Actress Nan Martin, Drew Carey Show Co-Star, Passes
The veteran of Broadway and many feature films also appeared in episodes of many television series, including The Twilight Zone, NYPD Blue, Baywatch, ER, Six Feet Under, Nip/Tuck and CSI.
Nan Martin, an actress whose career spanned theater, television and film, died March 4, 2010, at her home in Malibu, California. She was 82.
According to news reports, the cause was complications of emphysema.
Martin is known for credits such as the Broadway productions J.B. — for which she received a Tony nomination — and Under the Yum-Yum Tree. She also played Ali McGraw’s mother in the film Goodbye, Columbus.
She achieved television fame in the late 1990s playing Mrs. Louder, the boss in The Drew Carey Show.
Martin first appeared on Broadway in 1950 play A Story for a Sunday Evening. She went on to work extensively in television, including episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables. She also appeared in several Shakespeare in the Park productions in the early 1960s.
Her other television credits included L.A. Law, The Practice, NYPD Blue, Baywatch, ER, Six Feet Under, Nip/Tuck and CSI. Her feature films included For Love of Ivy, Shallow Hal, Big Eden and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
She was born July 15, 1927, in Decatur, Illinois, and grew up in Santa Monica, California. After acting in a student production at UCLA and modeling for the fashion designer Adrian, she moved to New York, where she thrived on stage.
Martin’s first marriage, to composer Robert Emmett Dolan, ended in divorce. She is survived by her husband, two sons and three grandsons.