Marni Nixon

Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She is now recognized as the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in ''The King and I'', Natalie Wood in ''West Side Story'', and Audrey Hepburn in ''My Fair Lady'', although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Fox, Margalit
"Marni Nixon, the Singing Voice Behind the Screen, Dies at 86"
''The New York Times'', July 25, 2016 Several of the songs she dubbed appeared on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.

Besides her voice work in films, Nixon's career included roles of her own in film, television, opera and musicals on Broadway and elsewhere throughout the United States, performances in concerts with major symphony orchestras, and recordings.

Early life

Born in Altadena, California, to Charles Nixon and Margaret Elsa (née Wittke) McEathron, Nixon was a child film actress who also played the violin and began singing at an early age in choruses, including performing solos with the Roger Wagner Chorale.Ivri, Benjamin
"Remembering Marni Nixon, the Greatest Ghost Singer"
''The Forward'', July 26, 2016 She went on to study singing and opera with, among others, Vera Schwarz, Carl Ebert, Boris Goldovsky and Sarah Caldwell. In 1947, having adopted the stage name "Marni Nixon", she made her Hollywood Bowl solo debut in ''Carmina Burana'' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor Leopold Stokowski.Savage, Mark
"Marni Nixon: Hollywood's 'invisible voice' dies aged 86"
BBC News, July 25, 2016

Career

Early films and musicals

Nixon's career in film started in 1948 when she sang the voices of the angels heard by Ingrid Bergman in ''Joan of Arc'' (1948). The same year, she did her first dubbing work when she provided Margaret O'Brien's singing voice in 1948's '' Big City'' and then 1949's '' The Secret Garden''. She sang for Jeanne Crain in ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (1950) and dubbed Marilyn Monroe's high notes in " Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1953). Also in 1953, she sang for Ida Lupino in '' Jennifer''. Nixon appeared on Broadway in 1954 in ''The Girl in Pink Tights''.Marni Nixon
Internet Broadway Database, accessed July 26, 2016

In 1956, she worked closely with Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''The King and I''; Kerr broke with Hollywood convention by publicly crediting Nixon's singing.Schumach, Murray
"Plea for Credits by 'Ghost Singer'; Marni Nixon of Film Musicals Condemns Concealment"
''The New York Times'', February 6, 1962, p. 26, accessed January 5, 2021 In 1957 Nixon again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in ''An Affair to Remember''. That year, she also sang for Sophia Loren in ''Boy on a Dolphin''. In 1960, she dubbed Janet Leigh's voice in ''Pepe'' and had an on-screen chorus role in '' Can-Can''.Ruhlmann, William
"About Marni Nixon"
MTV, accessed November 24, 2014 In 1961's ''West Side Story'', the studio kept her work on the film (as the singing voice of Natalie Wood's Maria) a secret from Wood,Lawson, Kyle
"6/17-22: Marni Nixon in ''My Fair Lady''"
AZCentral.com, June 10, 2008, accessed December 23, 2011 and Nixon also dubbed Rita Moreno's singing in the film's "Tonight" quintet. She asked the film's producers for, but did not receive, direct royalties from her work on the film, but Leonard Bernstein contractually gave her 1/4 of one percent of his personal royalties from it. After a court case, she received royalties from sales of the soundtrack album and spoke out for the rights of ghost singers. In 1962, she also sang Wood's high notes in '' Gypsy''. For ''My Fair Lady'' in 1964, she again worked with the female lead of the film, Audrey Hepburn, to perform the songs of Hepburn's character Eliza. Because of her uncredited dubbing work in these films, ''Time'' magazine called her "The Ghostess with the Mostest".Lunden, Jeff
"'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies at 86"
NPR.org, July 25, 2016 Nevertheless, the public did not know Nixon's face; she appeared on '' To Tell the Truth'' the same year, where two members of the panel were fooled.

Nixon made guest appearances with Leonard Bernstein's '' Young People's Concerts'', including in 1960, singing "Improvisation sur Mallarmé I" from '' Pli selon pli'' by Pierre Boulez, and on April 9, 1961, in a program entitled "Folk Music in the Concert Hall", singing three "Songs of the Auvergne" by Joseph Canteloube. Before ''My Fair Lady'' was released in theatres in 1964, Nixon played Eliza in a revival of the musical at New York City Center. Nixon's first onscreen appearance was as Sister Sophia in the 1965 film ''The Sound of Music''. In the DVD commentary to the film, director Robert Wise comments that audiences were finally able to see the woman whose voice they knew so well. In 1967, she was the singing voice of Princess Serena in a live action and animated version of ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' on NBC. Especially in the 1960s, but also earlier and later, Nixon made concert appearances, specializing in contemporary music as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, and gave recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Town Hall in New York City."Marni Nixon Biography (1930–)"
Film Reference.com, accessed November 24, 2014

