackson in March 1973, but chose to cancel the divorce papers. In August 1974, Cheryl Terrell gave birth to Joe's daughter, Joh'Vonnie Jackson. Katherine again filed for divorce in 1982, only to again rescind the papers. The couple remained legally married until Joe's death in 2018, with Katherine denying every rumor that the couple was estranged. In 1990, Jackson released her autobiography, My Family, The Jacksons, which documented her early years and her relationship with her husband and their children, eight of whom wrote salutes to their mother in the book's foreword.
In 1980, Katherine and her two youngest children, Randy and Janet, confronted a woman who worked for Joe's company whom Katherine had often reportedly accused of cheating with Joe. The incident was re-dramatized for the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream. In the miniseries, Katherine was shown confronting Joe instead of the woman about the alleged incident. During the late 1980s, she began experiencing an estrangement from her daughter La Toya after being managed by husband Jack Gordon. In her 1991 memoir La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family, La Toya alleged that her mother was emotionally abusive, charges Jackson denied and blamed La Toya's husband for "brainwashing" her. In 1997, La Toya and her mother reconciled after she filed for divorce from Gordon.

## Tributes

Michael dedicated his 1982 album Thriller to Katherine. Janet did the same following the release of her 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814. In 1985, acknowledging the positive impact on her children's successful music careers, national urban magazine Essence honored her as "Mother of the Year".
In a 2010 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she acknowledged that her husband had admitted to having physically disciplined their children.

## Later life

On June 25, 2009, Katherine's son Michael died from an overdose of propofol administered by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. In July 2009, Katherine and Debbie Rowe, the mother of Michael's two oldest children, reached a settlement pertaining to the care of Rowe's children, Prince and Paris. The agreement provided that the children would be raised by Katherine, and Rowe would have visitation rights and would continue to receive the yearly payments to which Michael had agreed. On August 3, 2009, a judge named Jackson as the children's permanent guardian.
As of 2011, Katherine resided at her home in Calabasas, California, with her grandson, TJ Jackson, son of Tito Jackson, and his family, having moved out of her Hayvenhurst home in Encino, California due to house renovations. On July 25, 2012, Jackson's guardianship of the children was suspended by the court amid allegations that several Jackson family members might have held her against her will as a result of a financial dispute they had against Michael's estate. Guardianship of the children was temporarily given to Michael's nephew, TJ Jackson. Jackson's guardianship later resumed, with TJ Jackson added as a co-guardian.
On November 1, 2017, Jackson resigned co-guardianship of Michael's youngest son, Bigi. She stated her reasons included her own advanced age, the fact that Michael's oldest children Prince and Paris Jackson were now adults, and Bigi being 15 years old. TJ Jackson was, without objection, awarded sole custody.

## Portrayals

Katherine has been portrayed by:
* Angela Bassett (1992) The Jacksons: An American Dream (mini-series)
* Patricia Idlette (2004) Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story (VH1 biopic)
* Nia Long (2025) Michael (film biopic)