Mary Martin
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"While Ethel Merman was an entire brass section and Carol Channing was a parade, Miss Martin remained natural and exactingly true to life--and it was poetry." --Mel Gussow, ("New York Times" obituary, November 5, 1990.
"As Ensign Nellie Forbush, the 'cockeyed optimist' heroine of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'South Pacific', as the airborne boy who never grows up in 'Peter Pan' and as the Austrian governess who marries her boss and then saves their family from the Nazis in 'The Sound of Music', Martin was an effervescent, girlishly charming actress whose homespun personality and lovely lyric soprano voice personified theatrical star qualtiy and captivated Broadway audiences." --"Variety" obituary, November 12, 1990.
Biography
Legendary musical comedy star who, from her innocent, matter-of-fact mock striptease showstopper "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in the Cole Porter musical "Leave It to Me" (1938) to her embodiment of eternal youth as "Peter Pan," displayed the perky charm of a "cockeyed optimist" and the spirited determination and sweetness of Maria von Trapp.
Although she had a brief film career in Hollywood (1938-43), most of Mary Martin's 50-year career was spent on Broadway where she starred in the musicals "One Touch of Venus," "Lute Song," "South Pacific," "Peter Pan," "The Sound of Music," "Jennie" and "I Do, I Do." She lost the film roles of her musicals to others and only her televised performance in "Peter Pan" (broadcast live in 1955 and 1956, and taped in 1960) has been preserved on video to capture her magical stage magnetism.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Life Events
1921
Founded the Mary Hagman School of Dance, Weatherford, TX (date approximate)
1938
Broadway debut, "Leave It to Me"
1938
Won contract with Paramount (date approximate)
1938
Discovered by producer Lawrence Schwab at Trocadero nightclub's Sunday night talent show in Los Angeles (date approximate)
1939
Film debut, "The Great Victor Herbert"
1943
First starring role on Broadway, "One Touch of Venus" (directed by Elia Kazan) in a role originally tailored for Marlene Dietrich
1943
Returned to the stage in "Dancing in the Streets" which closed in Boston before reaching Broadway
1946
London stage debut in Noel Coward's "Pacific 1860"
1946
Returned to Hollywood to reprise her signature song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in the whitewashed Cole Porter biopic, "Night and Day"
1949
Co-starred opposite Ezio Pinza in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific"
1953
Starred opposite Ethel Merman in the legendary "Ford Motor Company's 50th Anniversary" TV special
1963
Starred in first Broadway musical flop, "Jennie"
1965
Played Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!" In the US national tour and in Vietman and Tokyo; also starred in the London production (date approximate)
1983
Was severly injured in San Francisco when a drunken driver crashed his car into the taxi Martin was riding in; the crash took the life of her aide Ben Washer and injured Janet Gaynor and her husband Paul Gregory
1986
Made final stage appearance in a national tour of James Kirkwood's bitchy comedy, "Legends" opposite Carol Channing
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"While Ethel Merman was an entire brass section and Carol Channing was a parade, Miss Martin remained natural and exactingly true to life--and it was poetry." --Mel Gussow, ("New York Times" obituary, November 5, 1990.
"As Ensign Nellie Forbush, the 'cockeyed optimist' heroine of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'South Pacific', as the airborne boy who never grows up in 'Peter Pan' and as the Austrian governess who marries her boss and then saves their family from the Nazis in 'The Sound of Music', Martin was an effervescent, girlishly charming actress whose homespun personality and lovely lyric soprano voice personified theatrical star qualtiy and captivated Broadway audiences." --"Variety" obituary, November 12, 1990.
