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Martha Raye

Martha Raye

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.

Personal information

Birthday

1916-08-27

Birth Place

Butte, Montana, USA

Movies and TV shows :

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

1977

0.0

Movie
$1,000 a Touchdown

$1,000 a Touchdown

1939

2.0

Movie
poster

Alice

1976

7.0

TV
poster

Alice in Wonderland

1985

6.9

TV
And the Oscar Goes To...

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

7.0

Movie
Artists & Models

Artists & Models

1937

6.0

Movie
Billy Rose's Jumbo

Billy Rose's Jumbo

1962

5.6

Movie
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered

Bing Crosby: Rediscovered

2014

7.0

Movie
poster

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

1963

5.5

TV
poster

Burke's Law

1963

6.0

TV
Chaplin Today: 'Monsieur Verdoux'

Chaplin Today: 'Monsieur Verdoux'

2003

5.3

Movie
Clown Alley

Clown Alley

1966

0.0

Movie
College Holiday

College Holiday

1936

5.2

Movie
College Swing

College Swing

1938

6.8

Movie
Double or Nothing

Double or Nothing

1937

6.6

Movie
Four Jills in a Jeep

Four Jills in a Jeep

1944

5.7

Movie
Give Me a Sailor

Give Me a Sailor

1938

5.6

Movie
Hellzapoppin'

Hellzapoppin'

1941

7.1

Movie
Hideaway Girl

Hideaway Girl

1936

0.0

Movie
Keep 'Em Flying

Keep 'Em Flying

1941

5.9

Movie
poster

McMillan & Wife

1971

7.3

TV
Monsieur Verdoux

Monsieur Verdoux

1947

7.7

Movie
Mountain Music

Mountain Music

1937

6.5

Movie
poster

Murder, She Wrote

1984

7.5

TV
Navy Blues

Navy Blues

1941

4.0

Movie
Never Say Die

Never Say Die

1939

6.8

Movie
No Substitute for Victory

No Substitute for Victory

1970

4.3

Movie
Pin Up Girl

Pin Up Girl

1944

6.1

Movie
Pippin

Pippin

1981

7.6

Movie
Pufnstuf

Pufnstuf

1970

6.1

Movie
Rhythm on the Range

Rhythm on the Range

1936

4.0

Movie
Show-Business at War

Show-Business at War

1943

7.0

Movie
Showbiz Goes to War

Showbiz Goes to War

1982

10.0

Movie
Sid & Judy

Sid & Judy

2019

7.6

Movie
Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol

Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol

1979

5.5

Movie
The Adventures of Errol Flynn

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

2005

7.8

Movie
poster

The Barbara McNair Show

1969

0.0

TV
The Big Broadcast of 1937

The Big Broadcast of 1937

1936

5.3

Movie
The Big Broadcast of 1938

The Big Broadcast of 1938

1938

6.0

Movie
poster

The Big Party

1959

0.0

TV
poster

The Bob Hope Show

1950

7.0

TV
The Boys from Syracuse

The Boys from Syracuse

1940

6.5

Movie
poster

The Bugaloos

1970

6.2

TV
poster

The Carol Burnett Show

1967

7.5

TV
poster

The Colgate Comedy Hour

1950

7.0

TV
The Concorde... Airport '79

The Concorde... Airport '79

1979

4.7

Movie
poster

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

6.7

TV
The Farmer's Daughter

The Farmer's Daughter

1940

5.0

Movie
The Gossip Columnist

The Gossip Columnist

1980

7.5

Movie
poster

The Hollywood Palace

1964

4.5

TV
poster

The Judy Garland Show

1963

8.0

TV
poster

The Love Boat

1977

6.3

TV
poster

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

5.1

TV
poster

The Oscars

1953

7.0

TV
The Phynx

The Phynx

1970

3.5

Movie
poster

The Steve Allen Show

1956

5.0

TV
poster

This Is Your Life

1952

6.6

TV
Tropic Holiday

Tropic Holiday

1938

5.5

Movie
Waikiki Wedding

Waikiki Wedding

1937

5.4

Movie
poster

What's My Line?

1950

6.7

TV