Born Margaret Nixon McEathron in Altadena, California, United States, to Charles Nixon and Margaret Elsa (née Wittke) McEathron, Nixon was a child actress and also began singing at an early age in choruses, including performing solos with the Roger Wagner Chorale. She went on to study singing and opera with Thomas Noble MacBurney, Carl Ebert, Jan Popper, Boris Goldovsky and Sarah Caldwell. Nixon's career in film started in 1948 when she sang the voices of the angels heard by Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc (1948). The same year, she did her first dubbing work when she provided Margaret O'Brien's singing voice in 1948's Big City and then 1949's The Secret Garden. She also dubbed Marilyn Monroe's high notes in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). She appeared on Broadway in 1954 in The Girl in Pink Tights. In 1956, she worked closely with Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, and the next year she again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in An Affair to Remember. That year, she also sang for Sophia Loren in Boy on a Dolphin. In 1960, she had an on-screen chorus role in Can-Can. In 1961's West Side Story, the studio kept her work on the film (as the singing voice of Natalie Wood's Maria) a secret from the actress, and Nixon also dubbed Rita Moreno's singing in the film's "Tonight" quintet. She asked the film's producers for, but did not receive, any direct royalties from her work on the film, but Leonard Bernstein contractually gave her 1/4 of one percent of his personal royalties from it. In 1962, she also sang Wood's high notes in Gypsy. For My Fair Lady in 1964, she again worked with the female lead of the film, Audrey Hepburn, to perform the songs of Hepburn's character Eliza. Because of her uncredited dubbing work in these films, Time magazine called her "The Ghostess with the Mostest".
Nixon made a special guest appearance on Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts broadcast that aired April 9, 1961, entitled "Folk Music in the Concert Hall". She sang three "Songs of the Auvergne" by Canteloube. Before My Fair Lady was released in theatres in 1964, Nixon played Eliza in a production at New York City Center. Nixon's first onscreen appearance was as Sister Sophia in the 1965 film The Sound of Music. In the DVD commentary to the film, director Robert Wise comments that audiences were finally able to see the woman whose voice they knew so well. In 1967, she was the singing voice of Princess Serena in a live action and animated version of Jack and the Beanstalk on NBC. Also in the 1960s, Nixon made concert appearances.
Nixon taught at the California Institute of Arts from 1969 to 1971 and joined the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, in 1980, where she taught for many years. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she hosted a children's television show in Seattle on KOMO-TV channel 4 called Boomerang, winning four Emmy Awards as best actress, and made numerous other television appearances on variety shows and as a guest star in prime time series.
Nixon's opera repertory included Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, both Blonde and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Violetta in La traviata, the title role in La Périchole and Philine in Mignon. Her opera credits include performances at Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera and the Tanglewood Festival among others. In addition to giving recitals, she appeared as an oratorio and concert soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra among others. Nixon also toured with Liberace and Victor Borge and in her own cabaret shows. On stage, in 1984, she originated the role of Edna Off-Broadway in Taking My Turn, composed by Gary William Friedman, receiving a nomination for a Drama Desk Award. She also originated the role of Sadie McKibben in Opal (1992), and she had a 1997 film role as Aunt Alice in I Think I Do. Under her own name, beginning in the 1980s, Nixon recorded songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Arnold Schönberg, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and Anton Webern. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Performance, Vocal Soloist, one for her Schönberg album and one for her Copland album.
In the 1998 Disney film Mulan, Nixon was the singing voice of "Grandmother Fa". She then returned to the stage, touring the US as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret in 1997–1998. In 1999, she originated the role of Mrs. Wilson in the premiere of Ballymore, an opera by Richard Wargo at Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was taped for PBS. In regional theatre and Off-Broadway, she played Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and appeared in productions of The King and I and The Sound of Music. She also continued to teach voice and judge vocal competitions.
In 2000, after nearly a half century away, she returned to Broadway as Aunt Kate in James Joyce's The Dead. In 2001, Nixon replaced Joan Roberts as Heidi Schiller in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. She played Eunice Miller in 70, Girls, 70 in a 2002 production in Los Angeles. In 2003, she was again on Broadway as a replacement in role of Guido's mother in the revival of Nine. Her autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, was published in 2006. She performed in the 2008 North American Tour of Cameron Mackintosh's UK revival of My Fair Lady in the role of Mrs. Higgins.
On October 27, 2008, Nixon was presented with the Singer Symposium's Distinguished Artist Award in New York City. She is also an Honorary Member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Women's Music Fraternity.
In 1950, Nixon married the first of her three husbands, Ernest Gold, who composed the theme song to the movie Exodus. They had three children, including singer/songwriter Andrew Gold. They divorced in 1969. She was married to Dr. Lajos "Fritz" Fenster from 1971 to 1975, and to woodwind player Albert Block from 1983 to his death in 2015.
Nixon died in New York from the effects of breast cancer, aged 86.
West Side Story
Marni Nixon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me tonight.
