Andrea Martin

Andrea Martin Headshot

Actress • Comedian

Birth Date: January 15, 1947

Age: 77 years old

Birth Place: Portland, Maine

Petite and wide-eyed under a mass of curls, Andrea Martin created several memorable characters as part of the troupe writing and performing on "Second City TV/SCTV/SCTV Network" (syndicated 1977-81; NBC 1981-83). Two of her more memorable creations were the gibberish-spouting cleaning woman Prini Schlerosi and the leopard-skin-clad, tightly wound TV station manager Edith Prickley. During the course of the show's run, Martin was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards for her writing (winning back to back awards in 1982 and 1983) and one for her characterizations. Following the end of that series, Martin maintained a steady career as a stage actress with high-profile roles on and off Broadway, while maintaining simultaneous careers as a comic character actress in film, most notably as the memorable Aunt Voula in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2002) and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" (2016) and as a series regular on sitcoms "Difficult People" (Hulu 2015- ) and "Great News" (NBC 2017- ).

Of Armenian descent, Martin was born and raised in Portland, Maine. Her mother has claimed she started performing at age four, entertaining fellow patients in a pediatric ward and she became involved with local children's theater. As a teenager, Martin made her professional debut as a singer at Portland's annual Armenian Dance and Picnic. After earning her degree from Emerson College, she moved to NYC and almost immediately landed the role of Lucy in a stage production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

A romance led her to relocate to Toronto, where Martin appeared with Martin Short, Gilda Radner and Victor Garber in a now-legendary production of "Godspell". Other stage roles followed and this "honorary Canadian" was invited to join the Second City troupe as they were developing a TV variety series. Her success on "SCTV" led to other offers; Martin made a number of busted pilots. She also appeared in numerous comedy specials, including "Martin Short Concert for North America" (Showtime, 1985), HBO's "Comic Relief" (1986) and headlined her own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation special, "Andrea Martin: Together Again" (1989). Martin had landed a recurring role on the CBS sitcom "Kate and Allie" and was spun-off into her own short-lived effort "Roxie" (CBS, 1987), but the result barely tapped her zany abilities. Martin has seemed more at home in the looser structure of sketch comedy where her innate humor and oddball characters can flourish. She co-starred on longtime friend Martin Short's eponymous NBC sitcom, but again was hampered by the format.

Martin's big-screen outings began with Ivan Reitman's improvisational "Cannibal Girls" (1973), but she never really found a breakthrough role to propel her to movie stardom. Martin was mostly relegated to small character roles as in "Wholly Moses!" (1980), "Club Paradise" (1986) and "Too Much Sun" (1991). She was appropriately mousy as a librarian with a yen to dance in "Stepping Out" (1991) and had a few good moments as Whoopi Goldberg's long-suffering secretary in the appropriately titled "Bogus" (1996).

In 1992, Martin returned to stage work, scoring a Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Musical for her delightful turn as the only female staff writer on a 1950s TV program not unlike "Your Show of Shows" in "My Favorite Year," an uneven musicalization of the charming 1982 film. In the 1993 L.A. production of Terrence McNally's "Lips Together, Teeth Apart," she had the role of a pretentious suburban housewife alongside Nathan Lane, John Glover and Roxanne Hart. Martin tackled the Bard in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1994 production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor." The play was reconceived and set in an American frontier town with Martin's Mistress Quickly now a saloon owner. The overall results were underwhelming, but most critics singled the actress out for praise. "Nude, Nude, Totally Nude" (1996) was Martin's one-woman show which allowed her free rein to create a galaxy of characters while also exploring her heritage, her marriage and her affairs with younger men. The actress returned to Broadway in the 1997 revival of "Candide," winning praise for her portrayal of the garrulous Old Lady.

During the 1990s, Martin also began regularly lending her voice to animated productions, including the Don Bluth feature film "Anastasia" (1997) and the popular kiddie show "Rugrats" (Nickelodeon, 1991-2004). In 1999, Martin reunited with Lane via voice-over for the amiable hippo-heavy HBO cartoon series "George and Martha," and she also played Ms. Fowl on the Nick animated show "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" (2002-06). Martin appeared in the art-house hit "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (2001) and was typically lively on screen as Aunt Voula in the huge surprise hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2002), as well as its short-lived TV spin-off "My Big Fat Greek Life" (CBS, 2003).

She joined the cast of the 2002 revival of the adored musical "Oklahoma!," and continued to reliably turn up on stage, notably in the 2005 version of "Fiddler on the Roof" and the 2007 Broadway take on "Young Frankenstein," as well as the 2009 production of Eugene Ionesco's "Exit the King," which also included Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Over the years, Martin was featured on the iconic kids' show "Sesame Street" (PBS, 1969- ) in various guises, both animated and live-action, and her knack for education-oriented children's television came in handy for her voice work on "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!" (PBS, 2010-11), a playful cartoon show that once again found her working with Short, who portrayed the fun feline title character. Following a one-off guest appearance on the quirky comedy "30 Rock" (NBC, 2006-2013), Martin appeared in the 2013 production of "Pippin," resulting in another Tony win for her role as Berthe in the buoyant musical. Martin starred in the short-lived sitcom "Working the Engels" (NBC 2014) as a meddling mother trying to keep her family law firm together after the death of her husband. The following year, she joined the cast of the critically-acclaimed "Difficult People" (Hulu 2015- ) before returning to one of her her most popular roles in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" (2016). Martin joined forces with comedy legend Tina Fey to star in the workplace sitcom "Great News" (NBC 2017- ), as the meddlesome mother of an ambitious TV news producer (Briga Heelan).

Credits

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3Stream

Actor
Aunt Voula
Movie
2023
30%

One Killer Question

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Show
2022

Would I Lie to You?

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Reality
2022

Only Murders in the BuildingStream

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Joy Payne
Series
2021
97%

EvilStream

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Sister Andrea
Series
2019
95%

Canada's Walk of Fame 2018

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2018

Little Italy

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Franca
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2018

Diane

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Bobbie
Movie
2018

Will & GraceStream

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Zusanna
Series
2017
74%

The 2017 NBC Primetime Preview

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2017

Great NewsStream

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Carol
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2017
84%

They Shall Not Perish: The Story of Near East Relief

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2017

The Good FightStream

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Francesca Lovatelli
Series
2017
95%

The History of ComedyStream

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2017

Mickey and the Roadster RacersStream

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Mrs. Bigby
Series
2017

Hairspray Live!

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Prudy Pingleton
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2016

Elena of AvalorStream

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Queen Abigail
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2016

Maya & Marty

Music Performer
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2016
38%

Celebrity PageStream

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News
2016

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2Stream

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Aunt Voula
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2016
27%

Hairspray Live!Stream

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Prudy Pingleton
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2016
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Rivershine

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2016

Difficult PeopleStream

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Marilyn Kessler
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2015
96%

Canadian Screen Awards

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2015

In Studio: Women Who Act

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2015

Working the Engels

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Cecil Engel
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2014

Late Night With Seth MeyersStream

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2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

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2014

The Social

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2013

After All These Years

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Anita Dixie
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2013

I, Martin Short, Goes Home

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2012

32nd Annual Genie Awards

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2012

Three Inches

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Belinda Spackman
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2011

The Chew

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2011

The Marilyn Denis Show

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2011

Three Inches

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Belinda Spackman
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2011

Delivering the Goods

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Anna
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2011

ConanStream

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2010

Fugget About It

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2010

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

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2010

Modern FamilyStream

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Fig
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2009
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Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

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2009

Nurse JackieStream

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Mrs. Greenfield
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2009
81%

Breaking Upwards

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Helaine
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2009

Insatiable

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2008

Steven and Chris

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2008

St. Urbain's Horseman

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2007

Today With Kathie Lee & Hoda

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2007

The Better Show

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2007

The Wedding Bells

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2007

Barbie as the Island Princess

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Queen Ariana
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2007

