Marni Nixon, the legendary voice behind many classic movie songs, has died at the age of 86.
Nixon, who gained fame as a "ghost singer" for Deborah Kerr in "The King and I," Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady," died of breast cancer on Sunday in New York City, reported Variety.
She was born February 22, 1930, in Altadena, California. By the time she was four, her family discovered that she had the rare gift of "perfect pitch" and started giving her violin lessons.
Nixon soon began performing classical works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic while also acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and singing on radio programs.
Her encounter with MGM composer Bronislau Kaper got her the first "ghost-singing" assignment, for child star Margaret O'Brien in 1949's "The Secret Garden."
She went on to sing parts of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" for Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," for 20th Century-Fox in 1953.
In 1963, Nixon and Hepburn worked together on the songs for the screen version of "My Fair Lady," most of which wound up with Nixon's voice doubling for Hepburn's. She even performed on screen as Sister Sophia in the film version of "The Sound of Music" in 1965.
She also sang the roles of the geese in 1964's "Mary Poppins" and Grandmother Fa in Disney's 1998 "Mulan."
Nixon started teaching voice at the California Institute of the Arts in the 1970s.
She later performed in a one-woman show, "Marni Nixon: The Voice of Hollywood," and penned an autobiography, "I Could Have Sung All Night."
Nixon is survived by two daughters, three sisters, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
