
Helen Martin
Actor · 1909 – 2000 · St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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 Williams' Period of Adjustment. She was an original member of the American Negro Theater. She first became famous later in life for her guest role as Wanda on the television series Good Times, and later as the wisecracking neighbor Pearl Shay on the television sitcom 227. She also played on the short-run sitcoms Baby, I'm Back (as mother in-law, Luzelle) and That's My Mama; as Loc Dog's grandma, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), the matronly grandmother Mama Doll in the 1998 film Bulworth, and the no-nonsense grandmother in the film Hollywood Shuffle. Helen Martin died of a heart attack on March 25, 2000. Description above from the Wikipedia article Helen Martin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Series24
TV6.6DramaComedyAmerican Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
American Playhouse
1982 · 8 votes
TV7.6DramaCrimeA realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Hill Street Blues
1981 · 130 votes
TV5.7DramaSt. 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 · 93 votes
TV6.8CrimeDramaThe 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 · 47 votes
TV7.5ComedyFamilyAfter 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 · 1.2K votes
TV6.5DramaCrimeSergeant 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 · 99 votes
TV7.3Action & AdventureDramaStreetwise 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 · 209 votes
TV7.3ComedyFamilySitcom 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 · 130 votes
TV6.7ComedyFamilyTexas 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 · 39 votes
TV7.1ComedyA butler deals with life at the governor's mansion.
Benson
1979 · 44 votes
TV7.2ComedyBrothers 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 · 71 votes
TV6.9ComedyDramaWell-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 · 38 votes
TV7.5ComedyThe misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.
Sanford and Son
1972 · 102 votes
TV8.0ComedyGood 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 · 86 votes
TV6.5Action & AdventureDramaHardcastle 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 · 45 votes
TV7.4Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyWhen 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 · 532 votes
TV7.1ComedyThe 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 · 14 votes
TV6.9ComedyFamilyA 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 · 44 votes
TV7.4DramaThe 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 · 252 votes
TV7.1DramaFamilyThe 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 · 17 votes
TV7.4ComedyBuddies 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 · 31 votes
TV7.3ComedyClifton 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 · 7 votes
TV6.5ComedyBaby, 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 · 2 votes
TV7.0ComedyThe Stockard Channing Show
1980 · 2 votes
Movies23
Movie6.5ThrillerCrimeForensic 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 · 2K votes
Movie7.1ComedyCrimeWhen 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?
Movie5.9ActionComedyWhen 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 · 2.2K votes
Movie6.9CrimeDramaAfter 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 · 992 votes
Movie6.4ComedyRomanceAfter 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 · 708 votes
Movie6.6ComedyScience FictionA 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 · 717 votes
Movie6.3ComedyDramaA 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 · 276 votes
Movie4.4HorrorA 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 · 22 votes
Movie4.7ComedyCrimeArms 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 · 72 votes
Movie6.5CrimeA crime-busting lawyer and his initially reluctant attorney father take on the forces that run gambling and prostitution in their small Southern town.
The Phenix City Story
1955 · 66 votes
Movie5.5ComedyDramaKid'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 · 121 votes
Movie5.3ActionComedyTwo 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 · 43 votes
Movie6.5ComedyAspiring 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 · 104 votes
Movie8.0DramaFamilyJ. 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 · 2 votes
Movie9.0DramaTV MovieDuring 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 · 1 votes
Movie5.9DramaA 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 · 11 votes
MovieFamilyTV MovieThe 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.
Movie8.8DramaTV MovieThe 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 · 4 votes
Movie5.8MusicDramaTommy is a troubled young man with a history of crime. When he meets Memaw, an elderly lady, the two form a special bond with Memaw encouraging Charlie to sing in the local church choir, a talent he has ignored until now. While Charlie excels in church, his old friend G. Smooth remains skeptical and stays on the streets.
Something to Sing About
2000 · 11 votes
Movie9.0ComedyDramaHarry 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 · 1 votes
Movie7.0MusicDramaA 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 · 6 votes
Movie7.0DramaTV MovieWalter 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 · 5 votes
Movie5.1ComedyHorrorThirteen 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 · 35 votes