“Forgotten Hollywood”- Remembering John McMartin…

Posted on July 8, 2016 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

Poster_of_Sweet_Charity_(film)   John McMartin was the versatile Tony Award-nominated actor who starred on Broadway in Follies and Sweet Charity. The silver-haired actor also appeared in Don Juan, High Society, and Showboat. He was a favorite of some of the most famous creators in modern theater history, including Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, and Bob Fosse.

   McMartin was born in Indiana, and made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959. He initially went to school for journalism, but went on to pursue acting in New York. His patrician, gentlemanly approach led him to be cast as establishment figures such as preachers, professors, businessmen, and general bluebloods. However, in his skilled hands, those potentially starchy types were molded into subtle, nuanced, and slyly funny characters.

   He was a founding member of the New Phoenix Repertory Company during its three Broadway seasons in the early 1970s. Recently, he co-starred in productions of Into the Woods and a revival of Anything Goes. He remained active into his 80s, last starring on Broadway as Sen. Richard Russell in All the Way, the play about Lyndon Johnson featuring Bryan Cranston. John was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2009.

MCMARTIN_John_phA-150x150   A familiar face on the silver screen, he had roles in A Thousand Clowns, All the President’s Men, Pennies from Heaven, Legal Eagles, Kinsey, and the screen version of Sweet Charity. On television, he guest-starred in The Partridge Family, The Rockford Files, Marcus Welby M.D., The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Murder She Wrote, Law & Order, Touched by an Angel, Frasier, and The Golden Girls.  JOHN McMARTIN

   The genial John McMartin was 86.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2016 at 12:49 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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