Martha Raye
Encyclopedia
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and standards
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...

 singer who performed in movies, and later on television.
She was honored in 1969 with an Academy Award as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops.

Early years

Raye's life as a singer and comedy performer began very early in her childhood. She was born at St. James Hospital, in Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...

 as Margy Reed, where her Irish immigrant parents, Peter F. Reed and Maybelle Hooper, were performing at a local vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 theatre as "Reed and Hooper". Two days after Martha was born, her mother was already back on stage, and Martha first appeared in their act when she was three years old. She performed with her brother, Bud, and soon the two children became such a highlight that the act was renamed "Margie and Bud." Some show business insiders speculated that the Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

 song from A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1954 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell...

, "I was born in a trunk in the Princess Theater in Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...

" was inspired by Raye's beginnings.

Raye continued performing from that point on and even attended the Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School is a not for profit, college preparatory school that was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an education to young people working on the New York stage, in Vaudeville, or "on the road."-History:...

 in New York City, but she received so little formal schooling, getting only as far as the fifth grade, that she often had to have scripts and other written documents read to her by others.

Career

In the early 1930s, Raye was a band vocalist with the Paul Ash and Boris Morros
Boris Morros
Boris Morros was an American Communist Party member, Paramount Studios producer, Soviet agent, and FBI double agent.Morros was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated with his family to America in 1922...

 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
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, and made her first picture for Paramount. Her first feature film was Rhythm on the Range
Rhythm on the Range
Rhythm on the Range is a 1936 Paramount Pictures musical film directed by Norman Taurog.-Plot:Doris Halliday is the daughter of wealthy banker Robert Halliday. She is about to marry a man she doesn't love, so the family will become richer...

 with crooner Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

. From 1936-39, covering 39 shows, she was a featured cast member on Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....

's weekly CBS radio show, "The Lifebuoy Program” aka “Cafe Trocadero.” In addition to comedy, Martha sang both solos and duets with Jolson.
Over the next 26 years, she would eventually appear with many of the leading comics of her day, including Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown (comedian)
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...

, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

, W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...

, Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...

, Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

, and Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...

. She joined the USO
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...

 soon after the US entered World War II.

Martha Raye was known for the size of her mouth, which appeared large in proportion to the rest of her face, thus earning her the nickname The Big Mouth. She later referred to this in a series of 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 come to relegate her motion picture work to largely supporting comic parts, and was often made up in such a way that it appeared even larger than it already was. In the Warner Brothers cartoon The Woods are Full of Cuckoos, she is caricatured as a jazzy scat-singing donkey named Moutha Bray.

USO

During World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, she travelled extensively to entertain the American troops, even though she had a lifelong fear of flying.

In October 1966, she went to Soc Trang
Soc Trang
Sóc Trăng is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of the Soc Trang province. It was upgraded from a town to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007.-Name:The name is believed to derive from the Khmer language...

, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, to entertain the troops at the base which was the home base of the 121st Aviation company, the Soc Trang Tigers, the gunship platoon, The Vikings and the 336th Aviation company. Shortly after her arrival, both units were called out on a mission to extract supposed POWs from an area nearby. Raye decided to hold her troupe of entertainers there until the mission was completed so that all of the servicemen could watch her show. She often served as a nurse while on these trips.

During that time, a serviceman flying a "Huey Slick" helicopter carrying troops recalls that his ship received combat damage to the extent that he had to return to base at Soc Trang:

I was the pilot of that "slick" which had received major damage to the tail-rotor drive shaft from a lucky enemy rifle shot. The maintenance team at the staging area inspected and determined that a one-time flight back to base camp would be okay but grounded the aircraft after that.

Upon arriving back at Soc Trang, I informed Martha (she came right up to us and asked how things were going) that we had a gunship down in the combat area and additional efforts were being made to extract the crew. I don't recall if we had received word of the death of the pilot at that time. Martha stated that she and her troupe would remain until everyone returned from the mission.

As there were no replacements, the servicemen could not return to the mission. While the servicemen waited, Raye played poker with them and helped to keep everyone's spirits up.

I enjoyed playing cards with Martha but regretted it somewhat. It appears that she had plenty of practice playing poker with GIs during her USO service in multiple wars. But I still love her for who she was and what she did.

When the mission was completed, which had resulted in the loss of a helicopter, gunship and a Viking pilot, there was also an officer, the Major who was in command of the Vikings who had been wounded when the ship went down. He was flying pilot position but was not in control of the ship when the command pilot, a Warrant Officer, was shot. When he and the two remaining crewmen were returned to Soc Trang, Raye volunteered to assist the doctor in treating the wounded flyer. When all had been completed, Raye waited until everybody was available and then put on her show. Everyone involved appreciated her as an outstanding trouper and a caring person. During the Vietnam War, she was made an honorary Green Beret because she visited United States Army Special Forces in Vietnam without fanfare, and she helped out when things got bad in Special Forces A-Camps. As a result, she came to be known affectionately by the Green Berets as "Colonel Maggie."


On November 2, 1993, Martha Raye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Bill Clinton, for her service to her country. The citation reads:

"A talented performer whose career spans the better part of a century, Martha Raye has delighted audiences and uplifted spirits around the globe. She brought her tremendous comedic and musical skills to her work in film, stage, and television, helping to shape American entertainment. the great courage, kindness, and patriotism she showed in her many tours during World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict earned her the nickname "Colonel Maggie." The American people honor Martha Raye, a woman who has tirelessly used her gifts to benefit the lives of her fellow Americans."

TV career

Raye was an early television star when that medium was very young; for a while she had her own program, The Martha Raye Show
The Martha Raye Show
The Martha Raye Show is an hour-long comedy/variety show which aired live on NBC from January 23, 1954, to May 29, 1956. The series was hosted by the late Martha Raye, a Montana native, who often called herself "The Big Mouth." Her boyfriend on the program and a foil for her humor was portrayed by...

 (1954–1956) in which she was the lead and her awkward boyfriend was portrayed by retired middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

 boxer Rocky Graziano
Rocky Graziano
Rocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York City , was an Italian American boxer. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch...

. (The writer and producer was future The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...

 creator Nat Hiken
Nat Hiken
Nat Hiken was an American television writer, producer, and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1950s.-Biography:...

). Other stars appearing on her show included Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...

, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...

 and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 dancer Wayne Lamb
Wayne Lamb
Michael 'Wayne' Lamb was a Broadway dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and dance professor.-Study and military service:...

. She also appeared on other TV shows in the 1950s, such as What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....

. Following the demise of her TV variety show, the breakup of her fifth marriage, and a series of other personal and health problems, she attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 with sleeping pills on August 14, 1956. Well-wishers gave her a St. Christopher's medal, a St. Genesius medal and a Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...

. After her recovery, she wore these amulets faithfully, although she was neither Roman Catholic nor Jewish. At the conclusion of each episode of her TV shows, she would thank the nuns at The Sisters of St. Francis Hospital in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, where she recovered from her health problems. She would always say, "Goodnight, Sisters" as a sign of appreciation and gratitude.

Later in her career, Raye served as the television spokesperson for Polident denture cleanser, principally during the 1970s and 1980s.

Later career

In 1970, she portrayed Boss Witch, the "Queen of all Witch-dom" in the feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Pufnstuf
Pufnstuf (film)
Pufnstuf is a 1970 feature film based on the television series H.R. Pufnstuf.-Plot:Jimmy ventures to Living Island with his magical, talking flute, Freddy...

 for Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft , are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....

. This led to her being cast as villainess Benita Bizarre in The Bugaloos
The Bugaloos
The Bugaloos is an American children's television series produced by brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, airing on NBC on Saturday mornings from 1970 to 1972. The show featured a musical group composed of four British-accented teenagers, who lived in fictional Tranquility Forest...

 (1970), which the Kroffts produced the same year.

She often appeared as a guest on other programs, particularly ones that often had older performers as guest stars, such as ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

 and on variety programs, including the short-lived The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show was a Western comedy and variety program that ran on ABC television for 13 episodes from September 29 to December 29, 1962...

, also on ABC. She also appeared for two years as Mel Sharples' mother, Carrie, on the CBS sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...

. She made guest appearances or did cameo roles in such series as Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

 on CBS and The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show is a television variety show which ran from 1959 to 1971 , and a short-lived run in syndication, beginning in the fall of 1976...

 and McMillan & Wife, both on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

. She appeared again as housekeeper Agatha for the six episode run of the retooled McMillan.

Personal life

Raye's personal life was complex and emotionally tumultuous. She was married seven times.

