Andrea Martin – widely revered as the composer of iconic R&B songs such as “Before You Walk Out Of My Life” by Moma and “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” by Monica – passed away peacefully at her San Francisco home on September 27, 2021, following years of battling cancer while writing and recording music throughout her career. Martin leaves a rich legacy which helped shape R&B music in the 90s and 2000s.

Martin was born in Portland, Maine to Sybil A. and John Papazian Martin when her grandfather fled Ottoman Turkey during Armenian Genocide to escape imprisonment and change his surname from Papazian to Martin. As she grew up she developed an interest in theatre; becoming famous after featuring as Captain Kangaroo’s chicken on Captain Kangaroo!

In the 1970s, she joined the Toronto branch of Second City Improvisational Comedy Troupe and eventually formed part of its cast for SCTV sketch comedy show. Petite yet wide-eyed beneath a mass of curls, she created several memorable characters such as gibberish-spouting cleaning woman Prini Schlerosi and tightly wound TV station manager Edith Prickley that remain unforgettable today.

As one of her many television appearances, she had a recurring role on NBC sitcom Working the Engels. Additionally, she made numerous Broadway performances – winning Tony, Drama Desk and Theatre World awards for Pippin revival at Lincoln Center Theater; Lincoln Center Theatre production of Moss Hart’s Act One at Lincoln Center Theater and Oklahoma! as well as Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein at Broadway premiere and Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Candide revival – and is a regular on hit HBO series Nurse Jackie as well as being Dotty Otley in Working the Engels limited run NBC sitcom Working the Engels.