Annette O'Toole Movies and Career Information

Annette O'Toole (born April 1, 1952) is an American actress, dancer, and songwriter. She is most recently known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville. O'Toole was born Annette Toole in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Geraldine (née Niland) and William West Toole, Jr. Her mother taught dance, something O'Toole learned at the age of 3. She started taking acting lessons after family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13; her first role was on The Danny Kaye Show. She also had guest appearances in shows such as My Three Sons (1960), The Virginian, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and The Partridge Family. O'Toole's first major film role was as a jaded beauty pageant contestant in the 1975 satire Smile; she got the role after doing an impression of a "dead cockroach" at the audition. She also appeared as Robby Benson's tutor/girlfriend in the college basketball story One on One in 1977. She co-starred opposite Gary Busey in the 1980 film Foolin' Around. In 1981, she starred in the HBO onstage production of Vanities, as well as in the TV movie Stand By Your Man, which detailed the life of country music legend Tammy Wynette. Later on in