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Mary Martin Biography (1913-1990)

Full name, Mary Virginia Martin; born December 1, 1913 (some sources say 1914), in Weatherford, TX; died of cancer, November 3, 1990, in Rancho Mirage, CA; daughter of Preston (an attorney and judge) and Juanita (a music teacher; maiden name Presley) Martin; married Benjamin J. Hagman (an attorney), November 3, 1930 (divorced, 1935); married Richard Halliday (a literary agent, manager, story editor, and Martin's producer and professional adviser), May 5, 1940 (died, 1973); children: (first marriage) Larry Martin Hagman; (second marriage) Mary Heller Halliday DeMeritt.

Nationality

American

Gender

Female

Occupation

actress, singer

Birth Details

December 1, 1913

Weatherford, Texas, United States

Death Details

November 3, 1990

Rancho Mirage, California, United States

Famous Works

• Credits; Stage Appearances
• (Broadway debut) Dolly Winslow, Leave It to Me, Imperial Theatre,New York City, 1938.
• Venus, One Touch of Venus, Imperial Theatre, 1943-45.
• Tchao-Ou-Niang, Lute Song, Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1946.
• (London debut) Elena Salvador, Pacific 1860, Drury Lane Theatre, London, 1946.
• Ensign Nellie Forbush, South Pacific, Majestic Theatre, New York City, 1949- 51, then Drury Lane Theatre, 1951.
• Jane Kimball, Kind Sir, Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1953.
• Sabina, The Skin of Our Teeth, Sarah Bernhardt Theatre, Paris, 1955, then ANTA Theatre, New York City, 1955.
• Ensign Nellie Forbush, South Pacific, Curran Theatre, San Francisco, CA, 1957.
• Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun, Curran Theatre, 1957.
• Baroness Maria von Trapp, The Sound of Music, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1959-61.
• Our Melissa, Jennie Malone, and Shalamar, Jennie, Majestic Theatre, 1963.
• Dolly Gallagher Levi, Hello, Dolly!, Drury Lane Theatre, 1965.
• She (Agnes), I Do! I Do!, Forty-sixth Street Theatre, New York City, 1966- 68.
• A Celebration of Richard Rodgers, Imperial Theatre, 1972.
• Mary Martin, Ethel Merman: Together on Broadway, Broadway Theatre,New York City, 1977.
• Lidya Vasilyevna, Do You Turn Somersaults?, Forty-sixth Street Theatre, 1978.
• Night of 100 Stars, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 1982.
• Also appeared in Doctor Knock and Diamond Lil, both 1928; Achilles Had a Heel, 1935; Young Madame Conti, 1937; Empressof Destiny, 1938; Johnny 2 x 4, 1942; and Our Town, 1944; also appeared on Broadway in title role of Peter Pan, 1954; appeared inGirl Crazy and Babes in Arms, both 1956; and Magic with Mary Martin, Cinderella, and Three to Make Music, all 1958. Guest artist with Clarence Brown Company, Knoxville, TN, 1977-78.
• Credits; Major Tours
• Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun, U.S. cities, 1947-48.
• Title role, Peter Pan, U.S. cities, 1954.
• Sabina, The Skin of Our Teeth, U.S. cities, 1955.
• Music with Mary Martin (one-woman show), U.S. cities, 1958.
• Dolly Gallagher Levi, Hello, Dolly!, U.S. and world cities, 1965-66.
• She (Agnes), I Do! I Do!, U.S. cities, 1968-69.
• Legends!, U.S. cities, 1986-87.
• Also appeared in other tours, including Dancing in the Streets, U.S. cities, early 1940s; as Venus in One Touch of Venus, 1945; and Hello, Dolly!, Armed Forces Installations overseas.
• Credits; Film Appearances
• Drama teacher, The Rage of Paris, Universal, 1938.
• Louise Hall, The Great Victor Herbert, Paramount, 1939.
• Mary Allen, Love Thy Neighbor, Paramount, 1940 (also see below).
• Cherry Lane, Rhythm on the River, Paramount, 1940.
• Betty Lou Cobb, Birth of the Blues, Paramount, 1941.
• Cindy Lou Bethany, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Paramount, 1941 (also see below).
• Alexandra Curtis, New York Town, Paramount, 1941 (also see below).
• Herself, Star Spangled Rhythm, Paramount, 1942 (also see below).
• Marjory Stuart, Happy Go Lucky, Paramount, 1943.
• Bonnie Porter, True to Life, Paramount, 1943 (also see below).
• Herself, Night and Day, Warner Brothers, 1946 (also see below).
• Herself, Main Street to Broadway, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1953.
• Sang "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in both Love Thy Neighbor and Night and Day, "That's How I Got My Start" in Kiss the Boys Goodbye, "Yip I Adee I Ay" in New York Town, "Hit the Road to Dreamland" (with Dick Powell) in Star Spangled Rhythm, and "Mr. Bluebird" in Trueto Life.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Episodic