I feel charming,
Oh, so charming
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real.
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
GIRLS
Have you met my good friend Maria,
The craziest girl on the block?
You'll know her the minute you see her,
She's the one who is in an advanced state of shock.
She thinks she's in love.
She thinks she's in Spain.
She isn't in love,
She's merely insane.
It must be the heat
Or some rare disease,
Or too much to eat
Or maybe it's fleas.
Keep away from her,
Send for Chino!
This is not the
Maria we know!
Modest and pure,
Polite and refined,
Well-bred and mature
And out of her mind!
MARIA
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty
That the city should give me its key.
A committee
Should be organized to honor me.
GIRLS
La la la la . . .
MARIA
I feel dizzy,
I feel sunny,
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,
And so pretty,
Miss America can just resign!
GIRLS
La la la la . . .
MARIA
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
GIRLS
What mirror where?
MARIA
Who can that attractive girl be?
GIRLS
Which? What? Where? Whom?
MARIA
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
GIRLS
Such a pretty me!
ALL
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
In "I Feel Pretty," the main character Maria is expressing her elation after a romantic encounter with Tony, and how it has made her feel beautiful and confident. The first verse describes how she feels "pretty and witty and bright," and how she pities any girl who isn't her because they cannot feel the same way. The second verse continues with Maria feeling charming and entrancing, almost to the point of disbelief that she is real. As she looks at herself in the mirror, she admires her pretty face, pretty dress, pretty smile, and overall pretty self. The chorus repeats the sentiment of feeling stunning and joyful, thanks to the love of her "pretty wonderful boy."
The song then transitions to the other girls in the show gossiping about Maria, who they perceive to be delusional and crazy. They make fun of her for thinking she is in love and in Spain, but Maria continues to sing and assert that she feels pretty and confident despite what others may think about her. The girls eventually join in singing the chorus, emphasizing the power of feeling beautiful and loved.
Line by Line Meaning
I feel pretty
I am feeling quite beautiful
Oh, so pretty
I am feeling incredibly beautiful
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
Not only am I feeling beautiful, but I also feel clever and intelligent
And I pity
I feel sorry for
Any girl who isn't me tonight.
I feel sorry for any girl who can't feel as beautiful and confident as I do tonight
I feel charming
I am feeling quite lovely and delightful
Oh, so charming
I am feeling incredibly lovely and delightful
It's alarming how charming I feel!
I am feeling so charming that it's almost surprising
And so pretty
I am feeling incredibly beautiful
That I hardly can believe I'm real.
I feel so beautiful that I can hardly believe it myself
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Look at the beautiful girl in the mirror
Who can that attractive girl be?
I can't believe that the beautiful girl in the mirror is me
Such a pretty face,
My face is so beautiful
Such a pretty dress,
My dress is so beautiful
Such a pretty smile,
My smile is so beautiful
Such a pretty me!
I am so beautiful
I feel stunning
I am feeling absolutely breathtaking
And entrancing,
I am captivating and captivating others
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
I feel so happy and exhilarated that I want to run and dance with joy
For I'm loved
I am loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
A very great and handsome boy loves me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PAT VIDAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@patriciap.291
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and gay!
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me today.
I feel charming,
Oh, so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel!
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real.
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
GIRLS
Have you met my good friend Maria,
The craziest girl on the block?
You'll know her the minute you see her,
She's the one who is in an advanced state of shock.
She thinks she's in love.
She thinks she's in Spain.
She isn't in love,
She's merely insane.
It must be the heat
Or some rare disease,
Or too much to eat
Or maybe it's fleas.
Keep away from her,
Send for Chino!
This is not the
Maria we know!
Modest and pure,
Polite and refined,
Well-bred and mature
And out of her mind!
MARIA
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty
That the city should give me its key.
A committee
Should be organized to honor me.
GIRLS
La la la la . . .
MARIA
I feel dizzy,
I feel sunny,
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,
And so pretty,
Miss America can just resign!
GIRLS
La la la la . . .
MARIA
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
GIRLS
What mirror where?
MARIA
Who can that attractive girl be?
GIRLS
Which? What? Where? Whom?
MARIA
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
GIRLS
Such a pretty me!
ALL
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
@milkywaythedutchangeldrago9937
I feel pretty and witty and GAAAYYYY
@julianahill2399
Milkyway The Dutch Angel Dragon A mood
@sofia-ph6rz
Yes, that is what she sang.
@alexfrog546
Same
@TheGameFlinger
It means happy
@bennyboibennyboi9766
They are three definition of gay happy colorful I’m homosexual
@lauracerqueiramachado8979
The best part: she sings “I feel pretty” and not “I look pretty”, which means her looks is the same but now she feels better about it than ever.
@kurdishpotato
Good point! I hadn't thought of this but it makes sense, and it makes it a lot more meaningful. nice input
@sirmatatyahu1261
Unbelievably well said.
@abeenaijahvijayarajah4443
I was your 1k like , well said and beautiful song