Actors who sing and move
Actors who have been fortunate enough to win the Academy Award/Oscar for their work have won for portraying all kinds of characters. Few, however, have received them for playing characters in a movie-musical. Interestingly enough, some of those actors created the role they won the Oscar for on the Broadway stage, and also received the Tony Award (the Broadway equivalent of the Oscar) for it. The winners include:
Judy Garland (Best Juvenile Performance by an Actor as “Dorothy Gale” in The Wizard of Oz (1939)). Garland would receive two other nominations throughout the rest of her career (Best Actress as “Vicki Lester” in A Star is Born (1954) and Best Supporting Actress as “Irene Hoffman” in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)) but she would loose both times.
Yul Brynner (Best Actor as “The King of Siam” in The King and I (1956)). Brynner previously won the Tony Award for the role of the King in the Broadway version of The King and I. He would go on to recreate the role for two revivals of the musical on Broadway, and for the second revival he would win a very special Tony Award for having played the King in the musical for a grand total of 4,625 performances.
George Chakiris (Best Supporting Actor as “Bernardo” in West Side Story (1961)). Chakiris was the only principal cast member of the film version of West Side Story (1961) to do his own singing. He previously played the role of Riff in the London Company of West Side Story before acting in the film.
Rita Moreno (Best Supporting Actress as “Anita” in West Side Story (1961)). The majority of Moreno’s singing was dubbed by an actress named Betty Wand. Marni Nixon (who was already dubbing in for Natalie Wood’s singing voice in the film) however, sang a brief bit for Moreno during the “Tonight” sequence in the film. Despite that, Moreno won the Oscar nevertheless.
Rex Harrison (Best Actor as “Professor Henry Higgins” in My Fair Lady (1964)). Like Yul Brynner, Harrison received the Tony Award for portraying Higgins in the acclaimed Broadway version of My Fair Lady starring opposite a then unknown Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle. Because Andrews had never been in a movie at the time, she was passed over for the film version of My Fair Lady for Audrey Hepburn. As talented of an actress that Hepburn was, her singing voice was deemed not conspicuously entertaining enough by the creative team of the movie, and she too was dubbed by Marni Nixon.
Julie Andrews (Best Actress as “Mary Poppins” in Mary Poppins (1964)). Julie Andrews (whose feature film debut was Mary Poppins (1964)) also received the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy for Mary Poppins (1964), beating Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady (1964). Ironically, Audrey Hepburn wasn’t even nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for My Fair Lady, and to this day, it has never been concluded in Hollywood why that was so. It has, however, been highly believed that it was all because Hepburn had not done her own singing in My Fair Lady (1964).
Barbra Streisand (Best Actress as “Fanny Brice” in Funny Girl (1968)). Streisand created the role of Fanny Brice on Broadway and received a Tony Award Nomination for it, but lost Carol Channing for her role as Mrs. Dolly Levi, in the musical Hello, Dolly! Ironically, that would be a role that Streisand, herself, would go on to recreate for the film adaptation of that musical, released the following year in 1969.
Joel Grey (Best Supporting Actress as “Emcee” in Cabaret (1972)). Grey created the role of Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway and won the Tony as well. Despite The Godfather (1972) winning the Best Picture Oscar that year, Grey beat Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for their performances in that film for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Liza Minnelli (Best Actress as “Sally Bowles” in Cabaret (1972)). Jill Hayworth originated the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway. The 1972 film adaptation was Minnelli’s only connection to the musical throughout her whole career.
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Best Supporting Actress as “Velma Kelly” in Chicago (2002)). Zeta-Jones had previously been approached to play Roxie Hart, but she was determined to play Velma Kelly. Renee Zellweger, who wound up taking the role of Roxie Hart, received the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy, beating Zeta-Jones. Zellweger also received the Best Actress Oscar Nomination for her performances as Roxie Hart, but was beaten by Nicole Kidman for her performance as Virginia Wolf in The Hours (2002).
Jennifer Hudson (Best Supporting Actress as “Effie White” in Dreamgirls (2006)). Like Julie Andrews, Hudson won her Oscar for her film debut. She beat out 782 actresses for that role.
Anne Hathaway (Best Supporting Actress as “Fantine” in Les Miserables (2012)). Hathaway’s mother, Kate McCauley Hathaway played the role of Fantine in the first U.S. touring company of Les Miserables. It was through Anne’s father, Gerald T. Hathaway, that her mother learned the song “I Dreamed a Dream.”
These are just a few actors who go far beyond the level of just acting in movies to make their performances believable. If any other had been cast in any of these 12 roles, the movies themselves just wouldn’t be the same. Every one of these multi-talented actors made every one of these characters become indelible images throughout the history of movies, and they will continue to stand the test of time.
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