Born:  April 23, 1949

Birthplace:     Hazelhurst, MS

Zodiac Sign:  Taurus

Mablean Deloris Ephriam, Esq. is a former Los Angeles prosecuting attorney. She is best known as the adjudicator of the courtroom series Divorce Court for seven seasons from 1999–2006. She was replaced by Lynn Toler in the show's 2006-07 season. Ephriam is also known for her judge roles in Tyler Perry's Madea films.

 

Ephriam returned to television in fall 2014 with a new courtroom series titled after her, Justice with Judge Mablean. The series, produced by Entertainment Studios, is airing on the Justice Central cable channel and syndicated on various stations. It is the fifth courtroom series from Entertainment Studios. Her daughter is writer/director/producer Tajamika Paxton.

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In 1999, Divorce Court was revived and Ephriam was selected to be the show's arbitrator. She was the first star of the reality-based version of The Divorce Court. Previous to that, the show used dramatic reenactments of real-life divorce cases. She was also the first African American and female to preside over the series.

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In March 2006, it was announced that Ephriam would leave Divorce Court at the end of the 2005–06 season (her seventh behind the bench), reportedly because she and the show's producers were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension. She was replaced by Judge Lynn Toler, a former judge from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who formerly presided over the short-lived syndicated courtroom TV show Power of Attorney.

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In the fall of 2014, Ephriam returned to TV with a new court room series, produced by Entertainment Studios. Airing in syndication and ES's Justice Central network, it is the fifth courtroom series from Entertainment Studios. Episodes are filmed in Culver City, CA.

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Ephriam hosted an annual event on Father's Day called The H.U.F. Awards, where she leads a star-studded community celebration of otherwise unsung fathers. In June 2010, Ephriam expressed joy and appreciation for the event on The Jazz Joy and Roy syndicated radio show.

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Ephriam also appeared on the first season of Celebrity Fit Club where she went from 208 lbs to 183, losing 25 lbs, 12% of her body weight. Ephriam revealed to VH1 that she has kept off all of the weight. She added that her weight goes up and down, but she never exceeds 183. Source.