Helen Martin

Acting

Helen Martin

Born — Died

1909-07-23 — 2000-03-25

Place of birth

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

53 titles

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 Will…

Known for

Film credits

1990s · 8 titles

Beverly Hills Cop III poster
5.9

When his boss is killed, Detroit cop Axel Foley finds evidence that the murderer had ties to a California amusement park called Wonder World. Returning to sunny Beverly Hills once more, Foley reunites with Detective Billy Rosewood to solve the case. Along with Billy's new partner, Detective Jon Flint, they discover that Wonder World is being used as a front for a massive counterfeiting ring.

Beverly Hills Cop III

1994

Kiss the Girls poster
6.5

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

Kiss the Girls

1997

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood poster
7.0

When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?

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

1996

Doc Hollywood poster
6.4

After leaving Washington D.C. hospital, plastic surgeon Ben Stone heads for California, where a lucrative practice in Beverly Hills awaits. After a car accident, he's sentenced to perform as the community's general practitioner.

Doc Hollywood

1991

Bulworth poster
6.3

A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.

Bulworth

1998

Night Angel poster
4.4

A legendary she-demon, in the updated guise of a beautiful model, infiltrates the offices of a successful fashion magazine with the aim of corrupting the world via mass media.

Night Angel

1990

House Party 2 poster
5.5

Kid'N'Play leave their neighborhood and enter the world of adulthood and higher education. Play attempts to get rich quick in the music business while Kid faces the challenges of college.

House Party 2

1991

I Got the Hook-Up poster
5.3

Two broke buddies feel lucky when they come upon a truckload of cellular phones and begin selling them out of the back of their van. Trouble arises though, when the phones develop faults. The two friends then not only have to deal with unsatisfied customers but also the FBI.

I Got the Hook-Up

1998

1980s · 9 titles

Repo Man poster
6.6

A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.

Repo Man

1984

Deal of the Century poster
4.6

Arms dealers from several companies vie to sell the most expensive and highest tech weapons to a South American dictator. There are complications; understanding the exact nature of how 'gifts' are used to grease the wheels of a sale, a religious conversion from one of the salesman and a romance that begins to grow between two competitors.

Deal of the Century

1983

Hollywood Shuffle poster
6.5

Aspiring actor and hot-dog stand employee Bobby Taylor catches the ire of his grandmother for auditioning for a role in the regrettably titled exploitation film "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge." When Tinseltown Studios casts Taylor in the title role, he has a series of conflicted dreams satirizing African-American stereotypes in Hollywood, and must reconcile his career goals with his desire to remain a positive role model for his little brother.

Hollywood Shuffle

1987

Wacko poster
5.1

Thirteen years after the "Lawnmower Killer" killed her sister, high school student Mary Graves and obsessed detective Dick Harbinger are on the lookout for the killer to reappear during the annual Halloween Pumpkin Prom.

Wacko

1982

The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There poster
NR

The NBC All Star Hour (1985) was a one-hour primetime television special that brought together stars from NBC’s biggest shows of the mid-1980s, blending comedy, music, and variety performances into a network showcase.

The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There

1985

The Jerk, Too poster
4.5

Navin Johnson heads to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of his pen pal, Marie. On the way, he runs across a gang of hobos whose leader, Diesel, takes him to Las Vegas after learning of his skills at poker.

The Jerk, Too

1984

Amos poster
7.2

Amos Lasher loses his wife and home in an accident, finding himself in the care of the state, or specifically speaking, the Sunset Nursing Home. Here he finds the head nurse, Daisy Daws, ruling the cowed patients with an iron hand, but as his determination to get out of Sunset grows, the more sinister his situation becomes.

Amos

1985

A Raisin in the Sun poster
7.0

Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.

A Raisin in the Sun

1989

Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 2 poster
NR

Director Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle) knows how to construct and, when necessary, even milk a laugh for optimal effect. This second riotous volume in the Partners in Crime collection features more ribald moments culled from Townsend's laugh-filled HBO variety show. Sinbad, David Allen Grier and Damon Wayans also star.

Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 2

1988

1970s · 7 titles

Death Wish poster
6.9

After his wife is murdered by street punks, a pacifistic New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad, prowling the streets for would-be muggers after dark.

Death Wish

1974

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich poster
5.9

A troubled boy becomes addicted to heroin, and his mother and foster father help him fight it.

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich

1977

Lawman Without a Gun poster
9.0

During the 1960s' civil rights movement, a black civil rights worker returns to his small Southern town and runs for sheriff against the incumbent, a popular segregationist.

Lawman Without a Gun

1979

J.T. poster
8.0

J. T. Gamble, a shy, withdrawn Harlem youngster, shows compassion and responsibility when he takes on the care of an old, one-eyed, badly injured alley cat days before Christmas and secretly nurses it back to health.

J.T.

1971

Dummy poster
8.8

The real-life account of an illiterate, deaf-and-mute, black youth who was accused of murdering a prostitute, and the relationship that developed between him and his court-appointed attorney, who also was deaf, and the events leading up to his precedent-setting trial.