Later work

Nixon taught at the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita from 1969 to 1971 and joined the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, in 1980, where she taught for many years.Bernheimer: "Marni Nixon", ''Grove Music Online'' In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she hosted a children's television show in Seattle on KOMO-TV channel 4 called ''Boomerang'', winning four Emmy Awards as best actress, and made numerous other television appearances on variety shows and as a guest star in prime time series. Nixon's opera repertory included Zerbinetta in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', Susanna in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', both Blonde and Konstanze in ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', Violetta in ''La traviata'', the title role in ''La Périchole'' and Philine in ''Mignon''. Her opera credits included performances at Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera,Bargreen, Melonda
"From shadows to spotlight: Acclaimed soprano Marni Nixon, 76, writes her memoir"
''The Seattle Times'', November 3, 2006, accessed July 19, 2017 San Francisco Opera and the Tanglewood Music Festival among others. In addition to giving recitals, she appeared as an oratorio and concert soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra among others."The Singer Symposium 2008 Distinguished Artist Award"
, Singer Symposium, October 25, 2008, accessed February 20, 2013

Nixon also toured with Liberace and Victor Borge and later in her own cabaret shows. On stage, in 1984, she originated the role of Edna Off-Broadway in ''Taking My Turn'', composed by Gary William Friedman, receiving a nomination for a Drama Desk Award. She also originated the role of Sadie McKibben in ''Opal'' (1992), and she had a 1997 film role as Aunt Alice in '' I Think I Do''. Under her own name, beginning in the 1980s, Nixon recorded songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and various classical composers. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Performance, Vocal Soloist, one for her Schönberg album and one for her Copland album.

In the 1998 Disney film '' Mulan'', Nixon was the singing voice of "Grandmother Fa". She then returned to the stage, touring the United States as Fraulein Schneider in ''Cabaret'' in 1997–1998. She eventually sang on more than 50 soundtracks. In 1999, she originated the role of Mrs. Wilson in the premiere of ''Ballymore'', an opera by Richard Wargo at Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was taped for PBS.Jones, Kenneth
"Marni Nixon Warms Up in Milwaukee for Friel-Based Opera Ballymore, Jan. 29 – Feb 14"
, ''Playbill'', January 29, 1999, accessed February 20, 2013 In regional theatre and Off-Broadway, she played Nurse in ''Romeo and Juliet'' and appeared in productions of ''The King and I'' and ''The Sound of Music''. She also continued to teach voice and judge vocal competitions.

In 2000, after nearly a half century away, she returned to Broadway as Aunt Kate in '' James Joyce's The Dead''. In 2001, Nixon replaced Joan Roberts as Heidi Schiller in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's ''Follies''. She played Eunice Miller in '' 70, Girls, 70'' in a 2002 production in Los Angeles. In 2003, she was again on Broadway as a replacement in role of Guido's mother in the revival of '' Nine''. Her autobiography, ''I Could Have Sung All Night'', was published in 2006. She performed in the 2008 North American Tour of Cameron Mackintosh's UK revival of ''My Fair Lady'' in the role of Mrs. Higgins. She then appeared as Frau Direktor Kirschner in the 2009 Encores! production of the musical '' Music in the Air'' at New York City Center.

Personal life and death

In 1950, Nixon married the first of her three husbands, Ernest Gold, who composed the theme song to the movie ''Exodus''. They had three children, including singer and songwriter Andrew Gold. They divorced in 1969. She was married to Lajos "Fritz" Fenster from 1971 to 1975, and to woodwind player Albert Block from 1983 to his death in 2015.

Nixon survived breast cancer in 1985 and 2000 but died from the disease on July 24, 2016, in New York, aged 86.

Honors

On October 27, 2008, Nixon was presented with the Singer Symposium's Distinguished Artist Award in New York City. She was also an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Women's Music Fraternity.

In 2011, Nixon was the recipient of the George Peabody Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Music."Marni Nixon's 'Loverly' Former NYC Apartment, Studio on the Market"
BroadwayWorld, April 17, 2017, accessed December 19, 2019

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Notes

Bibliography
* Bernheimer, Martin "Marni Nixon" in Macy, L. ed. ''Grove Music Online''. Accessed September 22, 2008 (se
here (subscription access)
)
* Nixon, Marni, with Cole, Stephen (2006) ''I Could Have Sung All Night: My Story.'' New York, Billboard Books. .

External links

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by Bruce Duffie, June 10, 1987

CBS documentary on Nixon

Nixon singing
ith Leonard Bernstein on television in 1961

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Marni
1930 births
2016 deaths
American musical theatre actresses
American operatic sopranos
California Institute of the Arts faculty
Music Academy of the West faculty
People from Altadena, California
Actresses from California
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Singers from California
Classical musicians from California
Women music educators
American women academics
21st-century American women