Mary Jane – The Name Behind The Nickname

Find Out About Famous Mary Jane’s Who Share Their Name With This Wonderful Plant.

Nowadays, Mary Jane is synonymous with the Cannabis industry in a very positive way. But many years ago it was actually quite a common name throughout both the US and England.

As a result of this, there are several famous people called Mary Jane who have done great things for the people around them, and generally made the world a better place for the rest of us living here now. In this post, I aim to talk about these wonderful women in more detail so you can have some stories to share about fellow Mary Jane’s when you pass the joint around…

There are a few Mary Jane’s around in the modern day (although this tends to be shortened to MJ), However, the name was more commonly used in the olden days. Because of this, most of the people chosen will be historic figures so to speak as opposed to celebrities in today’s world.

That doesn’t make them any less amazing though; so without further ado:

Mary J Blige

When it comes to the Hip-Hip scene, it is impossible to talk about the true pioneers of the industry without mentioning Mary J Blige in the same breath. Even simply saying the name has the same aura as performers like Beyonce, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Missy Elliott would.

Born in 1971 in New York City to a jazz musician father and a mother who was a nurse, she grew up in both Atlanta and New York as a child. Then as a young adult she decided to pursue a career in the music industry, eventually working with ‘Puff Daddy’ Sean Combs releasing her first album ‘What’s The 411?’.

The album was universally successful, and catapulted Mary J into mainstream status. Thirteen more studio albums followed, with the latest being released this year.

Mary J Blige has had such an incredible career that shows no sign of stopping. From being nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress for the 2017 film Mudbound, to performing at the Superbowl, to having a whopping four number one albums. It is safe to say that Mary J Blige is one of the greatest of all time at what she does.

Mary Jane Croft (I Love Lucy)

From Hip-Hop to old school movies. I Love Lucy was one of the most popular TV shows in the 1950s. Of course, being 70 odd years ago, not many people are familiar with the show itself nowadays, but many older people will instantly recognise the show’s name, and smile at the flashbacks it gives them.

Mary Jane Croft was not a main character in the I Love Lucy series, but she was a recurring character that would pop up from time to time as both Betty Ramsey, and other various characters that were needed throughout the show’s run.

She was featured in a more prominent role in the show’s follow-up: The Lucy Show, which cemented her legacy in the 60’s. However she also had a distinguished career in radio as well as acting, with her last performance on radio being in 1979 for a show called Sears Radio Theater.

Mary Jane (MJ) Tumbridge

And now we jump to sports…literally.

Hailing from the Caribbean, Tumbridge was an olympian; competing for Bermuda in equestrian in both 1992 and 2000.

She is best known as the first ever Bermudan to win a gold medal in the Pan-Am games, which she won in 1999. She also won a silver medal in the same competition eight years earlier in 1991,

Now aged 58, MJ Tumbridge works in England as a horse riding coach, and is currently mentoring fellow Bermudan and future Olympic hopeful Saskia Bolt.

Mary Jane Watson

Possibly the most famous MJ (aside from Michael Jackson and Mary J Blige that is…); the Mary Jane character came to prominence in the Spiderman series.

Originally this was limited to just people who had a passion for superhero comic books, however with the recent emergence of the critically acclaimed DC and Marvel Universe films, Mary Jane is now a household name as Spiderman’s love interest throughout the world.

Mary Jane has been both portrayed and voiced by several major well-known film and voice-actresses. Including:

  • Kirsten Dunst
  • Zoe Kravitz
  • Tara Strong
  • Kari Wahlgren
  • Laura Bailey
  • Zendaya (technically ‘Michelle Jones-Watson, a character who pays homage to MJ
  • Shailene Woodley

Mary Jane Thurston

Mary Jane Thurston was a schoolteacher from Grand Rapids, Ohio.

Now, you may be wondering why a humble schoolteacher is featured in this list. However the answer is surprisingly simple; in her will back in 1928, she gave a 105 acre piece of land to the state so it could be used as a park.

The park was subsequently called Mary Jane Thurston State Park, and still uses the name today. The park boasts stunning scenery by the nearby Maumee River, and activities that can be done in the park include camping, hunting, picnicking and boating.

Tom Petty

Don’t worry; I haven’t spelled the name Mary Jane badly wrong…

Tom Petty was the frontman of the band Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. In 1993, they released a song that got to number 14 in the Billboard Top 100 charts called ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’

The soft rock single was typical of the 90’s rock style, and many videos of the song on Youtube have well over a million views. Which goes to show how even today how popular the song is.

 

Mary Jane Owen

Mary Jane McKeown Owen was an important human rights activist for people with disabilities, which was something she did passionately for over 30 years.

Mary Jane herself became blind in 1972, and began getting more involved with human rights activism about five years later. She had several memorable quotes during her time as a disability activist, including:

“The gift of life comes in extremely fragile packaging”
“Some of us here can go on hunger strike. That will prove our civil rights are more important to us than food. They cannot starve us out!”

Aside from this, Owen was also a writer, policy expert and a philosopher.