Mary Virginia Martin, an American actress, singer, and Broadway star, was born on December 1, 1913, and passed away on November 3, 1990. She was a muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, originating many leading roles throughout her career, including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
Martin began her radio career in 1939, and her first Broadway debut was in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me! in November 1938. She became a star overnight after performing the song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in the second act of the production. Martin then reprised the song in the Hollywood film Night and Day, in which she played herself auditioning for Cole Porter.
She opened on Broadway in South Pacific as nurse Nellie Forbush and later in the role of Peter in the Broadway production of Peter Pan. Martin won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
Although Martin appeared in nine films between 1938 and 1943, she generally did not enjoy making films, preferring the connection with an audience she had in live performances. She did, however, frequently appear on television, including a performance as Peter Pan in 1954, which was later broadcast on NBC television in 1955, 1956, and 1960.
Martin also preserved her stage performance as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun when NBC television broadcast the production live in 1957. She made a cameo appearance as herself in MGM's Main Street to Broadway in 1953 and appeared in a Royal Variety Performance in London in 1980.
Martin was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1973 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989. She received the Donaldson Award in 1943 for One Touch of Venus and a special Tony in 1948 for spreading theatre to the rest of the country. She also received Tonys for Peter Pan, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music.
Martin was the mother of actor Larry Hagman and continued to perform on stage and television throughout her career, including a one-year national tour of the play Legends with Carol Channing in 1986.
