Martha Jones Headshot

Martha Jones

Birth Place: Louisville, KY

Get Martha Jones Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Martha Jones BIO

Martha Rofheart (1917 - 1990) was an American writer of historical novels and an actress. She was born Martha Jones May 27, 1917 in Louisville, KY. A model with the Harry Conover agency[1] and then a stage actress on Broadway in the 1940s and 1950[2], she appeared in Blythe Spirit[1], Arsenic and Old Lace, The Heiress, The Respectful Prostitute, and other plays, and toured with stars such as Katherine Cornell, Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne, and Maurice Evans. She was married twice, first to the actor Robert Emhardt in the 1940's with whom she appeared in The Pirate and Harriet on Broadway and the second time in November 1952 to an art director, Ralph Rofheart, with whom she had one child, Evan. Rofheart wrote six novels of historical fiction, beginning in 1972 with Fortune Made His Sword[3]/Cry God For Harry(UK), a novel of Henry V of England. "Fortune Made His Sword" received numerous rave reviews, including a full page in The New York Times Book Review of February 27, 1972, by the critic Granville Hicks.[4] The remarkable staying power of this novel is evidenced by relevant good reviews still be written forty years later.[5] Her novels were published in many languages throughout the world, including German, Dutch, Spanish and Serbian.[6]



Rofheart subsequently wrote five novels, Glendower Country/Cry God for Glendower(UK) (Owen Glendower), My Name Is Sappho/Burning Sappho(UK) (Sappho), The Alexandrian (Cleopatra), Lionheart!: A Novel of Richard I, King of England, and a fictionalized theatrical family saga entitled The Savage Brood.

A short story from later in her life has been published online, "An Evening with Lynn Fontanne".

She died 19 June 1990.



1. ^ a b Spelvin, George (24). "Broadway Beat". Billboard 54 (4): 5. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
2. ^ Jones, Martha. "Internet Broadway Database". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
3.^ Rofheart, Martha. Fortune Made His Sword. Putnams. ISBN 9780399103162.
4. ^ Hicks, Granville (27 Feb 1972). "Fortune Made His Sword". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
5. ^ Ross, Deborah. "Envisioning Henry V : Fortune Made His Sword, by Martha Rofheart". Book View Cafe. Book View Cafe Blog. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
6. ^ Rofheart, Martha. "OCLC World Cat". World Cat. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

Martha Jones STAGE CREDITS

[Broadway]
1944
Mary Beecher Perkins

[Broadway]
1942
Ensemble


Martha Jones Videos

Martha Jones News


Review: BLITHE SPIRIT at Theatre Memphis


What did our critic think of BLITHE SPIRIT at Theatre Memphis? Perhaps it’s self-evident, but the ability to communicate with the dead would appear to be, in a word, “challenging.” Having never personally attended a séance, the ingredients necessary to summon a ghost would seem to require enormous skill, persistence, and focus.

Photos: First Look at GOD OF CARNAGE at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre


Production photos have been released for God of Carnage. The production is currently playing at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until 30 September 2023. Check out the photos here!

English Touring Opera Performs Two New Productions This Autumn


English Touring Opera (ETO) explores themes of love, power and how the two interact for its Autumn tour, presenting two brand-new productions of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea and Rossini’s Cinderella. 

Photos: Inside Rehearsal For GOD OF CARNAGE at the Lyric Hammersmith


Step inside the rehearsal room for God of Carnage and take a first look at Yasmina Reza’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning dark comedy, translated by Academy Award-winning Christopher Hampton (The Father). Directed by Lyric Associate Director Nicholai La Barrie, this fresh revival pokes fun at wealth, power and greed, and is the unmissable darkly funny roller-coaster you won’t want to end.

Cast Revealed For GOD OF CARNAGE at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre


The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre has announced full casting for the revival of Yasmina Reza’s savagely dark comedy God of Carnage, in a translation by Christopher Hampton, which won both the Tony and Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2009, as well as picking up Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actress for Marcia Gay Harden.

DON'T HYDROPLACE Comes to Playhouse on the Square


Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Circuit Playhouse, Inc. Super Sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, presents Don’t Hydroplane. Performances run July 7th – July 23rd, 2023 as part of NewWorks@TheWorks at Overton Square Performing Arts District 2085 Monroe Ave, Memphis, TN 38104.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE The Vote to Have Re-Broadcast September 8-29


AMERICAN EXPERIENCE The Vote, a four-hour documentary series, tells the dramatic story of the epic — and surprisingly unfamiliar — crusade waged by American women for the right to vote.

