Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television.

From 1936 to 1939, she was a featured cast member in 39 episodes of Al Jolson's weekly CBS radio show, The Lifebuoy Program, also called Cafe Trocadero.

Over the next quarter century, she would appear in films with many of the leading comics of her day, including Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope, W.C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin and Jimmy Durante.

[9] After her death, the statuette was displayed for many years in a specially constructed lighted niche at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills.

[6][7] The citation reads: A talented performer whose career spans the better part of a century, Martha Raye has delighted audiences and uplifted spirits around the globe.

She brought her tremendous comedic and musical skills to her work in film, stage, and television, helping to shape American entertainment.

She starred in the short-lived (28 episodes) The Martha Raye Show (1954–1956), opposite retired middleweight boxer Rocky Graziano, who played her boyfriend.

Following the demise of her TV variety show, the breakup of her fifth marriage, and a series of other personal and health problems, she attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills on August 14, 1956.

She made guest appearances or did cameos in series such as Murder, She Wrote, The Andy Williams Show, and McMillan & Wife.

"[15] 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 May 25, 1941, to February 3, 1944; to Nick Condos from February 22, 1944, to June 17, 1953; to Edward T. Begley from April 21, 1954, to October 6, 1956; to Robert O'Shea from November 7, 1956, to December 1, 1960; and to Mark Harris from September 25, 1991, until her death in 1994.

[17] Politically, Raye was conservative, in a 1984 interview, she affirmed: "I believe in the constitution, strength in national defense, limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility.

They reinforce the resolve that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and we can all be eternally grateful to our founding fathers for the beautiful legacy they left us.

Upon her death it was instead requested that she be buried with full military honors in the Fort Bragg Main Post cemetery[7] at Spring Lake, North Carolina, home of her loving and beloved United States Army Special Forces; the Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne) made her an honorary Green Beret for her USO work in Vietnam,[7] including an unauthorized visit to the Leghorn, a top secret SOG listening post on a spire in Laos.