Martha Raye
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 27, 1916
- Died
- October 19, 1994 (aged 78)
- Birthplace
- Butte, Montana, USA
Biography
Martha Raye (born Margy Reed), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored in 1969 at the Academy Awards as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops. In the early 1930s, Raye was a band vocalist with the Paul Ash and Boris Morros orchestras. She made her first film appearance in 1934 in a band short titled A Nite in the Nite Club. In 1936, she was signed for comic roles by Paramount Pictures, and made her first picture for Paramount. Her first feature film was Rhythm on the Range with crooner Bing Crosby. She was a featured cast member in 39 episodes of Al Jolson's weekly CBS radio show, The Lifebuoy Program, also called Cafe Trocadero. In addition to comedy, Martha sang both solos and duets with Jolson. Over the next quarter century, she would appear with many of the leading comics of her day, including Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope, W. C. Fields, Abbott and Costello (in Keep 'Em Flying), Charlie Chaplin (in Monsieur Verdoux), and Jimmy Durante. She joined the USO in 1942, soon after the US entered World War II. She was known for the size of her mouth, which was large in proportion to her face, earning her the nickname The Big Mouth. She later referred to this in a series of television commercials for Polident denture cleaner in the 1980s: "So take it from The Big Mouth: new Polident Green gets tough stains clean!" Her large mouth would relegate her motion picture work to supporting comic parts, and was often made up so it appeared even larger. In the Disney cartoon Mother Goose Goes Hollywood, she is caricatured while dancing alongside Joe E. Brown, another actor known for a big mouth. In the Warner Bros. cartoon The Woods Are Full Of Cuckoos (1937), she was caricatured as a jazzy scat-singing donkey named 'Moutha Bray'. She often appeared as a guest on other programs, particularly those which often featured older performers as guest stars, such as ABC's The Love Boat, and also on variety programs, including the short-lived The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. She appeared from the third to the ninth seasons as Carrie Sharples on Alice, making two or three appearances a season. She made guest appearances or did cameo roles in such series as Murder, She Wrote on CBS and The Andy Williams Show and McMillan & Wife, both on NBC. She appeared again as Agatha for the six-episode run of the retooled McMillan, taking over for Nancy Walker, who had left the series. Her last film appearance was as an incontinent airline passenger in the disaster film The Concorde ... Airport '79. Later in her career, she made television commercials for Polident denture cleanser, principally during the 1970s and 1980s.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
A Christmas Child
Movie · as Regina Wlison-Washington/Ghost Of Christmas Past
The Clockmaker’s Secret: Lost in Spindlewood
Movie · as Sabrina Williow
Holly Noel: The Winter Ball (Christmas 3)
Movie · as ( Self )
Ruby Gale & The Diamond Thief
Movie · as Martha Carpenter
Amara:The Statue
Movie · as Martha
Star Struck
TV · as Susan Mendella · 12 eps
Airports
Movie
Sid & Judy
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Chaplin Today: Monsieur Verdoux
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The 13th Year
Movie · as ( Self )
Alice in Wonderland
TV · as Duchess · 1 ep
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Sadie Winthrope · 1 ep
Showbiz Goes to War
Movie · as (archive footage)
Pippin
Movie · as Bertha
The Gossip Columnist
Movie · as Georgia O'Hanlon
The Concorde... Airport '79
Movie · as Loretta
Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol
Movie · as The Ghost of Christmas Past
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Movie
The Love Boat
TV · as Irene Austin, Zelda · 1 ep
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Movie · as (archive footage)
Alice
TV · as Carrie Sharples · 7 eps
McMillan & Wife
TV · as Agetha, Agatha · 6 eps
The Phynx
Movie · as Foxy
No Substitute for Victory
Movie · as Self
Pufnstuf
Movie · as Boss Witch
The Bugaloos
TV · as Benita Bizarre · 17 eps
The Barbara McNair Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Dick Cavett Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
The Carol Burnett Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 8 eps
Clown Alley
Movie · as Washerwoman Clown
The Hollywood Palace
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Burke's Law
TV · as Beulah Brothers · 1 ep
The Judy Garland Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Billy Rose's Jumbo
Movie · as Lulu
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Big Party
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The All-Star Christmas Show
Movie · as Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV · as Self · 11 eps
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 1 ep
This Is Your Life
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Red Skelton Show
TV · 1 ep
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self · 11 eps
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Monsieur Verdoux
Movie · as Annabella Bonheur
Pin Up Girl
Movie · as Molly McKay
Four Jills in a Jeep
Movie · as Martha Raye
Show-Business at War
Movie · as Self
Hellzapoppin'
Movie · as Betty Johnson
Navy Blues
Movie · as Lilibelle Bolton
Keep 'Em Flying
Movie · as Gloria Phelps / Barbara Phelps
The Farmer's Daughter
Movie · as Patience Bingham
The Boys from Syracuse
Movie · as Luce
Never Say Die
Movie · as Mickey Hawkins
$1,000 a Touchdown
Movie · as Martha Madison
The Big Broadcast of 1938
Movie · as Martha Bellows
College Swing
Movie · as Mabel Grady
Give Me a Sailor
Movie · as Letty Larkin
Tropic Holiday
Movie · as Midge Miller
Waikiki Wedding
Movie · as Myrtle Finch
Double or Nothing
Movie · as Liza Lou Lane
Artists & Models
Movie · as Specialty
Mountain Music
Movie · as Mary Beamish
Rhythm on the Range
Movie · as Emma Mazda
The Big Broadcast of 1937
Movie · as Patsy
College Holiday
Movie · as Daisy Schloggenheimer
Hideaway Girl
Movie · as Helen Flint