Nan Martin

• Name — Nan Martin • Born — 15 July 1927 • Birthplace — Decatur, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 4 March 2010 • Place of death — Malibu, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actress, comedian • Years Active — 1952–2005 • Children — 2, including Zen Gesner

Nan Martin was born on July 15, 1927, in Decatur, Illinois. She was raised in Santa Monica, California, and attended Santa Monica High School.

Martin's first film role was The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Her other film roles included The Mugger (1958), For Love of Ivy (1968), Goodbye Columbus (1969), Doctor Detroit (1983), All of Me (1984), and Chuck Russell's cult film A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) where she played the role of Amanda Krueger, the mother of killer Freddy Krueger. Her last film role was in Thicker than Water (2005). On television, Martin portrayed Helen Cavanaugh on Buck James and Grace D'Angelo on Mr. Sunshine. Her other TV roles included the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds and the soap opera Santa Barbara. She had a recurring role on The Drew Carey Show as Mrs. Louder. She made many guest appearances on various television series, including Ben Casey, The Untouchables, Mannix, Hart to Hart, The Twilight Zone, two episodes of The Fugitive, The Invaders, the first-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Haven", and in the Columbo television movie, Murder, Smoke and Shadows. In 1965, she played co-murderer Beth Fuller in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Fatal Fortune". She appeared on two episodes of The Golden Girls: first as the mean-spirited and nasty Frieda Claxton, who was told to drop dead by Rose Nylund, after which she did. She also portrayed Philomena, a friend of Sophia Petrillo's from Sicily, who claimed that Dorothy was really her daughter and not Sophia's. One month after her appearance on The Golden Girls, she appeared as Valerie's mean chain-smoking Aunt Josephine on The Hogan Family. She also briefly appeared as a cranky woman in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "Porno Gil". Martin's Broadway credits include The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1976), Summer Brave (1975), Come Live With Me (1967), Under the Yum-Yum Tree (1960), Henry IV, Part I (1960), Lysistrata (1959), The Great God Brown (1959), J.B. (1958), Makropoulos Secret (1957), The Constant Wife (1951), and A Story for a Sunday Evening (1950).

Martin's first husband was musical composer Robert Emmett Dolan, whom she married on March 17, 1948; they had one son, Casey Martin Dolan. Her second husband, Harry Gesner, is the father of her younger son, actor Zen Gesner.

Martin died on March 4, 2010, at her Malibu home, aged 82. She suffered from emphysema.

• Television • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1952 — Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Season 2 episode 3: "I Want to Be a Movie Star" • 1953 — Hollywood Opening Night — Season 2 episode 25: "My Boss and I" • 1955 — Studio 57 — Season 1 episode 25: "Center Ring" • 1957 — Robert Montgomery Presents — Season 8 episode 31: Victoria Regina • 1959 — NBC Sunday Showcase — Nancy — Season 1 episode 1: "People Kill People Sometimes" • 1960 — Moment of Fear — Episode 6: "Finger of Death" • The Play of the Week — Lady Percy — Season 2 episode 1: Henry IV • 1962 — The New Breed — Margaret — Season 1 episode 21: "Wings for a Plush Horse" • Ben Casey — Liza Bowers — Season 1 episode 25: "All the Clocks Are Ticking" • The Untouchables — Stella Kurtz — Season 4 episode 6: "Bird in the Hand" • 1963 — The Eleventh Hour — Sophie Clayton — Season 1 episode 16: "Where Ignorant Armies Clash" • The Twilight Zone — Laura Ford — Season 4 episode 15: "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" • The Defenders — Grave Havelock — Season 3 episode 10: "Climate of Evil" • 1964 — The Reporter — Irene — Episode 4: "Rope's End" • The Fugitive — Congresswoman Marian Snell / Paula Decker — 2 episodes • 1965 — Perry Mason — Beth Fuller — Season 9 episode 2: "The Case of the Fatal Fortune" • 1966 — The Trials of O'Brien — Margo — Episode 15: "Alarums and Excursions" • 1967 — The Invaders — Dr. Maria McKinley — Season 2 episode 4: "Valley of the Shadow" • 1969 — The Mod Squad — Mrs. Barnes — Season 1 episode 14: "Hello Mother, My Name Is Julie" • Mannix — Frances Jordan — Season 2 episode 21: "Odds Against Donald Jordan" • Medical Center — Anne Filbey — Season 1 episode 6: "The Crooked Circle" • 1969–1972 — The F.B.I. — Eleanor Garnett / Susan Crane — 3 episodes • 1970 — Mission Impossible — Grand Duchess Teresa — Season 4 episode 25: "The Choice" • Lancer — Lizzie Cramer — Season 2 episode 23: "Goodbye, Lizzie" • 1971 — Bewitched — Martha Berkley — Season 7 episode 19: "Samantha and the Troll" • The Young Lawyers — Elsa Novak — Episode 20: "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down" • Longstreet — Mrs. Franklin — Episode 8: "The Girl with the Broom" • 1972 — The Sixth Sense — Dora Hallam — Season 2 episode 3: "Witness Within" • 1972–1973 — Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law — Mrs. Holden / Beatrice Cohen — 2 episodes • 1973 — Room 222 — Marie Clark — Season 5 episode 3: "Can Nun Be One Too Many?" • The Streets of San Francisco — Prof. Talmadge — Season 2 episode 14: "Most Feared in the Jungle" • 1974 — The Wide World of Mystery — Catherine — Episode: "The Book of Murder" • Remember When — Annie Hodges — TV movie • 1975 — Ellery Queen — Olivia Burns — Episode 6: "The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance" • 1975–1981 — Insight — Dr. Gersten / Elaine Ritter / Emma — 3 episodes • 1976–1977 — Visions — Mrs. Gregg / Annie — 2 episodes • 1977 — A Circle of Children — Doris Flemming — TV movie • 1978 — Outside Chance — Alison — TV movie • Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold — Aunt Isabel — TV movie • 1979 — The Runaways — Helen Rossmore — Season 2 episode 7: "Throwaway Child" • Mrs. R's Daughter — Mrs. Bergson — TV movie • Family — Virgina Kabel — Season 5 episode 1: "Thanksgiving" • Angie — Aunt Cooper — Season 2 episode 9: "Family Feud" • 1980 — The Golden Honeymoon — Cora Hartsell — TV movie • 1981 — Hart to Hart — Edith Tannen, R.N. — Season 2 episode 18: "Operation Murder" • Dear Teacher — Karen Lipner — TV short • 1982 — St. Elsewhere — Mrs. Stevenson — Season 1 episode 8: "Tweety and Ralph" • 1983 — I Take These Men — Doris — TV movie • The Thorn Birds — Sister Agatha — Mini-series "Part 1" • The Winter of Discontent — Mrs. Baker — TV movie • 1985–1986 — The Twilight Zone — Margaret's Mother / First Nun — 2 episodes / segments • 1986 — Mr. Sunshine — Grace D'Angelo — Main role • Valerie — Aunt Josephine — Season 2 episode 7: "One of a Kind" • 1986, 1988 — My Sister Sam — Aunt Elsie — 2 episodes • 1986–1989 — The Golden Girls — Frieda Claxton / Philomena Bosco — 2 episodes • 1987 — Home Fires — Judge — TV movie • Proud Men — Laura — TV movie • Buck James — Helen Gallagher — Episode 3: "Too Close to Home" • Star Trek: The Next Generation — Victoria Miller — Season 1 episode 11: "Haven" • Frank's Place — Mrs. Weisberger — Episode 13: "Season's Greetings" • 1988 — L.A. Law — Hazel Brackman — Season 2 episode 15: "The Bald Ones" • CBS Summer Playhouse — Arabia Vanderway Porter — Season 2 episode 3: "Old Money" • 1988–1989 — Fantastic Max — Additional voices — 3 episodes • 1989 — Columbo — Rose Walker — Season 8 episode 2: "Murder, Smoke and Shadows" • Major Dad — Miss Shields — Season 1 episode 12: "Boxer Rebellion" • 1990 — Father Dowling Mysteries — Mrs. Dansky — Season 2 episode 6: "The Ghost of a Chance Mystery" • Over My Dead Body — Rose Haversham — Episode 2: "No Ifs, ands or Butlers" • Matters of the Heart — TV movie • 1991 — A Woman Named Jackie — Diana Vreeland — Mini-series 2 episodes • Charlie Hoover — Marge — Episode 4: "Mother-in-Law" • 1991–1992 — Harry and the Hendersons — Dr. Arnesen — 2 episodes • 1991–1993 — The Pirates of Dark Water — Additional voices — 9 episodes • 1992 — Santa Barbara — Abigail Beckwithe — 12 episodes • Child of Rage — Barbara — TV movie • 1993 — Mother of the Bride — Beatrice — TV movie • Baywatch — Dick's Wife — Season 4 episode 11: "The Child Inside" • The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. — Lil Swill — Episode 14: "Mail Order Brides" • Harts of the West — Beverly — Episode 8: Jake's Brother" • 1995 — The 5 Mrs. Buchanans — Nana Buchanan — Episode 15: "Becoming a Buchanan" • Sisters — Marjorie Markham — Season 6 episode 8: "Renaissance Woman" • 1995–1999 — The Drew Carey Show — Mrs. Louder — 25 episodes • 1996 — Terror in the Family — Ivy — TV movie • 1997 — ER — Mrs. Curwane — Season 3 episode 22 “One for the Road” • Chicago Hope — Mrs. Mankiewicz — Season 4 episode: "The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen... by Proxy" • 1997–1998 — Suddenly Susan — Grandma Richmond — 2 episodes • 1998 — The Practice — Judge Lydia Winchell — Season 2 episode 21: "In Deep" • Maximum Bob — President of the Daughters of Stars and Bars — Episode 5: "Good Dog Karl" • Profiler — Rose Fraley — Season 3 episode 7: "Perfect Helen" • 2000 — Murder in the Mirror — TV movie • The Invisible Man — Gloria Howard — Season 1 episode 5: "Impetus" • Gideon's Crossing — Mrs. Champion — Episode 1: "The Gift" • Curb Your Enthusiasm — Woman on the road — Season 1 episode 3: "Porno Gil" • The Michael Richards Show — Aunt Flossie — Episode 5: "The Nursing Home" • 2001 — The Song of the Lark — Mrs. Nathanmeyer — TV movie • Crossing Jordan — Lydia — Season 1 episode 2: "The Dawn of a New Day" • The Agency — Season 1 episode 5: "Pilot" • 2002 — Six Feet Under — Rita Piper — Season 2 episode 3: "The Plan" • Strong Medicine — Edith Strauss — Season 3 episode 4: "Heartbeat" • Push, Nevada — Eunice Blackwell — Episode 4: "Storybook Hero" • Dancing at the Harvest Moon — Harriet Finnigan — TV movie • 2003 — Nip/Tuck — Adelle Coffin — Season 1 episode 10: "Adelle Coffin" • 2004 — Father of the Pride — Episode 8: "Donkey" • 2005 — NYPD Blue — Enid — Season 12 episode 16: "Old Man Quiver" • CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Daphne Eiger — Season 5 episode 15: "King Baby" • Las Vegas — Season 2 episode 18: "To Protect and Serve Manicotti" • Thicker than Water — Abygail Jordan — TV movie • Mrs. Harris — Mama Tarnower — TV movie