Nan Martin

---

Biography

Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 – March 4, 2010) was an American actress and comedian, perhaps best known for her roles as Nurse Tanya Peeler (elderly version) in Shallow Hal, Kelly's Mother in Cast Away, Mrs. Louder on The Drew Carey Show, Diana Vreeland on the miniseries A Woman Named Jackie, Grace D'Angelo on the sitcom Mr. Sunshine, and Abigail Beckwithe on the soap opera Santa Barbara.

Her first film role was The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Her other notable films include The Mugger (1958), Doctor Detroit (1983), All of Me (1984), and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), where she played the role of Amanda Krueger, mother of killer Freddy Krueger. She played Rose, the secretary of murderer Alex Brady in the Columbo television movie, Murder, Smoke and Shadows. Her last feature film role was in 2005's Thicker than Water and her last TV movie role was in 2006's Mrs. Harris.

She made numerous guest appearances on various television series including Nip/Tuck, Crossing Jordan, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, CSI, Profiler, Suddenly Susan, The Practice, ER, Baywatch, Major Dad, The Golden Girls, Columbo, L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Thorn Birds, St. Elsewhere, Hart to Hart, Bewitched, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Mod Squad, Perry Mason, The Untouchables, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone, and Ben Casey.

She has 2 sons, one of which is actor Zen Gesner, who also appeared in the film Shallow Hal as Ralph.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia