Martha Rofheart
| Martha Rofheart | |
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Rofheart with a copy of Cry God For Harry
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| Born | Martha Jane Jones May 27, 1917 Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
| Died | June 19, 1990 (aged 73) New York City, United States |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Period | 1970–1990 |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Notable awards | A Daughter of Mark Twain |
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| Website | |
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Martha Rofheart (1917–1990) was an American writer of historical novels, an actress and early in her career, a model.
She was born Martha Jane Jones, May 27, 1917 in Louisville, Kentucky, to Evan Jones and his wife, the former Noreen Sorrell. When her mother Noreen died in the 1918 flu pandemic, Martha was a year and a half old, and with her young father unable to care for her, she was raised by her paternal grandparents Evan Jones and his wife Elizabeth or Lizzy, who were of Welsh and Scottish extraction.
She grew up in the Portland, Louisville neighborhood, surrounded by a large upper-middle-class extended family, that was spread out along Portland Avenue and nearby streets. Her great-grandfather, W.O. Jones, and her grandfather, Evan Jones, were partners in a boiler works factory, C.J.Walton & Son, that employed some of her extended family as boilermakers, including her father, Evan Jones.
While she was still in the first grade, her grandfather would give her a quarter for each poem she wrote; growing up she had several poems published in Louisville newspapers and magazines, and at the age of 10, she won a national one-act play contest. Martha Jane attended the Louisville Public Schools, first at the Montgomery Street School through sixth grade, and then at Western Middle School, before graduating at the age of fifteen from J.M. Atherton High School for Girls, with First Honors. She won a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati's Drama School, the College-Conservatory of Music, which she attended for two years. While attending college, she wrote to Lynn Fontanne of the acting couple The Lunts, and was invited by Miss Fontanne to audition in New York for their newly formed repertory theatre company.
After moving to New York City, she became a model with the Harry Conover agency. In 1940 the Ashcan School artist, John Sloan painted four portraits of her; "Lady From Louisville", "Blue Eyed Girl" and "Miss Jones" are all in the collection of the Delaware Art Museum, "Dramatics" also known as "Portrait of a Lady in Red", was sold at auction in 1984 and is in a private collection. As an actress in the 1940s and 1950s, Martha Jones made her Broadway debut with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Pirate in 1942, and was Miss Fontanne's protege. She appeared in Blithe Spirit (play),Arsenic and Old Lace, The Heiress, The Respectful Prostitute, and other plays, both on Broadway and on tour in the United States and Canada. In July 1943, she married actor Robert Emhardt, with whom she debuted in The Pirate, then appeared in Harriet with on Broadway.
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