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Andrea Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the R&B singer and composer, see Andrea Martin (musician).
| Andrea Martin | ||||||||||
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| Birth name | Andrea Louise Martin | |||||||||
| Born | January 15, 1947  Portland, Maine, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Bob Dolman 1980–? (divorced) 2 children | |||||||||
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Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947)[1][2] is a Tony Award-winning American actor and comedienne.
Contents |
Martin was born in Portland, Maine,[3] of Armenian descent,[4] but her early success was found in Canada. One of her first prominent roles was as the bookish sorority sister Phyllis in the 1974 Canadian slasher film Black Christmas. Two years later, she joined then-unknowns John Candy, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Harold Ramis, among others, on the Canadian sketch comedy television series, SCTV, which was set at fictional television station 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, Sally Field, Sophia Loren, Beverly Sills, Lynn Redgrave, Linda Lavin, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Mother Teresa and Indira Gandhi.
Martin’s 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 scheduled to return to Broadway in Young Frankenstein in late 2007.
Martin 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 Ishka, Quark’s iconoclastic mother on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 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.
Martin 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 productions as Jimmy Neutron, The Simpsons (as Apu’s mother), and Earthworm Jim, as well as the Disney Channel’s Kim Possible and Brother Bear 2.
Martin’s 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.
Martin 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. [5]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tonya Pinkins for Jelly’s Last Jam |
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical 1993 for My Favorite Year |
Succeeded by Audra McDonald for Carousel |
- ^ FilmReference.com: Andrea Martin profile
- ^ TV Guide: Andrea Martin biography
- ^ State of Maine: Secretary of State's Kids Page: Famous People from Maine
- ^ Goldberg, Andrew (Director/Producer). The Armenian Americans [DVD]. United States: TwoCats Production.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0551908/bio
- Andrea Martin at the Internet Broadway Database
- Andrea Martin at the Internet Movie Database
- Andrea Martin News Site
- Andrea Martin—Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
- NorthernStars: Andrea Martin biography/filmography
- Andrea Martin article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki