Martha Raye, born Margy Reed on August 27, 1916, in Butte, Montana, was an American comic actress and singer who gained fame for her large mouth, earning her the nickname "The Big Mouth." Her parents were vaudeville performers, and she began performing at the age of three, joining their act.

Her career spanned over five decades, during which she worked in movies, television, radio, and theater. She made her feature film debut in "Rhythm on the Range" (1936) alongside Bing Crosby and went on to appear in numerous films with leading comics of her day, including Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope, W.C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin, and Jimmy Durante.

Martha Raye was known for her irrepressible comic style and her dedication to entertaining American troops overseas through the United Service Organizations (USO) during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Her efforts earned her the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1969 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993. She married seven times, with her last marriage being to her manager, Mark Harris, in 1991.

Martha Raye was well known for her television commercials for Polident denture cleaner, where she humorously referred to herself as "The Big Mouth." She continued to work in burlesque shows, nightclubs, radio, and television until the late 1980s.

She passed away on October 19, 1994, in Los Angeles, California, and was buried with full military honors at the Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery in North Carolina.