| Martha Raye | |
|---|---|
 Martha in 1980's Polident TV commercial ad | |
| Personal Information | |
| Born: | August 27, 1916 |
| Birthplace: | Butte, Montana, U.S. |
| Died: | October 19, 1994 (aged 78) |
| Deathplace: | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actress singer, comedian |
| Years active: | 1934–1989 |
| Character/Series involvement | |
| Series: | Alice (TV series) |
| Episodes appeared in: | 12 in series, Seasons 3-8 |
| Character played: | Carrie Sharples |
Martha Raye (August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994) played the recurring part of Carrie Sharples, the mother of Mel Sharples, on the CBS-TV series Alice in Seasons 3-8.
Career[]
A venerable actress, entertainer and early television star whose entertainment career spanned over six decades, Martha had her start in Hollywood in films and radio in the 1930s; she also briefly had her own TV program, "The Martha Raye Show." The show lasted only two seasons from 1954-1956. In the 1960's and 70's, she did a series of guest appearances on television shows, and it was during this time she landed the part of Mel's mother, Carrie, on "Alice."[1]
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.
From 1936–39, 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.[2]
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'.[3]
Personal life[]
Martha's personal life was rather unsteady as she married seven times, with most of her marriages lasting less than two years and her first marriage lasting only three months. Her fourth marriage produced her only child, a daughter Melodye. Overcome with depression and health problems, she attempted suicide in 1956 but was unsuccessful and gradually made a full recovery.[1]
Death and legacy[]
Martha died at age 78 in Los Angeles, California, of pneumonia after a long history of cardiovascular disease. She also suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had lost both legs the year before her death due to circulatory problems. [1]Due to her work with the USO during World War II and subsequent wars, Martha was given a burial with full military honors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Martha Raye bio sketch at AliceHyatt.com. http://www.alicehyatt.com. Retrieved on August 5, 2019.
- ↑ Quigley, Samantha (April 26, 2013). Martha Raye: Healing Through Humor. USO.org. United Service Organizations. Retrieved on October 26, 2016.
- ↑ Take It from the Big Mouth: The Life of Martha Raye,Pittrone, Jane Maddern (1999). . University of Kentucky Press. ISBN .
External links[]
- Martha Raye article at Wikipedia
