![Mary Martin](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/ubJAC2E0RVQqF6o2SlYLlkrayPt.jpg)
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress, singer, and Broadway star. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989. She was the mother of actor Larry Hagman.
Martin began her radio career in 1939 as the vocalist on a short-lived revival of The Tuesday Night Party on CBS. In 1940, she was a singer on NBC's Good News of 1940, which was renamed Maxwell House Coffee Time during that year. In 1942, she joined the cast of Kraft Music Hall on NBC, replacing Connie Boswell. She was also one of the stars of Stage Door Canteen on CBS, 1942–1945. Martin was cast in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me!, making her Broadway debut in November 1938 in that production. She became popular on Broadway and received attention in the national media singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". With that one song in the second act, she became a star 'overnight'. Martin reprised the song in Night and Day, a Hollywood film about Cole Porter, in which she played herself auditioning for Porter. As nurse Nellie Forbush, Martin opened on Broadway in South Pacific. Her next major success was in the role of Peter in the Broadway production of Peter Pan. Martin opened on Broadway in The Sound of Music, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Although she appeared in nine films between 1938 and 1943, she was generally passed over for the filmed version of the musical plays. She herself once explained that she did not enjoy making films because she did not have the connection with an audience that she had in live performances. The closest that she ever came to preserving her stage performances was her television appearances as Peter Pan. The Broadway production from 1954 was subsequently performed on NBC television in RCA's compatible color in 1955, 1956, and 1960. Martin also preserved her 1957 stage performance as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun when NBC television broadcast the production live that year.
While Martin did not enjoy making films, she apparently did enjoy appearing on television as she did frequently. Her last feature film appearance was a cameo as herself in MGM's Main Street to Broadway in 1953. Martin made an appearance in 1980 in a Royal Variety Performance in London performing "Honeybun" from South Pacific. Martin appeared in the play Legends with Carol Channing in a one-year US national tour opening in Dallas on January 9, 1986. Martin was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1973. She received the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor for career achievements, in 1989. She received the Donaldson Award in 1943 for One Touch of Venus. A special Tony was presented to her in 1948 while she appeared in the national touring company of Annie Get Your Gun for "spreading theatre to the rest of the country while the originals perform in New York." In 1955 and 1956, she received, first, a Tony Award for Peter Pan, and then an Emmy for appearing in the same role on television. She also received Tonys for South Pacific and in 1959 for The Sound of Music.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 18.501 |
Birthday | 1913-12-01 |
Place of Birth | Weatherford, Texas, USA |
Also Known As | Mary Virginia Martin, |
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qCQ42aTmU4cuHwzfu8rCvYQuCyx.jpg)
1960
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qCQ42aTmU4cuHwzfu8rCvYQuCyx.jpg)
Peter Pan
6.735/17
In this magical tale about the boy who refuses to grow up, Peter Pan and his mischievous fairy sidekick Tinkerbell visit the nursery of Wendy, Michael...
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Peter Pan
![New York Town](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2TC13Ktx7z6KVviitNtInC27uT6.jpg)
1941
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New York Town
10/1
Victor Ballard, a happy-go-lucky albeit impoverished sidewalk photographer, shares a New York City studio apartment with Polish immigrant painter Stef...
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New York Town
![Birth of the Blues](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/99kcFMNoaLUhR7TpIr07oJrIYiE.jpg)
1941
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Birth of the Blues
5.3/7
Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which...
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Birth of the Blues
![Star Spangled Rhythm](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wHhEqEs4eOrYpevBRW87tLbTApy.jpg)
1942
![Star Spangled Rhythm](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wHhEqEs4eOrYpevBRW87tLbTApy.jpg)
Star Spangled Rhythm
5.9/8
Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddie...
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Star Spangled Rhythm
![Rhythm on the River](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8xVYcU83fQZYgoj1VAttmymudjf.jpg)
1940
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Rhythm on the River
7/2
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers me...
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Rhythm on the River
![Happy Go Lucky](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6wVCINoX4LfKwxGcq6GET3Er5HW.jpg)
1943
![Happy Go Lucky](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6wVCINoX4LfKwxGcq6GET3Er5HW.jpg)
Happy Go Lucky
4/1
A gold-digger hopes to land a rich husband in Trinidad, but gets mixed up with a beach boy and voodoo.
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Happy Go Lucky
![Love Thy Neighbor](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/y2MSbyAcFJoIjBOXU4HEKr0P53A.jpg)
1940
![Love Thy Neighbor](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/y2MSbyAcFJoIjBOXU4HEKr0P53A.jpg)
Love Thy Neighbor
6.5/2
Capitalizing on the famous radio 'feud' between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The two stars play versions of themselves, constantly at each oth...
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Love Thy Neighbor
![The Great Victor Herbert](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/iDNPMcq0KnYAewftT9ahTcTJgGz.jpg)
1939
![The Great Victor Herbert](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/iDNPMcq0KnYAewftT9ahTcTJgGz.jpg)
The Great Victor Herbert
5/5
In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's...
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![Kiss the Boys Goodbye](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gLYmRNT61BfpH0my9UpYUxDPBrY.jpg)
1941
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Kiss the Boys Goodbye
5/1
New York chorus girl Cindy Lou Bethany becomes frustrated when she prepares for an audition for a Broadway musical, but the auditions close and her ro...
