Anthony Anderson and his mother, Doris Hancox, celebrated her birthday this month. (Instagram/@AnthonyAnderson)
Anthony Anderson, 45, is best known as the star of ABC‘s Black-ish. His mother, Doris Hancox, has also become somewhat of a celebrity thanks to her hilarious appearance on Celebrity Family Feud in 2015.
Anderson also loves to talk about his mother on talk shows, sharing stories of how he was raised. Hancox was also the scorekeeper for the ABC reboot of To Tell The Truth, which Anderson hosted.
Hancox is back on To Tell The Truth with her son. The show’s new season began on January 1, 2017.
“I inspired his whole career — he doesn’t give me enough credit. People say I’m funnier than he is!” Hancox told Us Weekly.
Here’s what you need to know about “Mama Doris.”
1. She Left Steve Harvey Speechless on ‘Celebrity Family Feud’
The above video shows the moment when Hancox became a star. When Anderson’s family was on Celebrity Family Feud last year, they were asked to “name something a new magician might pull a rabbit out of.” “His nuts,” Hancox replied, since she heard “new” as “nude.” The audience began to laugh and Anderson was clearly embarrassed. Host Steve Harvey was stunned.
“Andy, he’s naked!” she replied. “Yes, mama, but this is a family show,” Anderson replied.
“Well, where else is he going to pull it out of?” Doris asked.
“Mama, I can’t tell you.”
Harvey eventually had to see if “nuts” were on the board, which they were not. “This show is going to hell,” Harvey told the audience.
2. She Once Skipped a Meeting With President Obama so She Wouldn’t Miss Bingo
In May 2016, Anderson was picked to host Dead Mama, a special VH1 aired on Mother’s Day. While on the red carpet, Anderson said that he has been raising himself for 37 years because his mother would often leave him alone so she could play bingo.
“I’m into bingo, baby. I made him learn how to cook, clean, wash dishes, pay bills… everything,” Hancox said.
When Anderson was invited to the White House earlier this year, he offered to bring Hancox to meet President Obama. However, she is so addicted to bingo that she wouldn’t leave Las Vegas.
“I was like, ‘Mama, we’re going to meet the president,'” Anderson recalled. “She’s like, ‘Hmmm… Well, I already paid my $300 to go to Vegas, but let me see if I can transfer this into the other girls’ name.’ Not even a second later, she’s like, ‘You know what, I’m not going to be able to transfer everything into the girl’s name, it’s in my name. So why don’t you call the president, tell him I’ll be there in August and it’s going to be me plus six.”
“What kind of attitude is that?” Anderson asked his mother.
“Hey, I wanted to play bingo!”
Anderson also told this story on Conan.
3. She Brings Her Own Entourage to the ‘To Tell The Truth’ Set
Last year, Anderson was picked to host the To Tell The Truth reboot. The six-episode first season wrapped up on July 12.
While on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote the show, Anderson said that his mother acts like a real celebrity. She came late to a taping and brought her own entourage to the set. They even came with her to JKL.
Anderson and Hancox played To Tell The Truth on JKL. Hancox thought Anderson’s story about his brother Derrick pushed a bar-stool into his head and gave him stitches. But the third story – that Derrick watched through a keyhole as Anderson lost his virginity to Hancox’s best friend’s daughter – was true.
In an interview with ABC News, Anderson revealed that ABC executives came up with the idea of having Hancox co-host To Tell The Truth after her Family Feud appearance.
“They’re like, ‘Do you have a problem with that?’ I was like, ‘No, not at all. That’s one less check I’ll have to write every month,'” he recalled.
4. She Gave Her Kids Vagisil to fix Cuts & Bruises
While on Conan in October 2014, Anderson said that his mother has always been “a little left of center.” He also explained that his mother would give her children Vagisil instead of Neosporin after they got cuts and bruises. Conan O’Brien was surprised.
“She said, ‘If it’s good enough for my [expletive], it’s good enough for you doctors,'” Anderson said.
“She would say that?” O’Brien asked.
“That’s a direct quote from my mother!” Anderson insisted. “I can’t make this up, Conan!”
Anderson said it would work, “but I always wondered why my mother had so much in the cabinet because we didn’t get hurt that often.”
Anderson said that if he brought his mother to Conan the next time he goes on the show, but it would have to be Conan After Dark.
5. Her Husband Also Had Some Unique Parenting Ideas
Anthony Anderson and his mom, Doris Hancox, in May 2016. (Getty)
Anderson was raised by Hancox and his stepfather, Sterling Bowman, who the actor always refers to as his dad.
“He was the only father I knew or cared about,” Anderson told People Magazine in June 2015. “He raised me as any father would, with love, patience, understanding and discipline. I’m grateful because he taught me what it took to be a man. He wasn’t perfect, which made him even more of my hero.”
Bowman also had a unique way of teaching Anderson how to be an adult. After coming home from college, Bowman wanted Anderson to pay rent and he pulled out the phone jacks and padlocked the entertainment system. He even put in a payphone in the family room and only gave Anderson access the the refrigerator, Anderson told People.
“Since all of the appliances in the kitchen were electric, he removed the fuse from the fuse box for the kitchen appliances and put a padlock on the fuse box until he returned home from work everyday,” Anderson told the magazine.