Martha Raye

Martha Raye was an American comic actress and singer who worked for six decades in film, theater, and television. Born in Butte, Montana, to vaudevillian parents, she began performing in the family stage act at age three and later sang with the Paul Ash and Boris Morros orchestras. Signed by Paramount Pictures in 1936 and known for comic roles, she appeared in films such as Keep 'Em Flying (1941) and Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux (1947). She joined the USO in 1942 and performed for American troops, and among her later movies were Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) and Pufnstuf (1970), with a final screen appearance in The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979). She hosted The Martha Raye Show (1954-1956), had a recurring part as Carrie Sharples on the sitcom Alice, and returned to Broadway in Hello, Dolly! and No, No, Nanette. In 1969 she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the first woman to do so.