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Kiss the Boys Goodbye
![True to Life](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ubdncpfmnXKSfeZlpUfvLyfg07R.jpg)
1943
![True to Life](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ubdncpfmnXKSfeZlpUfvLyfg07R.jpg)
True to Life
6/1
A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins t...
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True to Life
![Fashion Horizons](https://nicosiaefe.gov.cy/video/assets/no-poster.png)
1940
![Fashion Horizons](https://nicosiaefe.gov.cy/video/assets/no-poster.png)
Fashion Horizons
3/2
Combines airplane trips and fashion. Heavy on the fashion.
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Fashion Horizons
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6EX6Rq06ocGPnjkc2w3Ka6DCF62.jpg)
1955
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6EX6Rq06ocGPnjkc2w3Ka6DCF62.jpg)
Peter Pan
6.1/23
This musical version of the tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up aired live on television on March 7, 1955. It was so popular that it was restaged the...
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Peter Pan
![A Bing Crosby Christmas](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gKsqmfQ3ykoNIG1Wtp3zatKNqhV.jpg)
1998
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A Bing Crosby Christmas
0/0
The program on this DVD is basically a retrospective produced in the early 1990s for public television that was originally called «A Bing Crosby Chris...
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A Bing Crosby Christmas
![Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2 – The Christmas Specials](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7w0ZCmNcXrm9alZTvpDbhZdIObn.jpg)
2010
![Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2 – The Christmas Specials](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7w0ZCmNcXrm9alZTvpDbhZdIObn.jpg)
Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2 – The Christmas Specials
0/0
Bing Crosby and Christmas - they're inseparable. It was only natural for the voice that sold more than 100 million copies of 'White Christmas' to even...
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![The Bing Crosby Show](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tzGbKheMzT4HTXcBIAwdJCuhNnG.jpg)
1962
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The Bing Crosby Show
0/0
Bing Crosby celebrates the holidays by starring in his first color special. This time the show concluded with an extended holiday-themed segment featu...
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![The Ford 50th Anniversary Show](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mYqayviAnvft105FVTjkBbDyGBa.jpg)
1953
![The Ford 50th Anniversary Show](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mYqayviAnvft105FVTjkBbDyGBa.jpg)
The Ford 50th Anniversary Show
8/2
The program was the first so-called "Television Spectacular". Ford presented the show without commercial interruption. It is believed to be the first...
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The Ford 50th Anniversary Show
![Annie Get Your Gun](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1oUkRvjnwCLqxOiw9OAEFzKdT10.jpg)
1957
![Annie Get Your Gun](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1oUkRvjnwCLqxOiw9OAEFzKdT10.jpg)
Annie Get Your Gun
6.5/2
A live television adaptation of the popular musical about sharpshooter Annie Oakley joining Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and falling in love with her...
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Annie Get Your Gun
![Bing Crosby: Rediscovered](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/zVDvqJOxB0A6p0DNTEL5qI6pgFb.jpg)
2014
![Bing Crosby: Rediscovered](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/zVDvqJOxB0A6p0DNTEL5qI6pgFb.jpg)
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
7/2
Bing Crosby was, without a doubt, the most popular and influential multi-media star of the first half of the twentieth century, pulling audiences in w...
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Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
![Night and Day](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mrlKsBUxPwxGr8M8xupI96qrA8j.jpg)
1946
![Night and Day](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mrlKsBUxPwxGr8M8xupI96qrA8j.jpg)
Night and Day
5.7/29
Swellegant and elegant. Delux and delovely. Cole Porter was the most sophisticated name in 20th-century songwriting. And to play him on screen, Hollyw...
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Night and Day
![Valentine](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/u9bZQodYazRADDJKDhuGlyzifNR.jpg)
1979
![Valentine](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/u9bZQodYazRADDJKDhuGlyzifNR.jpg)
Valentine
0/0
A feisty widow falls in love with a zestful widower in a retirement community, much to the disapproval of her married daughter.
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Valentine
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sjIB9n5BSYJkIgqPE3Cr6alCC9z.jpg)
1956
![Peter Pan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sjIB9n5BSYJkIgqPE3Cr6alCC9z.jpg)
Peter Pan
1/1
This SECOND live broadcast aired a year after the success of the first. Utilizing much of the same cast, it nevertheless is its own unique performance...
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Peter Pan
![Night of 100 Stars](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jQkoylaOUPWYdYZzkG5Etz8yj0x.jpg)
1982
![Night of 100 Stars](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jQkoylaOUPWYdYZzkG5Etz8yj0x.jpg)
Night of 100 Stars
6/1
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City...
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Night of 100 Stars
![Main Street to Broadway](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uz0nqO92BletlO98WrxdtJmVB4y.jpg)
1953
![Main Street to Broadway](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uz0nqO92BletlO98WrxdtJmVB4y.jpg)
Main Street to Broadway
6.5/2
In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for inspira...
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Main Street to Broadway
![You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9bPeJ8HDiKfpdm1wygFOAcoFJlG.jpg)
1990
![You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9bPeJ8HDiKfpdm1wygFOAcoFJlG.jpg)
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
0/0
Biographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of archival material and interviews with the rich and famo...
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You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
![South Pacific](https://nicosiaefe.gov.cy/video/assets/no-poster.png)
![South Pacific](https://nicosiaefe.gov.cy/video/assets/no-poster.png)
South Pacific
0/0
The professional recording of the 1952 original London production at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
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