Nan Martin

Nan Martin (born July 15, 1927 in Decatur , Illinois , USA , † March 4, 2010 in Malibu , California ) was an American film , television and stage actress .

biography

theatre

Nan Martin studied for some time at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she also appeared in the theater group there in the play "The Gentle People". Then she worked as a model for the fashion designer Adrian. Her actual acting career began in 1950 in a supporting role in the short-running play "A Story for a Sunday Evening" and received first major attention on Broadway through her appearances between 1958 and 1959 in the drama "JB" by Archibald MacLeish , directed by Elia Kazan for which she received a Tony Award nomination. In the following theater season she appeared in the play "Under the Yum-Yum Tree" by Lawrence Roman between 1960 and 1961 . In the early 1960s, she was also a leading actress in the so-called " Shakespeare in the Park" productions by Joseph Papp in New York City's Central Park . She then worked for many decades in stage productions in theaters in Southern California. In 1976 she again had success on Broadway in the play "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" by Tennessee Williams

In 1986 she again played mother roles in both " Buried Child " ( "Buried Child") by Sam Shepard with the South Coast Repertory (SCR) -Theatergruppe in Costa Mesa and at the same time at the Theater Center in Los Angeles in "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller .

One of her other roles with the SCR theater company in 1989 was the role of Miss Helen in the three-person play "The Road to Mecca" by the South African playwright Athol Fugard . For the same portrayal at the side of Fugard as a preacher at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC , she received the Helen Hayes Award. She also received a 1992 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her leading role in "Odd Jobs" in the production of the SCR theater company.

Movie and TV

She later began an acting career in such films as " Puppen unterm Dach " (1963, starring Dean Martin and Geraldine Page ) and "For Love of Ivy" (1968, starring Sidney Poitier and Abbey Lincoln ).

In the comedy film "Goodbye, Columbus" by Philip Roth , she played the unflattering, snobbish , nouveau riche mother of Ali MacGraw , who was not ambitious, at the side of Jack Klugman as Mrs. Ben Patimkin Despised her daughter's new friend, portrayed by Richard Benjamin .

This portrayal also shaped her commitment to maternal roles in more than two dozen films, television films, and series such as the dying mother of lawyer Douglas Brackman ( Alan Rachins ) in " LA Law - Star Lawyers, Tricks, Trials " 1986 and the mother of Freddy Krueger , Amanda Krueger, in " Nightmare III - Freddy Krueger Lives " 1987.

In 1989 she played the role of Rose Walker in the series Columbo - The Forgotten Dead .

Nan Martin had in addition also appeared in the television series " The Untouchables " ( "The Untouchables"), " television series ," " Twilight Zone ," " New York Cops - NYPD Blue " and " CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ." Between 1995 and 2000 she played Mrs. Louder in a supporting role on the " Drew Carey Show ".

She had her last film role in 2001 in "In Love " with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black .

Nan Martin was first married to the film composer Robert E. Dolan . After the divorce, she was married to the architect Harry Gesner. From this marriage, the film and television actor Zen Gesner emerged.

Web links

• LOS ANGELES TIMES: “Nan Martin dies at 82; prolific actress "(March 5, 2010)
• Nan Martin in the Internet Movie Database (English)