Helen Martin

Known for ActingBorn 1909-07-23Died 2000-03-25St. Louis, Missouri, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Helen Dorothy Martin (July 23, 1909 – March 25, 2000) was an American actress of stage and television who is perhaps most well known for her role in the sitcom 227 as Marla Gibbs' neighbor Pearl. Martin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Amanda Frankie (née Fox) and William Martin, a minister. Martin was a Broadway character actress for many decades, debuting in Orson Welles' production of Native Son in 1941. She appeared in at least a dozen Broadway shows including Jean Genet's The Blacks, Raisin from 1973 to 1975, Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious (and later the musical version, which was called Purlie), The Amen Corner and Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment. She was an original member of the American Negro Theater. She first became famous later in life for her guest role as Wanda on the television series Good Times, and later as the wisecracking neighbor Pearl Shay on the television sitcom 227. She also played on the short-run sitcoms Baby, I'm Back (as mother in-law, Luzelle) and That's My Mama; as Loc Dog's grandma, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), the matronly grandmother Mama Doll in the 1998 film Bulworth, and the no-nonsense grandmother in the film Hollywood Shuffle. Helen Martin died of a heart attack on March 25, 2000. Description above from the Wikipedia article Helen Martin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

Lawman Without a Gun

Better Late Than Never

Dummy

Good Times

J.T.

Hill Street Blues

Full House

The Flash

Sanford and Son

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

The Parent 'Hood

The Wayans Bros.

Roots

What's Happening!!

The Jeffersons

Amos

Starsky & Hutch

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

The White Shadow

Benson

A Raisin in the Sun

The Stockard Channing Show

Cindy

That's My Mama

Death Wish

227

The Jamie Foxx Show

Maude

The Bill

Kiss the Girls

Repo Man

Hollywood Shuffle

T. J. Hooker

Doc Hollywood

Hardcastle and McCormick

Baby, I'm Back

Bulworth

The Phenix City Story

Beverly Hills Cop III

Something to Sing About

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich

St. Elsewhere

I Got the Hook-Up

House Party 2

Wacko

Invisible Ghost

Deal of the Century

The Jerk, Too