The Legendary Martha Raye

She was born Margy Reed on August 27th, 1916 in Butte, Montana. Died October 19th, 1994 at the age of 78 in Los Angeles, California and the only woman buried in Main Post Cemetery at Fort Bragg. She was married seven times.

The title of this post used the word "legendary" for a reason. Not only could she sing, dance and be one hell of a comedian, but she was also a true American hero...

She was an American hero because of not only her performing with the USO in WWII, but for what she did as well during the 60's in Vietnam for the soldiers. By that time she became a Army reservist obtaining the rank of colonel.

In 1967 she arrived at an airbase to entertain the troops. She rode in on a helicopter that she helped load body bags filled with dead soldiers. When she got there the commander of the base, a USAF Captain, told her they didn't have time for her show because they'd be too busy dealing with the wounded and dead. He said she should get back on the helicopter and leave the base. Go on to her next show which was scheduled the following night

She pointed out she outranked him and she will not leave. She also pointed to her lapel. Affixed to it was a "caduceus" signifying she also was a fully qualified surgical nurse. She had no intention of leaving. Instead she ordered him to take her to the surgical tent where Martha proceeded to help treat the wounded soldiers and covered one of the entire shifts in the surgical unit. She stayed all that day, through the night and until noon the next day when she left to perform a show that very night at another base.

Seeing the wounded and dying was not something new for her. She toured with the USO all over the South Pacific, Korea, Europe and Africa during WWII. She sometimes treated and worked with the wounded and dying sometimes for days.

Her heroic efforts did not go unrecognized. She was awarded by President Bill Clinton the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" on November 2nd, 1993 at the age of 77. Eleven months later she died from pneumonia. Sadly she had already lost both legs that same year (1993) and was already a victim of Alzheimer's.




She appeared in 29 films and did tons of TV including having her very own show in 1954. Perhaps one of her most memorable tunes was...

"Watch The Birdie" from "Hellzapoppin" (1941)..


But it was her comedic antics that made work look like fun. Indeed it was for her. Here she is seen appearing (unedited) on the Red Skelton Show with Red. The way Red did is show is unlike how any comedy show is recorded today. There was no canned laughter. There were no director cuts. They just rolled the tape and left Red and Martha have a go at it. Then the TV video editors got busy and snipped it down for time constraints and to cut out what TV audiences would find offensive.




Whether she was singing or acting she just couldn't resists clowning around. Here she is singing a Glenn Miller Melody with Judy Garland..




Margy Reed is one of those people who cannot be replaced. She and others like her are those one-of-a-kinds that represented an era when the whole world wanted to be just like us Americans. Hollywood & TV would, by example, present to the rest of the world what made us special as United States. Sadly today's TV with it's 'Honey Boo Boo', ' Jersey Shore" and others are making us look like trailer trash. Much like Hollywood with it's movies that pander to the lowest forms of human behavior.

It's with a heavy heart that I bear witness to a bygone era when folks like Martha and others in entertainment business tried to lift this nation's spirits up to a higher level. It's with sincere appreciation to those in the early entertainment industry. It were they who introduced the people of the United States to the world and presented us in the best possible light. These people should never be forgotten.