Marni Nixon, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

Back

Back

Top

Korplix
Korean Online
Content Archives

0
1.716

Marni Nixon
Acting

Marni Nixon
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1930-02-22,Altadena, California, USA
Gender
Female
Biography
"Loverly" soprano Marni Nixon has ensured herself a proper place in film history although most moviegoers would not recognize her if they passed her on the street. But if you heard her, that might be a horse of a different color. Marni is one of those unsung heroes (or should I say "much sung" heroes) whose incredible talents were given short shrift at the time. For those who think film superstars such as Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, and Audrey Hepburn possessed not only powerhouse dramatic talents but amazing singing voices as well...think again. Kerr's Anna in The King and I (1956), Natalie's Maria in West Side Story (1961), and Audrey's Eliza in My Fair Lady (1964) were all dubbed by the amazing Marni Nixon, and nowhere in the credits will you find that fact. Born Marni McEathron in Altadena, California, she was a former child actress and soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale in the beginning. Trained in opera, yet possessing a versatile voice for pop music and easy standards as well, she not only sang for Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky but also recorded light songs. Marni made her Broadway musical debut in 1954 in a show that lasted two months but nothing came from it. In 1955, the singer contracted to dub Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956) was killed in a car accident in Europe and a replacement was needed. Marni was hired...and the rest is history. Much impressed, the studios brought her in to "ghost" Ms. Kerr's voice once again in the classic tearjerker An Affair to Remember (1957). From there she went on to make Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn sound incredibly good with such classic songs as "Tonight" and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly." She finally appeared on screen in a musical in The Sound of Music (1965) starring Julie Andrews, who physically resembles Marni. The role is a small one, however, and she is only given a couple of solo lines in "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" as a singing nun. Marni's vocal career in films dissolved by the mid 1960s, but she continued on with concerts and in symphony halls, while billing herself as "The Voice of Hollywood" in one-woman cabaret shows. Throughout the years, she has played on the legit stage, including the lead roles in "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music," and in her matronly years has been seen as Fraulein Schneider in "Cabaret," and in the musicals "Follies" and "70 Girls 70." Her last filmed singing voice was as the grandmother in the animated feature Mulan (1998) in the 1990s. Married three times, twice to musicians; one of her husbands, Ernest Gold, by whom she had three children, was a film composer and is best known for his Academy Award-winning epic Exodus (1960). Marni Nixon died July 24, 2016 (age 86), in New York City, New York, USA

Filmography

7.9

Mulan
1998-06-18

The Sound of Music

7.726

The Sound of Music
1965-03-29

West Side Story

7.3

West Side Story
1961-12-13

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

0

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999-01-01

An Affair to Remember

7.4

An Affair to Remember
1957-07-11

7.573

Mary Poppins
1964-12-17

6.1

I Think I Do
1997-06-20

Jack and the Beanstalk

7.1

Jack and the Beanstalk
1967-02-26

0

Taking My Turn
1985-05-05

7.504

My Fair Lady
1964-10-21

7.1

The King and I
1956-06-29

Alice in Wonderland

7.195

Alice in Wonderland
1951-07-28

More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of 'My Fair Lady'

7

More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of 'My Fair Lady'
1995-12-30

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

7.93

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999-09-20

The Hollywood Palace

4.5

The Hollywood Palace
1964-01-04

7

The Oscars
1953-03-19

The Mothers-in-Law

6

The Mothers-in-Law
1967-09-10

The Danny Kaye Show

6.3

The Danny Kaye Show
1963-09-25