Martha Raye Biography
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including on 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.
10 Quick Facts About Martha Raye
- Name: Martha Raye
- Age At Time Of Death: 78 years
- Date of Death: October 19, 1994
- Cause of Death: Alzheimer’s disease
- Date of Birth: August 27, 1916
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Actress
- Marital Status: Was Married
- Salary: Not Available
- Net worth: $2 million
Martha Raye Age At Time Of Death
Martha was 78 years old, she was born on August 27, 1916, and died on October 19, 1994. Her final years were plagued by ill-health. She had a history of cardiovascular disease and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to losing both legs in 1993 due to poor circulation.
Martha Raye Height
She stood at a height of 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m).
Martha Raye Weight
She weighed 62 KG which is equivalent to 136.6. She was a very beautiful woman with blonde hair and brown eyes color.
Martha Raye Education
Details regarding her educational background were not recorded publicly; thus the schools and educational background including the schools and colleges she attended are not available at the moment.
Martha Raye Family
Raye’s life as a singer and comedic performer began during her early childhood. She was born at St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana, as Margy Reed; some sources give her real name as Maggie O’Reed. Her father, Peter F. Reed Jr., was an Irish immigrant; her mother, Maybelle Hazel (Hooper) Reed, was raised in Milwaukee and Montana. Her parents were performing in a local vaudeville theatre as “Reed and Hooper” when their daughter was born.
Two days later, her mother was performing again. Martha first appeared in their act when she was three years old. She later performed with her brother “Bud”, and the children became so popular that their parents’ act was renamed “Margie and Bud.”
Martha Raye Husband
Raye’s personal life was complex and emotionally tumultuous. She was married seven times. Raye was a devout Methodist who regularly attended church, read the Bible daily, and even taught Sunday school classes. Because her religious views were often misconstrued throughout her life, she was noted for having said, “One paper says I’m Catholic and the other says I’m Jewish.
Her engagement with orchestra leader Johnny Torrence was announced in June 1936. Less than two months later she commented, “They tell me I’ve gone Hollywood already because I got engaged to Johnny Torrence one day and broke it off the next.”
She was married to make-up artist Hamilton “Buddy” Westmore from May 30, 1937, until September 1937, filing for divorce on the basis of extreme cruelty; to composer-conductor David Rose from October 8, 1938, to May 19, 1941.
To Neal Lang from 25 May 1941, to February 3, 1944; to Nick Condos from 22 February 1944, to 17 June 1953; to Edward T. Begley from 21 April 1954 to October 6, 1956; to Robert O’Shea from 7 November 1956 to 1 December 1960; and to Mark Harris from 25 September 1991 until her death in 1994.
Martha Raye Daughter
She had one child, a daughter, Melody Condos (born July 26, 1944), with her fourth husband Condos.
Martha Raye Net Worth
Martha’s net worth is estimated to be between $ $3 million dollars. This includes her assets, money and income. Her primary source of income is her career as an actress. Through her various sources of income, Raye has been able to accumulate good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.
Martha Raye Measurements and Facts
- Real Name: Margy Reed
- Popular As: Martha Raye
- Gender: Female.
- Occupation / Profession: Actress
- Nationality: American.
- Race / Ethnicity: Not Available
- Religion: Not Available
- Sexual Orientation: Straight.
Martha Raye Birthday
- Age At Time Of Death: 78 years
- Date of Death: October 19, 1994
- Cause of Death: Alzheimer’s disease
- Date of Birth: August 27, 1916
- Burial place: Main Post Cemetery in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Martha Raye Body Measurements
- Body Measurements: Not Available
- Height / How Tall?: 5 feet 3 inches
- Weight: 62 KG
- Eye Color: Brown
- Hair Color: Blonde
- Breast Size: Not Available
- Waist Size: Not Available
- Hip Size: Not Available
Martha Raye Family and Relationship
- Father (Dad): Peter F. Reed Jr.
- Mother: Maybelle Hazel (Hooper) Reed
- Siblings (Sisters): One
- Marital Status: She Was married 7 times
- Spouse/Husband: Her last husband is Mark Harris (m. 1991)
- Children: One daughter
Martha Raye Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth: $2 Million.