She was married to Hamilton "Buddy" Westmore
Bud Westmore
Bud Westmore was a make-up artist in Hollywood.Son of George Westmore, a member of the Westmore family prominent in Hollywood make-up. He is credited on over 450 movies and television shows, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Man of a Thousand Faces, The Andromeda Strain and Creature from the Black...

 from May 30, 1937 until September 1937, filing for divorce on the basis of extreme cruelty; to conductor and composer David Rose
David Rose
David Rose was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody"...

 from October 8, 1938 to May 19, 1941 (he left her to marry Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

); to Neal Lang from May 25, 1941 to February 3, 1944; to Nick Condos from February 22, 1944 to June 17, 1953 (which resulted in the birth of her only child Melodye Raye Condos on July 26, 1944); to Edward T. Begley from April 21, 1954 to October 6, 1956; to Robert O'Shea from November 7, 1956 to December 1, 1960; and to Mark Harris from September 25, 1991 until her death in 1994.

Mark Harris

Raye's marriage to Harris in a Las Vegas ceremony made headlines in 1991, partly because Raye was 75 and Harris was 42, and partly because the two had known each other for less than a month. (Harris was also bisexual). They remained married until her death in 1994. At that time, Harris received the bulk of Martha Raye's estate, including her home in Bel Air, California. Raye's will left nothing to her only daughter from a previous marriage, Melodye Condos, from whom Raye was estranged at the time of her death. On April 23, 2008, Harris was interviewed on The Howard Stern Show and revealed that he had spent all but $100,000 of the money left to him in Raye's will, from an estimated $3 million. He also revealed that he had suffered two heart attacks
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 and was living in New York with one of his adult daughters.
Before her death, with Harris's support, Raye sued Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

 and the producers of the movie For The Boys
For the Boys
For the Boys is a 1991 film which tells the story of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer to entertain American troops. The film traces her life through 50 years. The original music score was composed by Dave Grusin.The film was adapted by...

 in the early 1990s, claiming that the film was based on Martha's extensive experience as a much-loved entertainer of US troops during three wars. She lost the case when the judge, after hearing evidence on both sides, decided that Raye did not have a case.

Death

Raye's final years were spent dealing with ongoing health problems. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had lost both legs in 1993 due to circulatory problems. She died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 on October 19, 1994, after a long history of cardiovascular disease. Raye was 78 years of age, and residing in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

In appreciation of her work with the USO during World War II and subsequent wars, special consideration was given to bury her in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

 upon her death. However, at her request, she was ultimately buried with full military honors in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...

. She was buried in the Post Cemetery at Ft. Bragg. She was an honorary Colonel in the Marines and an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army.

Raye has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

, for motion pictures, located at 6251 Hollywood Blvd., and for television, located at 6547 Hollywood Blvd.

Film

  • A Nite in a Nite Club (1934)
  • Rhythm on the Range
    Rhythm on the Range
    Rhythm on the Range is a 1936 Paramount Pictures musical film directed by Norman Taurog.-Plot:Doris Halliday is the daughter of wealthy banker Robert Halliday. She is about to marry a man she doesn't love, so the family will become richer...

     (1936)
  • The Big Broadcast of 1937
    The Big Broadcast of 1937
    The Big Broadcast of 1937 is a 1936 Paramount Pictures production directed by Mitchell Leisen, and is the third in the series of Big Broadcast movies. The musical comedy stars Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Ray Milland, Benny Fields, Frank Forest and...

     (1936)
  • Hideaway Girl (1936)
  • College Holiday
    College Holiday
    College Holiday is a 1936 Paramount comedy with a plot elements related to eugenics. The film stars Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Martha Raye. It was directed by Frank Tuttle....

     (1936)
  • Cinema Circus (1937)
  • Waikiki Wedding
    Waikiki Wedding
    Waikiki Wedding is a 1937 musical film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby. Bing plays the part of Tony Marvin, a PR man charged with extolling the virtues of Hawaii. The female lead is Shirley Ross....

     (1937)
  • Mountain Music (1937)
  • Artists & Models (1937)
  • Double or Nothing
    Double or Nothing (1937 film)
    Double or Nothing is a 1937 musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, Andy Devine, Mary Carlisle, William Frawley, Samuel S. Hinds, and Frances Faye. The most famous song from the film is "The Moon Got In My Eyes".-Plot synopsis:...

     (1937)
  • The Big Broadcast of 1938
    The Big Broadcast of 1938
    The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures film featuring W.C. Fields and Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies...

     (1938)
  • College Swing (1938)
  • Tropic Holiday
    Tropic Holiday
    Tropic Holiday is a 1938 American musical film directed by Theodore Reed and starring Bob Burns, Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland.The film was nominated for the Academy Award's Best Original Score.-Cast:* Bob Burns as Breck Jones...

