- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMargaret Nixon McEathron
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- "Loverly" soprano Marni Nixon ensured herself a proper place in film history although most moviegoers would not have recognize her had they passed her on the street. But if you had heard her, that might be a horse of a different color. She was one of those unsung (or "much sung") talents given short shrift at that 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 Leonowens in The King and I (1956), Natalie's Maria in West Side Story (1961), and Audrey's Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964) were all dubbed by the amazing but uncredited Nixon.
Born Margaret Nixon McEathron on February 22, 1930, in Altadena, California, she was a child actress. Once a soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale in the beginning, she trained in opera. 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. During the war era, she appeared uncredited in the musicals Born to Sing (1942) and The Bashful Bachelor (1942), and later voiced one of the singing flowers in the Disney film Alice in Wonderland (1951).
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" Kerr's voice 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."
Providing the voice of the geese in Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), she finally appeared on screen in the box-office musical The Sound of Music (1965), starring Julie Andrews, who physically resembled Marni. The role was a minor one, however, and she was only given a couple of ensemble scenes and 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."
Appearing very sporadically on the small screen, Marni appeared on such programs as "The Mothers-in-Law" (as herself), appeared in a filmed TV record of an off-Broadway musical entitled Taking My Turn (1985) and was featured in the romantic comedy film I Think I Do (1997) and made a final visual appearance on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU." Her last singing voice on film was as the grandmother in the animated feature Mulan (1998).
Married three times, twice to musicians, one of her husbands, Ernest Gold, by whom she had three children, was a film composer best known for his Academy Award-winning epic Exodus (1960). She died of breast cancer on July 24, 2016, in New York City, aged 86.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net - She was paid $420 for singing on the sound track of The King and I which was a big seller then when it came to West Side Story she asked for royalties she was told no so she hired a lawyer but because she hadn't signed a contract the record company couldn't use her voice without giving credit. When they looked into it they'd already signed away all the royalties. Marnie was an accomplished singer having performed with the New York Philharmonic under the leadership of Leonard Bernstein who'd composed the score for the film so he agreed to give her a quarter per cent of his royalties and it was a huge hit and she got that for all her future work, When Julie Andrews did My Fatr Lady on Broadway Warners paid $5 million for the film rights and wanted a household name, which Julie wasn't at that time, The part was offered to Audrey Hepburn who tried to persuade them to give the part to Julie before bowing to pressure and taking singing lessons but her vocals survive in only in the odd song such as Just You Wait Henry Higgins, Marnie ghosted others,- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpousesAlbert David Block(April 11, 1983 - August 17, 2015) (his death)Dr. Lajos "Fritz" Frederick Fenster(July 23, 1971 - July 31, 1975) (divorced)Ernest Gold(May 22, 1950 - August 1, 1969) (divorced, 3 children)
- Children
- ParentsCharles NixonMargaret Elsa McEathron
- Provided the singing voice for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961). She also was Deborah Kerr's singing voice in both An Affair to Remember (1957) and the musical classic The King and I (1956).
- Twentieth Century-Fox insisted Marni Nixon sign a contract that she would not reveal that she dubbed any part of Deborah Kerr's vocals in "The king and I" (1956). Were she to do so, the studio threatened that they would see to it that she never worked "in this town (i.e., Hollywood) again." Deborah Kerr, who worked extremely closely - and extremely well - with Nixon thought this was very unfair and it was Miss Kerr herself who revealed the secret of the dubbing in an interview with the popular syndicated columnist Earl Wilson.
- Has appeared in one film with Julie Andrews: The Sound of Music (1965). She also provided Eliza Doolittle's singing voice for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964)
- a role originated on the stage by Andrews.
- When Harvey Fierstein was asked who should play the lead in a film adaptation of the musical "La Cage Aux Folles", he replied: "Me! Dubbed by Marni Nixon!".
- Also dubbed the singing voice of Anita (Rita Moreno) in West Side Story (1961) for the song "Tonight" when Betty Wand developed bronchitis at the last moment.
- [on dubbing for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961)] I knew that I would never be cast physically in the role of Maria. In the picture they wanted Maria to sound like a sixteen-year-old and they kept trying out Natalie's voice. Natalie was perfectly musical, but I had the feeling that it was only gradually when they started working with her that they said to themselves, "I don't think she is able to do it at all". I was hanging around and not knowing how much of my voice was going to be used except for a few high notes that she knew she couldn't sustain. In the end, Natalie recorded everything to her own takes and sometimes was even out of synch. My main job was to fix up all the inconsistencies of her original recordings. I had to loop all the vocals after the film was finished.
- [from an interview in 1964] It's fascinating, getting inside the actresses you're singing for. It's like cutting off the top of their heads and seeing what's underneath. You have to know how they feel, as well as how they talk, in order to sing as they would sing -- if they could sing.
- [from an interview in 1981] It got so I'd lent my voice to so many others that I felt it no longer belonged to me. It was eerie; I had lost part of myself.
- [from an interview in 2007] You always had to sign a contract that nothing would be revealed. Twentieth Century Fox, when I did The King and I (1956), threatened me. They said, "If anybody ever knows that you did any part of the dubbing for Deborah Kerr, we'll see to it that you won't work in town again."
- [from an interview in 1967] The anonymity didn't bother me until I sang Natalie Wood's songs in West Side Story (1961). Then I saw how important my singing was to the picture. I was giving my talent, and somebody else was taking the credit.
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