Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 - March 4, 2010) was an American actress who starred in movies and on television.

Life and career

Early life

Born in Decatur, Illinois and raised in Santa Monica, California, she attended Santa Monica High School.

Acting career

Her 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 is in Thicker than Water (2005).

Martin starred on Mr. Sunshine. Other well-known 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. Lauder. She made many guest appearances on various television series, including Ben Casey, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, two episodes of " The Fugitive ", Star Trek: The Next Generation as Victoria Miller in the season 1 episode "Haven", and Rose, the secretary of murderer Alex Brady 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, which she did. She also portrayed Philomena, a friend of Sophia Petrillo 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.

Personal life

Her 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.

Death

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

Selected filmography

• The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) (uncredited)
• Toys in the Attic (1963)
• For Love of Ivy (1968)
• Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
• The Other Side of the Mountain (1975)
• The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 (1978)
• Doctor Detroit (1983)
• All of Me (1984)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
• Animal Behavior (1989)
• Pirates of Darkwater (voice only)
• Last Gasp (1995)
• Cast Away (2000)
• Big Eden (2000)
• Shallow Hal (2001)
• Dancing at the Harvest Moon (2002)
• Thicker than Water (2005)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]