
Marni Nixon
"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
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.007 |
Birthday | 1930-02-22 |
Place of Birth | Altadena, California, USA |
Also Known As | Margaret Nixon McEathron, |

1998

Mulan
7.9/9843
To save her father from certain death in the army, a young woman secretly enlists in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroines in the pro...
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Mulan

1965

The Sound of Music
7.7/3342
In the years before the Second World War, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain wi...
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The Sound of Music

1961

West Side Story
7.2/1906
In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, tensions are high as a gang of Polish-Americans compete against a gang of recently immigrated Puerto...
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West Side Story

1999

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
0/0
Even big stars need to stand in front of the director and audition for their roles, and some of the best screen tests are from the early years of lege...
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Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

1957

An Affair to Remember
7.4/470
A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?
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An Affair to Remember

1964

Mary Poppins
7.6/4736
Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins, an angelic nanny. She not only brings a change in thei...
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Mary Poppins

1997

I Think I Do
6.2/29
The marriage of mutual friends reunites former college roommates Bob and Brendan, who tried to ignore the sexual tension that always flowed between th...
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I Think I Do

1967

Jack and the Beanstalk
7.2/18
A retelling of the popular fairy tale that mixes live action and animation.
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Jack and the Beanstalk

1985

Taking My Turn
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A filmed record of an off-Broadway musical, this tells the story of four friends and the problems they run into when they realize they are getting old...
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Taking My Turn

1964

My Fair Lady
7.5/1326
A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.
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My Fair Lady

1956

The King and I
7.1/379
Widowed Welsh mother Anna Loenowens becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam. Anna an...
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The King and I

1951

Alice in Wonderland
7.2/5917
On a golden afternoon, wildly curious young Alice tumbles into the burrow and enters the merry, madcap world of Wonderland full of whimsical escapades...
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Alice in Wonderland

1995

More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of 'My Fair Lady'
7/1
This 30th anniversary documentary treats film fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "My Fair Lady," the classic musical about a poor young...
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