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John Francis McMartin (August 21, 1929 – July 6, 2016) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959, and acted on Broadway for more than 50 years. He won a Theatre World Award in 1960 and was nominated for a Tony for his role in Sweet Charity in 1966. On television, McMartin appeared on the soap opera As the World Turns, and the TV shows East Side West Side, Beauty and the Beast, The Golden Girls, The Bob Newhart Show, and Murder, She Wrote. He also had film roles in All the President's Men (1976), Blow Out, and Legal Eagles.
McMartin's first Broadway appearance was as Forrest Noble in The Conquering Hero in 1961, which was followed by Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole. He created the role of Oscar in Sweet Charity in 1966, opposite Gwen Verdon,Kaufmann, Stanley. "Theater: Show That Wants to Be Loved; 'Sweet Charity' Opens at Refurbished Palace" The New York Times (abstract), January 31, 1966, p. 22 garnering a Tony nomination, and played the role again in the 1969 film opposite Shirley MacLaine.Canby, Vincent. The New York Times movie review, Sweet Charity, April 2, 1969 He was reportedly cast in Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962, but his role was cut before the show opened.
McMartin later starred in the original Broadway production of Sondheim's Follies opposite Alexis Smith in 1971 as Benjamin Stone, introducing the ballad "The Road You Didn't Take". "'Follies' listing, Broadway 1971", sondheimguide.com; accessed August 26, 2012 His association with Sondheim continued, as he appeared in A Little Night Music as Frederick at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, in 1991. "1990-91 SEASON; A Little Night Music, April 18-June 30, 1991" centertheatregroup.org , accessed August 26, 2012Willis, John. "Ahmanson Theatre" Theatre World 1990–1991, Vol. 47 (books.google.com), Hal Leonard Corporation, 1992, , p. 121 The reviewer for the Orange County Register wrote that McMartin was "aggressively deadpan as her rediscovered old flame".O'Connor, Thomas. "REVIEW;'Night Music' makes its way to Doolittle", Orange County Register (California), April 19, 1991, SHOW; p. 18.
He appeared in the first Broadway theatre revival of Into the Woods in 2002, in the dual role of the Narrator and the Mysterious Man.Gans, Andrew. "Fifth Time the Charm for John McMartin?: 'Into the Woods' Star Talks Sondheim", Playbill, May 23, 2002 "'Into the Woods', 2002 Broadway Revival Production", sondheimguide.com, accessed August 26, 2012Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review; Sondheim Reprise Puts Music Ahead of the Journey", The New York Times (abstract), May 1, 2002 (Late Edition), Section E; Column 2; Arts/Cultural Desk; p. 1
Other Broadway roles include the Narrator in Happy New Year, Ben in A Little Family Business (adapted by Jay Presson Allen, 1982), Donner in Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase, Cap'n Andy in Jerome Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat (1994),Lefkowitz, David. "John McMartin Returning to 'Show Boat' Nov. 5" Playbill, October 28, 1996 and Uncle Willie in Cole Porter's High Society (1998).Haun, Harry. "Uncle Of The Bride: John McMartin in 'High Society'" Playbill, May 21, 1998 He also had a role as the American Revolutionary naval hero John Paul Jones in the unsuccessful Frank Loesser/Spewack musical Pleasures and Palaces, which closed in Detroit. In regional theater, he originated the role of Benteen in the Folger Theater Group's 1979 production of Custer at the Kennedy Center.
McMartin was a leading member of the New Phoenix Repertory Company during its three Broadway seasons in the early 1970s, appearing onstage in Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown (opposite Katherine Helmond), Molière's Dom Juan, and Luigi Pirandello's The Rules of the Game.
McMartin played Anton Schell opposite Chita Rivera in Kander and Ebb's musical The Visit at the Goodman Theatre. He created the roles of J.V. "Major" Bouvier and Norman Vincent Peale in Grey Gardens, opposite Mary Louise Wilson and Christine Ebersole. He played Thomas Jefferson in the original cast of John Guare's A Free Man of Color at Lincoln Center (2010–11), and Elisha Whitney in the 2011 Broadway revival of Anything Goes, opposite Jessica Walter.Jones, Kenneth. "Bow Voyage Extended: 'Anything Goes' Will Steam Into April 2012, With Sutton Foster on the Bow", Playbill, September 19, 2011.
