LOS ANGELES -- Martha Raye, who entertained generations of American moviegoers and soldiers with her spirited singing and raucous comedy, died Oct. 19 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was 78.
She was a tireless entertainer of U.S. troops in three wars and won many citations for her efforts, including a special Academy Award in 1969. President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November, citing her "great courage, kindness and patriotism."
A performer from age 3, Miss Raye was appearing at the Trocadero nightclub in Los Angeles in 1935 when she was spotted by director Norman Taurog. Cast in a Bing Crosby musical, "Rhythm on the Range," she stopped the show with her full-throated rendition of "Mr. Paganini."
Paramount Pictures signed her to a contract and she appeared in "Hideaway Girl," "The Big Broadcast of 1937," "College Holiday," "Waikiki Wedding," "Artists and Models," "Give Me a Sailor," "College Swing" and other musical comedies. Her cavernous mouth and exclamation "Oh, boyyy!" became trademarks.
"Then they tried to make a glamour girl out of me," she recalled in 1955. "They tried to emphasize my legs. That was ridiculous. I was no glamour girl; I was a comedian."
Her most notable role came in the 1947 movie "Monsieur Verdoux" with Charlie Chaplin. She made wartime movies such as "Pinup Girl," "Hellzapoppin," "Navy Blues" and "Four Jills in a Jeep," then her film career declined.
But she continued earning big salaries in television, Las Vegas casinos and other nightclubs. In 1967, she took over for Ginger Rogers in "Hello, Dolly" on Broadway and in 1972 starred in "No, No, Nanette."
Among her TV work was a weekly variety series, "The Martha Raye Show," 1955-56, which followed an earlier irregular series of specials with the same name; "McMillan," the sequel to "McMillan and Wife," 1976-77; "Alice," 1982-84; and numerous guest shots in variety shows.
The comedian was one of the first Hollywood figures to entertain U.S. troops during World War II. She continued her service in the Korean War and in Vietnam.
Miss Raye was born Margaret Teresa Yvonne Reed on Aug. 27, 1916, in the charity ward of a hospital in Butte, Mont., where her parents, Pete Reed and Betty Hooper, had been stranded. Her parents, a vaudevillian song and dance act, traveled under the billing of Reed and Hooper, and she joined the act when she was 3.
At 16, she left the family act in Chicago and joined Paul Ash's orchestra, doing songs and comedy with the new name of Raye. After a year, she moved on to vaudeville, appearing with Buddy Ebsen, among others. She also appeared in Broadway revues, including "Earl Carroll's Sketch Book" and Lew Brown's "Calling All Stars."
In September 1991, at 75 and using a wheelchair, she married her 42-year-old manager, Mark Harris, in Las Vegas.
"He makes me feel very young and womanly," she said in a TV interview. "I'm really in love this time."
It was her seventh marriage, the first six having ended in divorce.
She had one child, Melodye Condos.
