Sandy Martin is an American actress, playwright, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles in the film ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high- ...

'' and the TV series ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne T ...

'', ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

'', and ''

Ray Donovan ''Ray Donovan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ann Biderman for Showtime. The twelve-episode first season premiered on June 30, 2013. The pilot episode broke viewership records, becoming the biggest premiere of all ti ...

''.

Career

Martin started her acting career at 15 years old; she is a founding member of several successful theatrical companies in New York City and Los Angeles. She adapted the screenplays of several theatrical plays, and served as associate producer of several TNT productions including the 1993 film '' Gettysburg''. Martin's television roles include playing Mickey Donovan's sister-in-law Sandy Patrick in ''

'', a policewoman in ''

48 Hrs. ''48 Hrs.'' (pronounced 'forty-eight hours') is a 1982 American buddy cop action-comedy film directed by Walter Hill, who co-wrote the film with Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza and Roger Spottiswoode. It stars Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, the ...

'', Mrs. Meredith in ''

Real Genius ''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American comic science fiction film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei. Starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret, the film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science ...

'', a dying burn victim in ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', Janice in ''

Barfly Barfly may refer to: * ''Barfly'' (album), 1995 album by the band Buck-O-Nine * Barfly (club), a music venue in Camden Town, London, UK * ''Barfly'' (film), 1987 American film starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway * Barfly, a bar in Montreal o ...

'', and Mrs. Mac in ''

''. She appeared in the films '' Defenseless'', '' China Moon'', ''

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantity ...

'', ''

'', '' Hot Tamale'', and '' Marley & Me''. Martin portrayed Grandma Dynamite in ''Napoleon Dynamite'' and in the animated TV adaptation of the film. In ''Marley & Me'', Martin played the woman who sold Marley as "Clearance Puppy". Martin portrayed the mother of

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as ''Lawn Dogs'' (19 ...

's character, Officer Dixon, in 2017's '' Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri''. Martin's recent roles include portraying Verna The Secretary in ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

''. According to Martin, she met ''Dumbo'' director

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

back in the '' Beetlejuice'' days because her friend, Glenn Shadix, played Otho in the film. The two reconnected after Ben Davis, director of photography for both '' Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' and ''Dumbo'', suggested Martin to Burton for the role of Verna. Martin also voiced Grandma Paguro in the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

film ''

Luca The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population from which all organisms now living on Earth share common descent—the most recent common ancestor of all current life on Earth. This includes all cellular organisms; t ...

''. In the HBO series ''

'', Martin's character, Selma Green, is the

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

brother of polygamous cult leader Roman Grant and first wife of Grant's rival polygamous cult leader, Hollis Green. The character of Green sparked much discussion on fan forums due to their masculine gender presentation and expression, and unusual relationship with their husband (who refers to Green as "Brother Selma").

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Sandy Martin Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Sandy American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City Actresses from Philadelphia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)