Take It from the Big Mouth: The Life of Martha Raye

Clownish comedienne/performer Martha Raye (1916-1994) was best known for a string of movie roles before World War II, an eponymous television show in the 1950s and long patriotic service entertaining American troops, from WWII through Vietnam. This biography, based mainly on secondary sources (not footnoted) provides a saucy sketch of Raye's roller-coaster life. Born ""Margy Reed"" to traveling vaudevillians, she became ""Martha Raye"" as a teen singer and quickly rose to Hollywood roles. Her large and elastic mouth helped her physicalize gags and, much later in her career, inspired the book's title phrase, via a 1980 commercial for denture cleansers. Though Pitrone (The Dodges: The Auto Family Fortune and Misfortune) does explain that Raye's singing, dancing and comedic talent made her a singular clown, the book never quite makes Raye's stage presence felt. Still, it does recount Raye's troubled personal life, including a faulty education, a strained relationship with her daughter, seven marriages (the final one to a man more than 30 years her junior), substance abuse and attempts at suicide. Raye's greatest pride, according to her daughter, came from her service to the troops; she was buried at Fort Bragg. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)