Dave's Song of the Day
I Could Have Danced All Night – Marni Nixon
Friday song of the day: Today’s song was sung by an uncredited singer in place of one of the stars of a movie.
One of the several highlights of the Lerner and Loewe musical
My Fair Lady is the song
I Could Have Danced All Night. In the 1956 Broadway production, the part of Eliza Doolittle was played by Julie Andrews. She sang the song in the play and was the singer for the original cast recording.
In 1964, a film version was released. This time, Eliza Doolittle was played by Audrey Hepburn. While Hepburn was a fine actress, she was not a great singer. The songs sung by the Eliza Doolittle character were recorded by Marni Nixon, and Hepburn lip-synched them for the film.
This was a relatively common practice, and Marni Nixon was the go-to singer when they needed someone to perform in place of a lead actress in a film. She sang the songs for Natalie Wood in
West Side Story, Debra Kerr in
The King and I, and for numerous actresses in other films. She rarely got the chance to sing on film herself, although she did get an on-screen part in
The Sound of Music as a nun.
Marni Nixon (singing for Audrey Hepburn) from the 1964 film
Julie Andrews from the Broadway production, 1956
Tomorrow: I got my pills to ease the pain