On television, McMartin appeared on the soap opera As the World Turns as Ed Rice. He was later in the CBS drama East Side West Side and the first two seasons of Beauty and the Beast (1987) as Charles Chandler, father of Catherine (Linda Hamilton). He also appeared in The Golden Girls (Season 2) as Frank Leahy who, unbeknownst to Dorothy (Bea Arthur) who is romantically attracted to him, is a priest. He appeared as the Rev. Dr. Dan Bradford on The Bob Newhart Show in "Somebody Down Here Likes Me". He appeared on Cheers in "The Visiting Lecher". He appeared as radio personality Fletcher Grey on Frasier. He appeared in four episodes of Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared as Shirley Jones's love interest in The Partridge Family episode "When Mother Gets Married".
McMartin's film roles include the foreign editor in All the President's Men (1976), a senator in Brubaker (1980), a political advisor in Blow Out (1981), and millionaire Mr. Forrester in Legal Eagles (1986).
| Episode: "The Invisible Mark" |
| Episode: "Let Us Build a Tower" |
| Episode: "Ride with Terror" |
| Television movie |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "A Postcard from Yucatan" |
| Episode: "Try to Find a Spy" |
| Episode: "Woodrow Wilson" |
| 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Visitation" |
| Episode: "A Life Is Waiting" |
| Episode: "Fun and Games and John Ambrose" |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "When Mother Gets Married" |
| Episode: "Chipper" |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Love and the Duel/Love and the Note/Love and the Young Unmarrieds" |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Somebody Down Here Likes Me" |
| Episode: "The Admiral's Lady" |
| Episode: "Nightmare" |
| Television movie |
| 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Fay and the Doctor" |
| Episode: "The Fourth Man" |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Mary Gets a Lawyer" |
| Television movie |
| Episode #1.4 |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Murder Wrap" |
| 2 episodes |
| Television movie |
| 2 episodes |
| 8 episodes |
| 4 episodes |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Don't Bother Kayo It's Chinatown" |
| Episode: "Forgive Me, Father" |
| 4 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Broken Windows" |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "The Visiting Lecher" |
| 2 episodes |
| Television miniseries |
| Episode: "The Son of a Preacherman" |
| Television movie |
| Episode: "Portrait of the Artists" |
| 5 episodes |
| Episode: "Who's Who – Part 3" |
| Episode: "Better to How Loved and Flossed" |
| Episode: "And the Whimper Is..." |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "The Thanksgiving Show" |
| 2 episodes |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "Kimmy Goes on a Date!" |
| ANTA Washington Square Theatre |
| Ambassador Theatre |
| Morosco Theatre |
| Belasco Theater |
| Palace Theatre |
| Winter Garden Theatre |
| Lyceum Theatre |
| Sganarelle |
| Benefit Concert, Shubert Theatre |
| Ethel Barrymore Theatre |
| Fedot |
| Helen Hayes Theatre |
| Leone Gala |
| Morosco Theater |
| Little Theatre |
| Martin Beck Theatre |
| Helen Hayes Theatre |
| Gershwin Theatre |
| St. James Theatre |
| Broadhurst Theatre |
| Special benefit concert |
| Walter Kerr Theatre |
| Lyceum Theatre |
| Minskoff Theatre |
| New York Philharmonic |
| Vivian Beaumont Theatre |
| Stephen Sondheim Theatre |
| Neil Simon Theatre |
| Cherry Lane Theatre |
| Phoenix Theatre |
| The Public Theatre |
| Julius Caesar |
| York Theatre |
| Playwrights Horizons |
| Primary Stages Theatre |
| Lincoln Center |
| Manhattan Theatre Club |
| National Tour |
| Berkshire Theatre Festival Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles |
| National Tour |
| Goodman Theatre, Chicago |
| Ahmanson Theatre |
| West End |
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