Andrea Martin has mostly, and unfortunately, remained away from our horror loving big screens and television screens. While she may not be a prominent and well thought after horror star, Ms. Martin has been acting consistently since she appeared in Black Christmas in 1974. To this date she is a two time Emmy Award winner and two time Tony Award Winner.
Let me start at the beginning, for a moment. Ms. Martin was born in Maine of The United States in 1947.
Andrea’s first on screen credit was on a short lived television show called “The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour” in 1971. Eventually she would move into more skit comedy shows; where should would spend the majority of her long career. Her appearances in comedy television include a massive stint on “SCTV Network” from 1976 to 1984 and “The Carol Burnett Show” in 1990. These two break out roles were the floodgate that opened and lead her to many more opportunities in comedy.
During this time period she landed the role of Phyllis in the now iconic Canadian horror flick, Black Christmas in 1974. Black Christmas is the story of sorority girls being picked off one by one by an escaped psycho living in the attic. While not given its credit at the time of its release, Black Christmas is a cult classic now and is actually the first slasher film to hit theaters, even beating out Halloween! In 2006, she would return to the Black Christmas franchise for the reboot where she would play the sorority house mother, Ms. Mac!
Voice acting would become Ms. Martin’s biggest claim to fame, the area in which she has the most credits. Her resume in voice over work rivals her many roles in theater productions. Her voicing credits include “The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimly” in 1978, “Darkwing Duck” and “Goof Troop” in 1982, “Earthworm Jim” from 1985 to 1986, “The Simpsons” and Disney’s Anastasia in 1997, and “Catdog” and “The Wild Thornberries” in 1998. She also enjoyed lending her voice to multiple seasons of “Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,” “Recess,” “Jimmy Neutron,” and “Kim Possible.”
Major television show credits, while rare, include “Kitchen Confidential” in 2006 and “Nurse Jackie” in 2009. Her only horror/scifi related stints include episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space 9” in 1995 and “The Outer Limits” in 1999.
As far as horror and scifi movies go, Andrea doesn’t have much to boast about. She appeared in a horror-comedy, Cannibal Girls, in 1973 and the scifi-comedy, Innerspace, in 1987.
Never far to stray from the silver screen, Andrea Martin has also appeared in numerous musicals, comedies, and critically acclaimed feature films. Some of these titles are Rude Awakening in 1989, Stepping Out in 1991, All I Want For Christmas in 2001, Gypsy in 1993, My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002, New York Minute in 2004, The Producers in 2005, and How To Eat Fried Worms in 2006.
So where is she now?
Andrea Martin’s last scifi-comedy, Three Inches, was released in 2011. She followed that up with a stint on “30 Rock” in 2012. She also performed on the 67th Tony Awards show in 2013. Currently, you can find Andrea voicing The Virgin Mary on “Fugget About It.”
Thank you for all your contributions to the arts and media in general. And from all of us at HorrorSociety, have a very Merry (black) Christmas!!