VIDEO: Hear Audra McDonald, Laura Linney, & More in the Trailer for THE VOTE on PBS


AMERICAN EXPERIENCE The Vote, a new four-hour, two-part documentary series, tells the dramatic story of the epic a?" and surprisingly unfamiliar a?" crusade waged by American women for the right to vote. Focusing primarily on the movement's militant and momentous final decade, the film charts American women's determined march to the ballot box, and illuminates the myriad social, political and cultural obstacles that stood in their path. The Vote delves deeply into the animating controversies that divided the nation in the early 20th century a?"a?" gender, race, state's rights, and political power a?"a?" and offers an absorbing lesson in the delicate, often fractious dynamics of social change. Timed to the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote is narrated by Kate Burton and features the voices of Mae Whitman (Alice Paul), Audra McDonald (Ida B. Wells), Laura Linney (Carrie Chapman Catt) and Patricia Clarkson (Harriot Stanton Blatch) portraying some of the unsung warriors of the movement. Written, directed and produced by Emmy Award-winner Michelle Ferrari and executive produced by Mark Samels and Susan Bellows, The Vote premieres Monday and Tuesday, July 6-7, 2020, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App. With funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the documentary is part of the PBS Trailblazers summer programming lineup honoring the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage.

The Judoon Set to Return to DOCTOR WHO


When Jodie Whittaker returns to Doctor Who next series, the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends won't be the only familiar faces.

Shakespeare's Globe Announces Full Casting For RICHARD II


Shakespeare's Globe has announced the full ensemble for Richard II, opening 22 February 2019. Who are we as a nation post-Empire and pre-Brexit, and how do we speak truth to power? Who made this country and how do we move forward together? As we wrestle with questions of identity and ownership, we turn to our greatest playwright to reflect on 'This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England' as staged by the first-ever company of women of colour in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage. Co-directed by Adjoa Andoh and Lynette Linton, Adjoa will also play the titular role.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Comes to Theatre Memphis


August: Osage County, winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama, opens on the Lohrey Stage April 27 and runs through May 13, 2018. The large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, and their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets.  Mix a pill-popping, scathingly acidic matriarch, sisters harboring shady secrets, suspect spouses and relatives attracted to all the wrong things and you've got an unflinching expose of the dark side of a Midwestern American family.

Freema Agyeman, Desmond Barrit, and Joseph Millson Join Stockard Channing in APOLOGIA at Trafalgar Studios


Further casting has been announced for Apologia, which will begin previews on 29th July at Trafalgar Studios. Freema Agyeman will join previously announced Tony and Emmy award winner Stockard Channing in a new production of Olivier Award winner Alexi Kaye Campbell's darkly funny and haunting play about family and its secrets, directed by the multi-award winning Jamie Lloyd.

THE CITY OF CONVERSATION to Bring Politics and Family to Memphis


The City of Conversation, a recent Broadway drama, will be opening at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage October 21, 2016, and running through November 6, 2016.

THE CITY OF CONVERSATION to Bring Politics and Family to Memphis


The City of Conversation, a recent Broadway drama, will be opening at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage October 21, 2016, and running through November 6, 2016.

BWW Recap: The Doctor Runs Into 'The Woman Who Lived' on DOCTOR WHO


The Doctor faced the consequences of his actions in 'The Woman Who Lived.' While searching for an alien artifact in the 17th century, he runs into Ashildr, now going by 'Me.' Still alive and very alone, is angry with The Doctor for making her immortal and then just leaving her behind.

BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Toots Its Horns in THE MUSIC MAN


A number of years ago, I was ordering breakfast at the Dogwood Cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and before the food arrived, a barbershop quartet began to harmonize. 'How delightful,' I thought - and then there was another song, followed by yet another: A barbershop quartet convention was in town, and several groups were scattered throughout the restaurant and waiting for their opportunity to perform. Before my pancake syrup was even out of the bottle, I was already craving some antidotal 'heavy metal.' Such experiences remind me of Mark Twain's story CAPTAIN STORMFIELD'S VISIT TO HEAVEN: Upon first arriving behind the Pearly Gates, the Captain is delighted to hear the heavenly harps; but as time passes, the harmonies become stultifying. Thankfully, the barbershop quartet that strolls through Theatre Memphis' colorful new production of Meredith Willson's THE MUSIC MAN never overstays its welcome.

Martha Jones FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many Broadway shows has Martha Jones been in?

Martha Jones has appeared on Broadway in 2 shows.

How many West End shows has Martha Jones been in?

Martha Jones has not appeared in the West End.

Get Martha Jones Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Videos