Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Did You Know Tuesday: 5 Fun Facts About Marni Nixon

If you love movie musicals, you have heard Marni Nixon ... even if you haven't seen her.

1. Marni Nixon was born in 1930. She had a beautiful singing voice even as a child, and worked as a child actress and singer.


2. During the golden years of Hollywood musicals, Marni Nixon had a career as "The Ghostest With the Mostest." She provided the singing voice in musicals for actresses who were not singers. These movies included: The King and I (for Deborah Kerr -- pictured above with Marni Nixon), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (for Marilyn Monroe), Boy on a Dolphin (for Sophia Loren), West Side Story (for Natalie Wood), and My Fair Lady (for Audrey Hepburn).


3. She had three children, including singer/songwriter Andrew Gold. He had several hit songs in the 1970's, including "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being a Friend" (yes, the theme for The Golden Girls).


4. Marni Nixon appeared onscreen in The Sound of Music as Sister Sophia. She sang this line in "Maria": "She waltzes on her way to mass and whistles on the stair." You can hear Marni Nixon in the song clip below.  (She is second from the left in the picture.)

 5. Marni Nixon also appeared on To Tell The Truth in 1964. This is a really fun seven minute video of her appearance:



So there you have it ... a few fun movie musical tidbits for your day. Do you enjoy musicals? Have you seen any of the musicals mentioned here? I would love to hear from you in the comments, below.