Marni Nixon

Birthday: 22 February 1930, Altadena, California, USA

Birth Name: Margaret Nixon McEathron

"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). Hide

[on dubbing for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961)] I knew that I would never be cast physically Show more [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. Hide

[from an interview in 1967] The anonymity didn't bother me until I sang Natalie Wood's songs in West Show more [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. Hide

[from an interview in 2007] You always had to sign a contract that nothing would be revealed. Twenti Show more [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." Hide

[from an interview in 1964] It's fascinating, getting inside the actresses you're singing for. It's Show more [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. Hide

[from an interview in 1981] It got so I'd lent my voice to so many others that I felt it no longer b Show more [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. Hide

Marni Nixon's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (7)

I Think I Do

The Sound Of Music

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

An Affair to Remember

Mulan (1998)

Jack and the Beanstalk

Mary Poppins

Marni Nixon'S roles

Sister Sophia