     (1938)
  • Give Me a Sailor
    Give Me a Sailor
    Give Me a Sailor is a 1938 film directed by Elliott Nugent. It stars Martha Raye and Bob Hope.-Cast:*Martha Raye as Lett Larkin*Bob Hope as Jim Brewster*Betty Grable as Nancy Larkin*Jack Whiting as Walter Brewster*Clarence Kolb as Captain Tallant...

     (1938)
  • Never Say Die (1939)

  • $1000 a Touchdown (1939)
  • The Farmer's Daughter (1940)
  • The Boys from Syracuse
    The Boys from Syracuse (film)
    The Boys from Syracuse is a 1940 musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, based on a stage musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, which in turn was based on the play The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare...

     (1940)
  • Navy Blues (1941)
  • Keep 'Em Flying
    Keep 'Em Flying
    -Plot:Jinx Roberts is a stunt pilot and his assistants are Blackie and Heathcliffe . All three are fired from the carnival and air show that they work for after a disagreement. Jinx decides that he should join the Army Air Force, so they go to a nightclub to party one last time. While there...

     (1941)
  • Hellzapoppin'
    Hellzapoppin' (film)
    Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 Universal Pictures adaptation of the musical of the same name directed by H.C. Potter. The cast includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson , Martha Raye, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, and The Six Hits.The credits for the movie assert that "any resemblance between Hellzapoppin and a...

     (1941)
  • Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
  • Pin Up Girl
    Pin Up Girl (film)
    Pin Up Girl is a 1944 20th Century Fox Technicolor musical romantic comedy motion picture starring Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, and Joe E. Brown.Directed by H...

     (1944)
  • Monsieur Verdoux
    Monsieur Verdoux
    Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charles Chaplin. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and Marilyn Nash.-Plot:...

     (1947)
  • Billy Rose's Jumbo
    Billy Rose's Jumbo (film)
    Billy Rose's Jumbo is an American musical film produced by MGM in Panavision and Metrocolor, and starring Jimmy Durante, Doris Day, Martha Raye, and Stephen Boyd. The film was directed by Charles Walters and featured Busby Berkeley's choreography...

     (1962)
  • No Substitute for Victory (1970) (documentary)
  • The Phynx
    The Phynx
    The Phynx is a 1970 comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to the country of Albania to locate hostages.-Cast:*The Phynx... Themselves...

     (1970)
  • Pufnstuf
    Pufnstuf (film)
    Pufnstuf is a 1970 feature film based on the television series H.R. Pufnstuf.-Plot:Jimmy ventures to Living Island with his magical, talking flute, Freddy...

     (1970)
  • The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)


Television

  • Four Star Revue (host from 1951–1953)
  • The Martha Raye Show (1954–1956)
  • Club Oasis
    Club Oasis
    Club Oasis is a 24-episode half-hour comedy-variety show, set in a chic simulated nightclub, which appeared on NBC in the 1957–1958 television season. The series alternated with The Polly Bergen Show in the 9 p.m. EST time slot on Saturday evenings...

     (1957-1958)
  • The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
    The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
    The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show was a Western comedy and variety program that ran on ABC television for 13 episodes from September 29 to December 29, 1962...

    , episode "Circus", December 8, 1962
  • The Judy Garland Show (1964)
  • The Hollywood Palace
    The Hollywood Palace
    The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. It began as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months...

    , April 2, 1966
  • The Carol Burnett Show
    The Carol Burnett Show
    The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...

     (1969)
  • The Bugaloos
    The Bugaloos
    The Bugaloos is an American children's television series produced by brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, airing on NBC on Saturday mornings from 1970 to 1972. The show featured a musical group composed of four British-accented teenagers, who lived in fictional Tranquility Forest...

     (1970–1972)
  • Twas the Night Before Christmas (1977)
  • Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979)
  • The Gossip Columnist (1980)
  • Pippin: His Life and Times (1981)
  • Alice
    Alice (TV series)
    Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...

     (cast member from 1982–1984)
  • Murder, She Wrote
    Murder, She Wrote
    Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

    , episode "Armed Response" (1985)
  • Alice in Wonderland
    Alice in Wonderland (1985 film)
    Alice in Wonderland is a two-part film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice books. An Irwin Allen production, it was a special made for television and used a huge all-star cast of notable actors and actresses. The title role was played by 10-year-old Natalie Gregory, who wore a blonde wig for this...

     (1985)

External links

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