Millicent Martin
Encyclopedia
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer and comedienne.
Martin was born in Romford
, England
. She made her Broadway
debut opposite Julie Andrews
in The Boy Friend
in 1954. Her additional New York City
theatre credits include 42nd Street
, Side by Side by Sondheim
, and King of Hearts
(she was nominated for the Tony Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the latter two). In London's West End
, she starred opposite Jim Dale
in The Card
in 1975.
During the early 1960s, Martin became known to television
audiences as the resident singer of topical songs on the weekly satire
show That Was The Week That Was
. One of the songs she sang on the show, the John F. Kennedy
tribute "In the Summer of His Years," was released as a single and "bubbled under
" the Billboard Hot 100
chart at #104 in 1963 (but was outcharted by a cover version by Connie Francis
, which reached #46). She also appeared in the 1966 film Alfie.
Martin had her own BBC
television series between 1964 and 1966, titled Mainly Millicent for the first two series, and shortened to Millicent for the third and final series. In one episode, Martin and guest-star Roger Moore
performed a comedy skit in which Moore played secret agent James Bond
prior to his casting in that role.
In 1969 Sir Lew Grade
wanted to make a comedy film series that would appeal on both sides of the Atlantic starring Martin. He sent six comedy sketches of Martin to producer Sheldon Leonard
and he came up with the premise of From a Bird's Eye View
.. The series was not a success and was cancelled after 16 episodes had been filmed.
In 1988 Martin joined the London production of the Sondheim musical Follies
starring with Eartha Kitt
.
Martin appeared as Gladys Moon in 13 episodes of Moon And Son
, a 1992 BBC detective series created by Robert Banks Stewart
, and co-starring John Michie
.
In 2005 she had a small part in the film, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
which starred Joan Plowright.
Her later television roles include Gertrude Moon, Daphne Moon
's Mancunian
mother, in the American sit-com Frasier
. She has worked for the Disney Channel
, starring in the shows The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, JONAS
, and in the movie Return to Halloweentown
. Other performances include guest roles in The Drew Carey Show
, Will & Grace
, and Days of our Lives
. She also had a small role on an episode of Gilmore Girls
.
In 2008, she appeared at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
with Topol
, Linda Thorson
and Lisa O'Hare
in the Lerner & Lowe musical, Gigi
. In 2011 she guest-starred opposite her former Frasier
daughter, Jane Leeves
, in the TV Land
series Hot in Cleveland
.She has also had an appearance in the fourth season of Chuck
as the Mother of Alexei Volkoff, unknowingly the first person to be uploaded with the intersect and in reality an undercover CIA Agent
Martin was married to the pop singer Ronnie Carroll
from 1958 until 1965, and to the actor Norman Eshley
, but both marriages ended in divorce. She has been married to an American, Marc Alexander, since 1978, and is now a permanent resident of the United States.
Martin was born in Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She made her 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...
debut opposite Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
in The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
in 1954. Her additional New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
theatre credits include 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
, Side by Side by Sondheim
Side By Side By Sondheim
Side by Side by Sondheim is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from Company.-History:...
, and King of Hearts
King of Hearts (musical)
King of Hearts is a 1978 musical with a book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Jacob Brackman, and music by Peter Link, orchestrated by Bill Brohn. It is based on the 1966 anti-war cult film of the same name....
(she was nominated for the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the latter two). In London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, she starred opposite Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...
in The Card
The Card (musical)
The Card is a musical with a book by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall and music and lyrics by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.Based on Arnold Bennett's 1911 comedic novel of the same name, it chronicles the rise of Denry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley through luck, guile, initiative,...
in 1975.
During the early 1960s, Martin became known to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
audiences as the resident singer of topical songs on the weekly satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
show That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
. One of the songs she sang on the show, the John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
tribute "In the Summer of His Years," was released as a single and "bubbled under
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
" the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart at #104 in 1963 (but was outcharted by a cover version by Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, which reached #46). She also appeared in the 1966 film Alfie.
Martin had her own BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series between 1964 and 1966, titled Mainly Millicent for the first two series, and shortened to Millicent for the third and final series. In one episode, Martin and guest-star Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
performed a comedy skit in which Moore played secret agent James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
prior to his casting in that role.
In 1969 Sir Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
wanted to make a comedy film series that would appeal on both sides of the Atlantic starring Martin. He sent six comedy sketches of Martin to producer Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
and he came up with the premise of From a Bird's Eye View
From a Bird's Eye View
From A Bird's Eye View was a 1970 ATV and ITC Entertainment co-produced sitcom. In the United States it aired on NBC.The series followed two International Airlines stewardesses, a scatterbrained Briton and a savvy American, as they flew the London-European routes...
.. The series was not a success and was cancelled after 16 episodes had been filmed.
In 1988 Martin joined the London production of the Sondheim musical Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
starring with Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
.
Martin appeared as Gladys Moon in 13 episodes of Moon And Son
Moon And Son
-Premise and Characters:The series starred Millicent Martin as a clairvoyant, Gladys Moon, and John Michie as her very attractive psychic son, Trevor Moon, who travelled between Folkestone in the UK and France, doing readings and selling occult and astrological goods from their mobile "salon" and...
, a 1992 BBC detective series created by Robert Banks Stewart
Robert Banks Stewart
Robert Banks Stewart is a former writer for television, now retired.He began as a story editor at Pinewood Studios and for Thames Television where he contributed scripts to the programmes Callan, Special Branch, The Sweeney and Owner Occupied.He also wrote The Avengers scripts The Master Minds...
, and co-starring John Michie
John Michie
John Michie is a Scottish television and film actor, best known for his role as DI Robbie Ross in the STV Scottish detective television series Taggart and for playing Karl Munro in Coronation Street.-Early life:...
.
In 2005 she had a small part in the film, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a 2005 comedy-drama film made by Claremont Films and distributed by Picture Entertainment Corporation. It was directed by Dan Ireland and produced by Lee Caplin, Carl Colpaert and Zachary Matz from a screenplay by Ruth Sacks, based on the novel by Elizabeth...
which starred Joan Plowright.
Her later television roles include Gertrude Moon, Daphne Moon
Daphne Moon
Daphne Crane is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Frasier, played by Jane Leeves....
's Mancunian
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
mother, in the American sit-com Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
. She has worked for the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, starring in the shows The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, JONAS
Jonas
- Jonah name :* Jonah Metropolitan of Moscow , also known as Saint Jonas* Jonah, Old Testament prophet-Places:* Jonas , a hamlet in the municipalities Epe and Apeldoorn in the Netherlands* Jonas, Pennsylvania- Other :...
, and in the movie Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
. Other performances include guest roles in The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
, Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, and Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
. She also had a small role on an episode of Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
.
In 2008, she appeared at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
with Topol
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol , often billed simply as Topol, is an Israeli theatrical and film performer, actor, writer and producer. He has been nominated for an Oscar and Tony Award, and has won two Golden Globes.-Early life:...
, Linda Thorson
Linda Thorson
Linda Thorson is a Canadian actress, most famous for her work as Tara King in The Avengers.-Personal life:...
and Lisa O'Hare
Lisa O'Hare
Lisa O'Hare began her career as an English stage actress who has played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the title character of Mary Poppins on the West End and UK stage...
in the Lerner & Lowe musical, Gigi
Gigi (musical)
Gigi is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. It is based on the novella Gigi by Colette and 1958 hit musical film of the same name. The story concerns Gigi, a free-spirited teenaged girl living in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. She is being...
. In 2011 she guest-starred opposite her former Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
daughter, Jane Leeves
Jane Leeves
Jane Leeves is an English film, stage, and television actress, comedienne and dancer.Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in the 1983 popular British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show. Leeves moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles until she secured a...
, in the TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
series Hot in Cleveland
Hot in Cleveland
Hot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The...
.She has also had an appearance in the fourth season of Chuck
Chuck
-Engineering:* Chuck , a clamp that is part of a machine tool or power tool and securely holds a removable part, either a workpiece or a tool -People:* Charles, a masculine given name...
as the Mother of Alexei Volkoff, unknowingly the first person to be uploaded with the intersect and in reality an undercover CIA Agent
Martin was married to the pop singer Ronnie Carroll
Ronnie Carroll
Ronnie Carroll is a Northern Irish singer and entertainer.-Career:...
from 1958 until 1965, and to the actor Norman Eshley
Norman Eshley
Norman Eshley is an English actor best known for his roles on television.He is possibly best known for his role in the sitcom George and Mildred as the snobbish, right-wing real estate agent Jeffrey Fourmile, the foil to George...
, but both marriages ended in divorce. She has been married to an American, Marc Alexander, since 1978, and is now a permanent resident of the United States.
Selected filmography
- The Girl on the BoatThe Girl on the Boat (film)The Girl on the Boat is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Henry Kaplan and starring Norman Wisdom, Millicent Martin and Richard Briers. It is based on The Girl on the Boat by P.G...
(1961) - Nothing But the Best (1964)
- Stop the World - I Want to Get OffStop the World - I Want to Get OffStop the World – I Want to Get Off is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.Set against the backdrop of a circus, it focuses on Littlechap, whose first major step towards improving his lot is to marry Evie, his boss's daughter...
(1966) - AlfieAlfieAlfie is a 1966 British film directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Michael Caine. It is an adaptation by Bill Naughton of his own novel and play of the same name. The film was released by Paramount Pictures....
(1966)