Marni Nixon, Tinseltown’s Ghostess With The Mostest, has just died. Some of her fascinating story is linked below the clip:
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
Marni Nixon, Tinseltown’s Ghostess With The Mostest, has just died. Some of her fascinating story is linked below the clip:
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mikethep says
Was just reading of her this morning in the same place. I’d never heard of her. ‘Leonard Bernstein gave up a quarter of one per cent of his own royalty and passed it on to the singer.’ What a gent.
Here she is being Natalie Wood.
H.P. Saucecraft says
I bet a quarter of Leonard Bernstein’s one per cent was big potatoes. He’s not the villain of the story, is he?
mikethep says
Not at all. Just felt that 1 whole per cent would be bigger potatoes.
Mavis Diles says
One of the biggest selling (and best) soundtrack LPs of all time, so she did pretty well out of it even at that rate. As she was effectively a session musician, the royalty was above and beyond the norm. Good for him that he did that.
Johnny Concheroo says
Hey, you know that song in the OP? Decades ago we used to change the words and sing:
“Hello young lovers, you’re under arrest”.
In recent years however, the joke has lost some of its piquancy.
Hannah says
Very sorry to hear Marni Nixon’s died, I was always a little obsessed with her as her story was so interesting, and her singing voice so beautiful. Plus those films and those songs! Would have loved to have seen her live shows with Liberace and Victor Borge, that would have been wonderful.
A bit of trivia: Andrew Gold was her son.
Kaisfatdad says
What an extraordinary life story. Sounds like a movie script just waiting to be written. Some great cameo roles to be had. Directed by the Coen Brothers perhaps?
To my shame, the first thing I thought of was Milli Vanilli.
Locust says
As a fan of movie musicals I did know who she was – but I thought she died years ago.
(IMO any film will be improved by singing and dancing, and I’m a little suspicious of anyone who doesn’t like them!)
ip33 says
Well said, not a massive fan of the modern musical (Les Mis, Phantom etc) but shear joy of say Singing in the Rain or a Top Hat is unimprovable I think.
Jorrox says
I’ve known who she was for ages. I think her name was on a Pickwick Style LP of Mary Poppins that I had a a child. She was a trooper!