| Vinton Harper | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Vint and the Kids Move In" |
| Last appearance | "Bye-bye–Baby!" |
| Portrayed by | Ken Berry David Friedman as Young Vint Harper |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Vinton Ray Harper (birth name) |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Locksmith |
| Family | Thelma Harper (mother) Carl Harper (father; deceased) Ellen Jackson (sister) Eunice Higgins (sister) |
| Spouse(s) | Mitzi Harper (divorced) Naomi Oates (current) |
| Children | Sonja Harper (daughter, with Mitzi) Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. (son, with Mitzi) Tiffany Thelma Harper (daughter, with Naomi) |
| Relatives | Fran Crowley (aunt) Ed Higgins (brother-in-law), Bubba Higgins (nephew) |
Vinton Ray Harper is a fictional character in the television series, Mama's Family. He was played by actor Ken Berry.
Vinton was the youngest of the three children of Thelma Harper and her late husband, Carl. He was often at the mercy of his older sisters, snobbish Ellen Harper and temperamental foul-mouth Eunice Harper Higgins. He tended to get along with his sisters, although they would both dismiss him as a bit dim. Eunice was more snide towards him, but at least Ellen was amicable to him.
He worked as a locksmith at a store called "Kwik Keys". He had met a woman named Mitzi and married her, siring two children Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. and Sonja Harper. She had left him as the show began, to break into show business, in Las Vegas, (but instead only found work as a cocktail waitress), and he and his two children moved in with his mother, after being evicted from their house.
Not long after that, he reconnected with former schoolmate, and his mother's next door neighbor, Naomi Oates. They fell in love at first sight, despite Thelma's protests, and they got married in her house. This only exacerbated the rivalry that Naomi and Thelma had. They had been planning to move to Arizona and run a trailer park, but their partner had absconded with their money, leaving them broke.
After two years, Buzz and Sonja moved out of the house and to parts unknown. By this time, Naomi and Vint had hoped that they would get the bedroom that used to belong to Vinton's aunt, Fran Crowley who had recently died. That was not to be however, when Vinton's nephew, Bubba Higgins, had been released to Thelma's custody after Eunice and her husband, Ed Higgins outright left Raytown for Florida, without telling Bubba. Bubba received the bedroom, and Vinton and Naomi stayed in the basement, where he had been sleeping since he had moved back in. Vint was briefly a member of the Cobras, a fictitious men's order similar to the Shriners and other such organizations.
Although Naomi had a bond with Buzz and Sonja, they had their own child, named Tiffany Thelma; and finally moved out of the basement at series end, and into a trailer in his mother's backyard.
Vinton was known for his clumsiness and also his tendency to not be too bright. But nonetheless, he was lovable.
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