Dummy

1979

Better Late Than Never poster
9.0

Harry Landers is a feisty senior citizen who refuses to abide by the rules in a stodgy retirement home run by a dour Ms. Davis, in which Harry leads a revolt by the other goated senior citizen residents against the establishment.

Better Late Than Never

1979

Cindy poster
7.0

A revisionist twist on Cinderella with an all-black cast and set in Harlem during WWII. Cindy is a country bumpkin who moves from South Carolina to live with her father and his new family. When her stepmother and two stepsisters refuse to take her to the Sugar Hill Ball, her draft-dodging, chauffeur neighbor whips up a little "magic" and at the ball she catches the eye of the richest man in Harlem.

Cindy

1978

Series credits

Full House poster
7.5

After the death of his wife, Danny enlists his best friend and his brother-in-law to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle.

Full House

1987

Hill Street Blues poster
7.6

A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.

Hill Street Blues

1981

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

St. Elsewhere poster
5.7

St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at a lightly-regarded Boston hospital who gave interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions.

St. Elsewhere

1982

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

T. J. Hooker poster
6.5

Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recruits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.

T. J. Hooker

1982

Starsky & Hutch poster
7.4

Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.

Starsky & Hutch

1975

The Jeffersons poster
7.3

Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family.

The Jeffersons

1975

The Jamie Foxx Show poster
6.7

Texas native Jamie King is an aspiring actor who heads to Hollywood in hopes to find fame and fortune in the entertainment industry. To support himself, he works at his Aunt Helen and Uncle Junior's Los Angeles hotel, the King's Towers.

The Jamie Foxx Show

1996

Sanford and Son poster
7.5

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

Sanford and Son

1972

Benson poster
7.1

A butler deals with life at the governor's mansion.

Benson

1979

The Wayans Bros. poster
7.2

Brothers Shawn and Marlon are on the lookout for money and success, though the two are complete opposites. Shawn is responsible and conservative while Marlon is free-spirited and liberal. They are not immune to sibling rivalry, but frequently enjoy being each other's partner in crime.

The Wayans Bros.

1995

Good Times poster
8.0

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.

Good Times

1974

Hardcastle and McCormick poster
6.5

Hardcastle and McCormick is an American action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983 through 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick. The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.

Hardcastle and McCormick

1983

Maude poster
6.9

Well-educated and upper middle class, Maude Findlay is the archetypal feminist of her generation. She lives in suburban Tuckahoe, New York, with her fourth husband, Walter, their divorced daughter, Carol, and grandson Phillip.

Maude

1972

The Parent 'Hood poster
7.1

The Parent 'Hood is an American sitcom that aired on The WB airing from January 18, 1995 to July 25, 1999. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. Originally to have been titled Father Knows Nothing, the series was one of the four sitcoms that aired as part of the original Wednesday night two-hour lineup that helped launch The WB network.

The Parent 'Hood

1995

The Flash poster
7.4

When a bolt of lightning crashes through a police crime lab, a mix of electrically charged substances bathes chemist Barry Allen, transforming him into the fastest man alive--The Flash.

The Flash

1990

227 poster
6.9

A housewife sits on the stoop of her apartment building in a black neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and discusses all manner of things with her neighbors.

227

1985

Roots poster
7.4

The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in U.S. history.

Roots

1977

The White Shadow poster
7.1

The White Shadow is an American drama television series that ran on the CBS network from November 27 1978, to March 16 1981.

The White Shadow

1978

What's Happening!! poster
7.4

Buddies Raj, Rerun and Dwayne come of age in 1970s Los Angeles. The trio have a penchant for mischief and trying to find ways of getting rich quick. Almost always the trio's schemes wind up getting them into trouble and it's up to Raj's mother Mabel to get them out of it. Also, half of the time, the guys get into trouble because of Raj's bratty sister Dee.

What's Happening!!

1976

What's Happening!! poster
7.4

Buddies Raj, Rerun and Dwayne come of age in 1970s Los Angeles. The trio have a penchant for mischief and trying to find ways of getting rich quick. Almost always the trio's schemes wind up getting them into trouble and it's up to Raj's mother Mabel to get them out of it. Also, half of the time, the guys get into trouble because of Raj's bratty sister Dee.

What's Happening!!

1976

That's My Mama poster
7.3

Clifton Curtis has got it made—he runs a successful business he inherited from his late father and he's lucky with the the ladies—but he still lives with his Mama. She rules the roost and dispenses advice to everyone who'll listen—no one at Oscar's Barbershop is spared from Mama's wisdom. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

That's My Mama

1974

Baby, I'm Back poster
6.5

Baby, I'm Back is an American sitcom that aired CBS from January to April 1978. The series stars former Sanford and Son star Demond Wilson, Room 222 alumna Denise Nicholas, Helen Martin, and future Facts of Life co-star Kim Fields.

Baby, I'm Back

1978

The Stockard Channing Show poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Stockard Channing Show

1980

Behind the camera