30 RockStream

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Bonnie
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2006
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Black Christmas

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Ms. Barbara MacHenry
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2006

The TV Set

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Becky
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2006

Brother Bear 2

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Anda
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2006

Young Triffie's Been Made Away With

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2006

Entertainment Tonight Canada

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2005

American DadStream

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Sri Lankan Worker
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2005

The ProducersStream

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Kiss Me-Feel Me
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2005
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New York Minute

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Senator Anne Lipton
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2004

Hope & Faith

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2003

My Big Fat Greek LifeStream

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2003
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Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time

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Mrs. Stoppable
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2003

Kim PossibleStream

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My Big Fat Greek WeddingStream

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Aunt Voula
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2002
76%

Elmo's World

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The Friends Lady
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2001

Recess: School's Out

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Lunchlady Harriet
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2001

Hedwig and the Angry InchStream

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Phyllis Stein
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2001
92%

All Over the Guy

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Dr. Ellen Wyckoff
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2001

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

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Miss Fowl
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2001

Prince Charming

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Serena
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2001

DAG

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2000

Believe

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Muriel Twyman
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2000

Gahan Wilson's The Kid

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Witch
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2000

The New Woody Woodpecker Show

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Ms. Meany
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1999

SpongeBob SquarePantsStream

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1999

George and Martha

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1999

Bartok the Magnificent

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Baba Yaga
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1999

The Wild ThornberrysStream

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1998

Damon

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Carol Czynencko
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1998

Meego

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1997

The View

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1997

Life ... and Stuff

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1997

Life ... and Stuff

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1997

AnastasiaStream

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Comrade Phlegmenkoff; Old Woman
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1997
84%

Wag the DogStream

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Liz Butsky
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1997
86%

Bogus

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Penny
Movie
1996

The Outer LimitsStream

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Lil Vaughn
Series
1995

Harrison Bergeron

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Diana Moon Glampers
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1995

The Martin Short Show

Actor
Series
1994
45%

Ahí Viene la Plaga

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1994

In Search of Dr. Seuss

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The Ad Woman
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1994

Guitarman

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Mirth Meadows
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1994

L'Ange guitare

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1994

El Guitarrista

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1994

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStream

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Ishka
Series
1993
91%

Charles Dickens' David Copperfield

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Aunt Betsey
Movie
1993

GypsyStream

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Miss Cratchitt
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1993
63%

Boris and Natasha

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Toots
Movie
1992

RugratsStream

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Aunt Miriam/Woman
Series
1991

Too Much Sun

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Bitsy
Movie
1991

Stepping Out

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Dorothy
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1991

All I Want for Christmas

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Olivia
Movie
1991

Ted and Venus

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Bag Lady
Movie
1991

The SimpsonsStream

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Apu's Mother
Series
1989
85%

Rude Awakening

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April Stool
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1989

Worth WinningStream

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Claire Broudy
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1989
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Un Difícil Despertar

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1989

Martha, Ruth and Edie

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Ruth
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1988

Roxie

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Roxie Brinkerhoff
Show
1987

Club Paradise

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Linda White
Movie
1986

Kate & Allie

Guest Star
Series
1984

Soup for One

Actor
Concord Seductress
Movie
1982

SCTV

Actor
Series
1981

Wholly Moses!

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Zipporah
Movie
1980

Torn Between Two Lovers

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Steffie Conti
Movie
1979

20/20Stream

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News
1978

Live From Lincoln Center

Actor
Show
1976

Black ChristmasStream

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Phyllis Carlson
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1974

Cannibal Girls

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Gloria Wellaby
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1973

Canada AM

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1972

The Best of the David Steinberg Show

Actor
Show
1972

Sesame StreetStream

Guest Star
Series
1969

It's Not Just You, Murray!

Actor
Wife
Movie
1964

Surfside 6

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Series
1960

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutAndrea Martin

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