- Salary: Not Available
- Source of Income: Her career as an actress
Martha Raye Actress
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.
In 1970, she portrayed Boss Witch, the “Queen of all Witchdom”, in the feature film Pufnstuf for Sid and Marty Krofft. This led to her being cast as villainess Benita Bizarre in The Bugaloos (1970), which the Kroffts produced the same year.
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
Martha Raye Awards
Raye has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one for motion pictures at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard and the other for television at 6547 Hollywood Blvd.
Martha Raye Nurse
Born in 1916, Martha “Maggie” Raye started her show business career by taking the stage with her parents, a pair of small-time vaudevillians, at the age of three. She made her name as a big band vocal. list in the early 1930s, which led to numerous film and national radio appearances over the course of the decade.
In 1942 she volunteered to serve in the USO, entertaining American troops in Europe, North Africa, and the South Pacific over the course of World War II. During the 1950s she sang, danced and joked her way from military base to military base across Korea. Between 1965 and 1973 she made numerous tours of Southeast Asia to entertain U.S. soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.
In a viral tale circulating online since 2010, a purported eyewitness recounts how entertainer Martha Raye took on the role of combat nurse to help save wounded soldiers in the field during a USO tour of Vietnam war zone in 1967. Though a civilian, she is supposedly the only woman buried in the Ft. Bragg Special Forces cemetery. In this article, we examine the veracity of these claims.
Whether or not she was actually a trained or licensed nurse is a matter of some dispute, however. The AP story referenced above described Raye as a “former nurse.” A subsequent article published in 1970 went so far as to state that she had been a registered nurse since 1936 and actually served in that capacity during World War II.
It appears this information came from Raye herself, who was quoted as saying, “I went as a nurse but, being an entertainer, could do both.”
In her biography of Raye, Take it from the Big Mouth: The Life of Martha Raye, author Jean Pitrone writes that while Raye routinely told people she had worked as a nurse’s aide at Cedars of Lebanon (now Cedars-Sinai) Hospital in her youth and “boasted of being a registered nurse” as an adult, in reality, she was neither a registered nor a practical nurse.
Martha Raye Dentures
Actress Martha Raye filed a $10 million defamation suit. Raye, former Broadway star and singer now known for her denture cream commercials, as mentioned in an opening monologue Letterman did March 5 on the ‘Late Night With David Letterman’ show, the suit contends.
Martha Raye Movie and TV Shows
- Wisecracks (Movie)
- Alice (TV Show)
- The Love Boat (TV Show)
- The Concorde–Airport ’79 (Movie)
- Love, American Style (TV Show)
- The Phynx (Movie)
- Pufnstuf (Movie)
- The Judy Garland Show (TV Show)
- Jumbo (Movie)
- Monsieur Verdoux (Movie)
- Pin-Up Girl (Movie)
- Four Jills In A Jeep (Movie)
- Keep ‘Em Flying (Movie)
- Navy Blues (Movie)
- Hellzapoppin’ (Movie)
- The Farmer’s Daughter (Movie)
- The Boys From Syracuse (Movie)
- Never Say Die (Movie)
- $1,000 A Touchdown (Movie)
- College Swing (Movie)
- Tropic Holiday (Movie)
- Give Me A Sailor (Movie)
- Hideaway Girl (Movie)
- Mountain Music (Movie)
- Double Or Nothing (Movie)
- Waikiki Wedding (Movie)
- Artists & Models (Movie)
- The Big Broadcast Of 1937 (Movie)
- Rhythm On The Range (Movie)
- The Bugaloos (TV Show)
Frequently Asked Questions About Martha Raye
Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including on Broadway.
Martha was 78 years old, she was born on August 27, 1916, and died on October 19, 1994. Her final years were plagued by ill-health.
She stood at a height of 5 feet 3 inches or 1.60 meters.
Martha was married to Mark Harris from September 25, 1991, until her death in 1994
Raye has an approximate net worth of$2 Million. This amount has been accrued from his leading roles in the entertainment industry.
Details about Martha’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much she makes will be updated as soon as it is available.
Because of personal reasons, Martha had not shared her precise location
Martha died on October 19, 1994, at the age of 78.
Martha is now dead.
Martha Raye Contacts
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