Everything about Andrea Martin totally explained
» For the R&B singer and composer, see Andrea Martin (musician).
Andrea Louise Martin (born
January 15 1947) is an
Emmy- and
Tony Award-winning
Armenian-
American actress and
comedienne.
Life and career
Martin, the oldest of three children, was born in
Portland, Maine of
Armenian heritage, in 1947. Her father owned Martins, a grocery store. Her early success was found in
Canada. Two of her first prominent roles were in 1973's
Cannibal Girls and then as the bookish
sorority sister Phyllis in
Black Christmas, another Canadian slasher film from 1974. Two years later, she joined then-unknowns
John Candy,
Dave Thomas,
Eugene Levy,
Catherine O’Hara,
Harold Ramis and
Joe Flaherty on the Canadian
sketch comedy television series,
SCTV, which was set at fictional television station "Second City Television," or SCTV, in Melonville. Martin most notably portrayed leopard-print-wearing station manager Edith Prickley, whose dealings with the staff, including president/owner Guy Caballero, clueless newscaster Earl Camembert, and washed-up actor Johnny LaRue, helped to provide much of the show’s humor. Her other memorable characterizations included repressed sexologist Dr. Cheryl Kinsey, insecure self-affirmation guru Libby Wolfson, pidgin-tongued janitress Pirini Scleroso, tone-deaf children’s entertainer Mrs. Falbo, Texan curio pitchwoman Edna Boil, and impossibly tight-jeaned Melba, the Disco Queen. Her talent for impersonation was key in her humorous portrayals of such luminaries as
Barbra Streisand,
Ethel Merman,
Arlene Francis,
Sally Field,
Sophia Loren,
Beverly Sills,
Lynn Redgrave,
Linda Lavin,
Bernadette Peters,
Liza Minnelli,
Mother Teresa and
Indira Gandhi.
Her early stage work was with the
improvisational comedy troupe
The Second City. In 1992, she made her
Broadway debut in the musical
My Favorite Year, for which she won the
Tony Award,
Theatre World Award, and
Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Additional Broadway credits include
Candide (1997) and
Oklahoma! (2002)—both of which brought her Tony nominations—and
Fiddler on the Roof (2005). She is now performing in
Young Frankenstein as Frau Blücher.
She wrote and performed in the critically acclaimed one-woman show
Nude, Nude, Totally Nude in
Los Angeles and
New York City, where she garnered a
1996 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One Person Show. Her lengthy theater credits include the leads in
The Rose Tattoo and
Betty's Summer Vacation, both produced at The Huntington Theatre in Boston. Martin has played
Wanda the Word Fairy in numerous short segments on
Sesame Street.
Star Trek fans may recognize her as one of two actresses to play,
Quark’s iconoclastic mother on . For her role, she was made up to appear as an older woman although in reality Martin is less than three years older than
Armin Shimerman, who played Quark. She only played the role of Ishka once - finding the prosthetics involved to be uncomfortable Martin declined to return, and
Cecily Adams was hired to play Ishka in all future appearances.
She has won two
Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program in
1982 and
1983. She has done considerable voice work in such animated film and television productions such as "
Anastasia",,
The Simpsons (as
Apu’s mother),
Earthworm Jim,
Kim Possible,
SpongeBob SquarePants [AsMs. Grethel [Pristle] Puss]]
&
Brother Bear 2.
Her many screen credits include Wag the Dog, All I Want for Christmas, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Producers, and the independent smash hit, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, in which she portrayed Aunt Voula, a role she reprised in the short-lived small-screen adaptation.
Personal life
She has two sons, Jack (born 1981) and Joe (born 1983), with ex-husband Bob Dolman, a screenwriter. Through this marriage, she was the sister-in-law of Dolman's sister, actress Nancy, and her husband Martin Short.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Andrea Martin'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://andrea_martin.totallyexplained.com">Andrea Martin Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
