Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics

Subject: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: robomatic
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 07:02 PM

My parents bought all the broadway show albums, including when they were turned into movies. So as a young rug-biter I listened to The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr, so I was really listening to Marni Nixon (full name Margaret Nixon McEathron, so not related to Mojo).
She is covered by Wikipedia and an obit in The New York Times

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: gillymor
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 07:14 PM

I especially loved her singing in West Side Story. What a voice.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 07:23 PM

Weird. I'd never heard of her film career but I remember her recordings of contemporary music from the 60s (Schoenberg, Webern, Boulez etc). I suspect she'd rather have been remembered for those, too.

I didn't know about the Hovhaness recording until I just looked at her website. That would be worth finding.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 07:43 PM

Her husband also wrote music for her to sing, which she recorded with him.

Andre Previn's memoirs, "No Minor Chords," recalls Nixon losing her temper with Alan Jay Lerner, whose lyrics she sang for film soundtracks. She picked the wrong person to blow up at -- Lerner was well known for his scathing putdowns,

Something on the lines of, Ms. Nixon heatedly exclaiming to Lerner how she dubbed the voices of V, W, X, Y, Z, and so on, all these big names: so that Lerner would stop talking down to her.

To which Lerner shot back, that all those ladies had dubbed Ms. Nixon's FACE. Like I said, scathing.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 11:26 PM

She had a voice like an angel. When she dubbed songs for an actress, she studied the actress' speaking voice so she would be doing a more convincing job.

I read her autobiography. Although she was best-known for singing such roles as Maria in West Side Story and Eliza in My Fair Lady (the second half, where Eliza gets elegant), her personal favorite kind of singing was jazz.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Jul 16 - 11:32 PM

I almost feel like I've lost a friend.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 02:21 AM

Not only a fabulous singer but the way she impersonated singing accents was amazing.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: fat B****rd
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 03:26 AM

A great great talent, RIP Marnie.

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: GUEST,Anne Neilson
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 06:30 AM

I was aware of her dubbing for 'The King and I' , 'West Side Story' and 'My Fair Lady' -- but I hadn't realised she had also provided Marilyn Monroe's singing voice in 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' (according to a short tribute on BBC last night).
What a contrast and what a range!

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: meself
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 09:30 AM

I heard that it was just one particularly high note that she dubbed for Marilyn Monroe - is that wrong?

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 11:31 AM

Here's the song. My money says that's Marni throughout. The body language is Marilyn's own.

Watch your volume is orchestra is loud and shrill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUGfC7GYi18

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 07:35 PM

Someone described her as "Ghostess with the Mostest"
(From reading previous posts, I suspect it wasn't Alan Jay Lerner)

Subject: RE: Obit: Marni Nixon, Voice of Movie Classics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jul 16 - 01:45 PM

Here's a list of Movie Dubbers: http://www.janettedavis.net/Dubbers/dubberslist.php.

I certainly liked the singing in the movies Marni Nixon dubbed, so I guess I shouldn't complain. It does bother me that Rita Hayworth was dubbed, because I've always loved her performances. I understand Rita was a good singer, but not magnificent.

Here's an excerpt from a post by Jim Saxe in San Francisco's Harmony List:

here's an episode of A Prairie Home Companion with Marni
Nixon as one of the guests:

http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/20020601/

We've heard of actresses who were unhappy about their own
singing being replaced by Marni's. One of the songs Marni
sings on the PHC episode is "I Could Have Dubbed Myself",
to the tune of "I Could Have Danced All Night," in which
she laments dubbing for other actresses instead of being
allowed to play the parts herself.

Gee, were any singers dubbed during the "folk scare" of the 1960s?

-Joe-