• Host (with Noel Coward), "Together with Music," Ford Star Jubilee,CBS, 1955.
• Title role, "Peter Pan," Producers' Showcase, NBC, 1955, 1956, 1960, and 1963.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Specials
• America Applauds: An Evening for Richard Rodgers, NBC, 1951.
• The Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS, 1953.
• Rodgers and Hammerstein Cavalcade, NBC and CBS, 1954.
• The General Foods Twenty-fifth Anniversary Show, CBS, 1954.
• Hostess, Music with Mary Martin, NBC, 1954.
• Sabina Antrobus, Skin of Our Teeth, NBC, 1955.
• Billie Dawn, "Born Yesterday," Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1956.
• Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun, NBC, 1957.
• Hostess, Magic with Mary Martin, NBC, 1959.
• The Bing Crosby Christmas Show, ABC, 1962.
• Hostess, The Mary Martin Show, NBC, 1966.
• Narrator, Hello, Dolly! 'Round the World, NBC, 1966.
• Mary Martin at Eastertime, NBC, 1966.
• Bob Hope Special: Bob Hope's All-Star Comedy Birthday Party at West Point, NBC, 1981.
• Bob Hope Special: Bob Hope's Women I Love--Beautiful but Funny, NBC, 1982.
• The Thirty-ninth Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 1985.
• Irving Berlin's America, PBS, 1986.
• The Forty-first Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 1987.
• America's Tribute to Bob Hope, NBC, 1988.
• A Salute to Broadway: Showstoppers, PBS, 1988 (also see below).
• Honoree, The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, CBS, 1989.
• Also host, with Robert Preston, of 1967 Tony Award ceremonies, ABC, 1967.Appeared in The American Film Institute Salute to Lillian Gish, 1984.Sang "A Cockeyed Optimist," "That's Him," and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" inA Salute to Broadway: Showstoppers.
• Credits; Other Television Appearances
• Gracie Schwartz, Valentine (movie), ABC, 1979.
• Host (with Jim Hartz), Over Easy (talk show), PBS, 1981-83.
• Zora Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick (pilot), ABC, 1983.
• Also appeared on Mary Martin at Radio City Music Hall, 1966; This Is Your Life, 1972; and The Fabulous Fifties, 1978.
• Credits; Radio Appearances
• Good News of 1938, NBC, 1938.
• Good News of 1940, NBC, 1940.
• Jack Benny Show, CBS, 1940.
• Kraft Music Hall, NBC, 1942.
• Bell Telephone Hour, NBC, 1949.
• Monitor (Paris Festival of Arts interview), NBC, 1955.
• Also appeared on the Rudy Vallee Show, 1939; Tex and Jinx,1947; Weekend, 1953, 1954, and 1955; Christmas Program, 1955; and Biographies in Sound: Meet Mary Martin and Hungarian Relief Christmas Program, both 1956.
• Mary Martin's Needlepoint, photographs by Sol Mednick, Morrow, 1969.
• My Heart Belongs (autobiography), Morrow, 1976, 2nd edition, 1984.
• Recordings; Albums
• South Pacific, Columbia, 1949, rereleased, 1973.
• Peter Pan, RCA Victor, 1954.
• Girl Crazy, Columbia, 1956, rereleased, 1964.
• Babes in Arms, Columbia, 1956, rereleased, 1964.
• Annie Get Your Gun, Capitol, 1957.
• Adventures for Readers, Harcourt, 1958.
• Mary Martin Sings, Richard Rodgers Plays, RCA Victor, 1958.
• Three to Make Music/Cinderella, RCA Victor, 1959.
• The Sound of Music, Columbia, 1959.
• Jennie, RCA Victor, 1963.
• A Spoonful of Sugar, Kapp, 1964.
• Hello, Dolly! From the London Musical "Hello, Dolly!," RCA Victor,1965.
• I Do! I Do! From the Broadway Production "I Do! I Do!," RCA Victor, 1967.
• (With Danny Kaye, Ethel Merman, and others) Cole Porter Sings and Plays Jubilee, Columbia, 1972.
• Mary Martin in "The Sound of Music," Columbia, 1973.
• (With Noel Coward) Together with Music, AMR Records, 1976
• Also featured on other recordings, including Speech at National PressClub Luncheon, 1977; The Bandwagon and Anything Goes, bothColumbia; Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, Lute Song, and On the Town, all Decca; Hi-Ho, Little Lame Lamb, The Sleeping Beauty, and Mary Martin Sings a Musical Love Song, all Disney; Mary Martin Singsfor Children, Young People's Records; Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love,My Heart Belongs to Daddy, and Wait Till the Sun SHines, Nellie, all Brunswick; Get out Those Old Records; You're Just in Love (with son, Larry Hagman); recordings with Eddie Duchin and his orchestra; and an albumof Lullabies
• Credits; Writings
• Mary Martin's Needlepoint, photographs by Sol Mednick, Morrow, 1969.
• My Heart Belongs (autobiography), Morrow, 1976, 2nd edition, 1984.

Further Reference

Periodicals

• Chicago Tribune, November 5, 1990.
• New York Times, November 5, 1990.
• Washington Post, November 5, 1990.