"It's crazy you can publicize a drinking event. In my day, when folks were boozing, you didn't know if you were going to get arrested, get shot or go blind. Ooh-whee! It was fun!"
— Alberta, The Liquor License
Alberta Haynes is the ghost of a lounge singer from the Prohibition Era. She appears in the American sitcom Ghosts.
Biography[]
History[]
Alberta was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to immigrant parents from Jamaica. Her father was a chef, which allowed the family to live in an apartment above the restaurant where he worked. From an early age, Alberta loved music and set out to be a star as her dad told to follow her dreams. Alberta took part in the Great Migration in hopes of making her dreams come true, although she only recorded one album before her death. She wished to be star to make her daddy's struggles worth it in Alberta's Fan.
She grew up with a baby sister named Theresa (also called Reece) as noted in Alberta's Descendant. It's also said that she has an uncle Al with a gambling addiction. Alicia Walker talks about how there was a fight in the front row during one of her performances. She knocked out one of the guys with her mic stand and kept singing. She liked to date bootleggers and gangsters calling them "much more fun."
In A Star Is Dead, she mentions that she once fell in the orchestra pit and got her head stuck in a tuba. She got up and preformed the next day. She doesn't remember the performance however, because of a concussion.
In Whodunnit, it's laid out that Theresa was part of Alberta's entourage and was there the night that her sister died. They were close and while they did fight Alberta knew that they always had each other's backs. They always said they would grow old together.
Alberta kept a diary that is kept in a false bottom of her table. She admits that she got her rival, Clara, arrested when she had ratted her out for bootlegging so she could perform on stage. She was tired of being pushed back because of her size. She says that she watched for two years watching Clara as a backup singer in the episode Alberta's Podcast. Sam says that her story makes her feel relatable.
In life Alberta had a bootlegger boyfriend which she first mentioned in Viking Funeral. His name, Earl, was revealed in the episode The Liquor License.
She had hidden bottles of whiskey in the walls of Woodstone Mansion that were eventually given out in the episode The Liquor License.
On the night she died, she turned down Al Capone as mentioned in Whodunnit. According to Alberta he was always hitting on her.
Death[]
Alberta was in her late 20s/early 30s when she died December 31, 1928 at Woodstone Mansion after performing in a show, and she is convinced that she was poisoned. However, her official cause of death was ruled as a cardiac arrest in the episode Alberta's Fan. After her death was called police showed up "almost instantly" as mentioned by Sasappis in Whodunnit.
After learning that Sam can see and hear ghosts, Alberta tries to get Sam to help her find out the circumstances surrounding her death. While Hetty believes and insists there was no foul play, it is later revealed she was actually poisoned by a bottle of strychnine-laced moonshine that she drank from which led to her having a heart attack.[3]
In the episode The Christmas Spirit the ghosts decide to sing a song for Sam on Christmas Day as a present. She insists that the group is called "Alberta and the Christmas Cookies."
It's noted in Alberta's Descendant that she never had children before she passed. Alberta is later overjoyed to discover her grand niece and is pleased to discover that she inherited her singing talent, hoping she could carry on the legacy. During the podcast, Jay reveals a note that was written by someone who said Alberta "will be outta the way soon", the person was revealed to be nicknamed T. Further investigation led Sam to learn that Alberta's boyfriend Earl Boudreaux was dating her sister soon after her death, leading Alberta to speculate whether her own sister murdered her to steal her boyfriend.
Appearance[]
Alberta wears a crimson velvet dress with a matching tasselled shawl and a crimson hat with a feather. She wears a layered pearl necklace that is wrapped several times. In the flashback to the night Alberta died, it is revealed that her black bob cut is a wig she wears over braids.[2]
Personality[]
Alberta has an exuberant personality and is perpetually ready for the spotlight. She is confident and brimming with life despite her ghostly state. With her boisterous character she also lifts up her friends, encourages them and instills her confidence in them. Alberta is also tough, due to living as a black woman in North America, which in the 1920s was also rife with mobs. This meant she had to be resourceful to survive, as it was every woman for herself; she mentions doing a lot of backstabbing in her youth in Alberta's Descendant. Thus, Alberta reveals to the ghosts and Sam that it's not easy for her to be vulnerable in Alberta's Podcast. She also admits having a weakness for dangerous men, like her bootlegger boyfriend Earl Boudreaux.
Quotes[]
"Why are the good ones always married? And alive."
— Alberta about Mark, Alberta's Fan
"You know, my daddy couldn't achieve his dreams because the world held him back. But he always told me I could. That's why I wanted to be a star, so that his struggle would have been worth it."
— Alberta's Fan
"I am a God!"
— Alberta can use the Alexa, Attic Girl
"It's not easy for me to be...vulnerable. I mean, people see me as this super-confident diva. But the truth is, that's an armor I wear. I struggle like everyone else. But I don't let that show. I need to be my loudest fan. 'Cause God knows there's always been plenty of folks trying to tear me down"
— Alberta's Podcast
"Your one true god is now relatable"
— Alberta's Podcast
"At last, my love has come along"
— Isaacs Wedding
"Ama-zing grace!"
— Pilot
Trivia[]
- Opening intro objects:
- Bottle of moonshine (Alberta's Fan)
- Microphone (Alberta's Podcast)
- Poltergeists and other Apparitions book (The Polterguest)
- Anything Goes playbill (A Star Is Dead)
- Her ability to be heard humming by the living while singing is the same as Jemima's from the British series.
- Alberta is able to be heard by electronic devices, mainly Alexa. This could be an extension of her ghost power.
- She does not like the type of music that Jay listens to.
- One of her songs is called "Don't Be a Rat".[4]
- She auditioned in 1924 at a theater in Harlem, New York.
- In her trunk she had moonshine, a mink scarf, sheet music, and old letters. Alberta remarks that it was heavy and she had to lug it to the mansion from her hotel. She did not stay at Woodstone due to the racism of the time.
- Some of her favorite jazz artists are Sidney Bechet, and Fletcher Henderson.[5]
- She has developed a crush on Jason Momoa.[6]
- She knew Al Capone who constantly hit on her.[7]
- She likes to look at the magazines as shown in Isaac's Book.
- Alberta hasn't seen any family members in 100 years as noted in Alberta's Descendant.
- So far there has been one episode that shows her life when she was alive.
- Besides Pete, Hetty and Trevor, she is one of the few to have a living descendant.
- She considered Hetty to be like a sister to her in Whodunnit.
- Alberta is the only main character to be intentionally murdered, so far (Sasappis's cause of death has yet to be revealed).
- She is one of two ghosts to be murdered, along with Stephanie.
- Alberta is based on legendary blues singer Alberta Hunter.[8]
- Her favorite color is purple in Patience (episode).
Gallery[]
Promos[]
Stills[]
References[]
- ↑ In "A Date To Remember", it is Valentine's Day (February 14) and Alberta mentions it's her half-birthday.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Whodunnit
- ↑ Alberta's Fan
- ↑ Alberta's Podcast
- ↑ Dinner Party
- ↑ Thorapy
- ↑ Ghostwriter
- ↑ The Entire Cast of 'Ghosts' Really Wants to Make a Musical Episode Happen (COLLIDER • APRIL 2024)