Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (1949), the title character in Peter Pan (1954), and Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1959). She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989. She was the mother of actor Larry Hagman.
Early life
Martin was born in Weatherford, Texas. Her autobiography described her childhood as secure and happy. She had close relationships with both of her parents as well as her siblings. As a young actress Martin had an instinctive ear for recreating musical sounds.
Martin's father, Preston Martin, was a lawyer, and her mother, Juanita Presley, was a violin teacher. Although the doctors told Juanita that she would risk her life if she attempted to have another baby, she was determined to have a boy. Instead, she had Mary, who became a tomboy.
Martin's family had a barn and orchard that kept her entertained. She played with her elder sister Geraldine (whom she called "Sister"), climbing trees and riding ponies. Martin adored her father. "He was tall, good-looking, silver-haired, with the kindest brown eyes. Mother was the disciplinarian, but it was Daddy who could turn me into an angel with just one look." Martin, who said "I'd never understand the law" began singing every Saturday night at a bandstand that was near the courtroom where her father worked. She sang in a trio with her sister and Marion Swofford, all three in bellhop costumes. "Even in those days, without microphones, my high piping voice carried all over the square. I have always thought that I inherited my carrying voice from my father."
She remembered having a photographic memory as a child. School tests were not a problem, and learning songs was easy. She had her first experience of singing solo at a fire hall, where she felt the crowd's appreciation. "Sometimes I think that I cheated my own family and my closest friends by giving to audiences so much of the love I might have kept for them. But that's the way I was made; I truly don't think I could help it." Martin's craft was developed by seeing movies and becoming a mimic. She would win prizes for looking, acting and dancing like Ruby Keeler and singing exactly like Bing Crosby. "Never, never, never can I say I had a frustrating childhood. It was all joy. Mother used to say she never had seen such a happy child — that I awakened each morning with a smile.
During high school, Martin dated Benjamin Hagman before she left to attend finishing school at Ward–Belmont in Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville she enjoyed imitating Fanny Brice at singing gigs, but she found school dull and felt confined by its strict rules. She was homesick for Weatherford, her family and Hagman. During a visit, Mary and Benjamin persuaded Mary's mother to allow them to marry. She was legally married on November 3, 1930, at Grace Episcopal Church (Hopkinsville, Kentucky). 10 months later, pregnant with her first child (Larry Hagman) she was forced to leave Ward–Belmont. She was, however, happy to begin her new life, but she soon learned that this life as she would later say was nothing but "role playing".
Their honeymoon was at her parents' house, and Martin's dream of life with a family and a white-picket fence faded. "I was 17, a married woman without real responsibilities, miserable about my mixed-up emotions, afraid there was something awfully wrong with me because I didn't enjoy being a wife. Worst of all, I didn't have enough to do." It was "Sister" who came to her rescue, suggesting that she should teach dance. "Sister" taught Martin her first real dance—the waltz clog. Martin perfectly imitated her first dance move, and she opened a dance studio. Here, she created her own moves, imitated the famous dancers she watched in the movies and taught "Sister's" waltz clog. As she later recalled, "I was doing something I wanted to do—creating."
Martin opened on Broadway in The Sound of Music as Maria on November 16, 1959, and stayed in the show until October 1961. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a M
Awards and honors
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 Award was presented to her in 1948 while she appeared in the national touring company of Annie Get Your Gun for "spreading theater 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.
In September 1963, a statue of Peter Pan dedicated to her was unveiled in Weatherford, donated by the Peter Pan Peanut Butter Company.
Personal life
After Martin's 1936 divorce from Benjamin Hagman, she married Richard Halliday in 1940. Early in their marriage, he worked as a drama critic for the New York World-Telegram and a movie critic for the New York Daily News. Eventually, Halliday became producer or co-producer of at least two of Martin's projects. In the early 1970s, the couple lived, according to his March 1973 obituary in the Connecticut Sunday Herald, "on a vast ranch they own near Anápolis" in the state of Goiás, Brazil. The ranch was called "Nossa Fazenda Halliday" (Our Halliday Farm). Martin was called Dona Maria by people in the vicinity of the Brazilian ranch.
Death
Martin died of cancer at age 76 at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, on November 3, 1990 She is buried in City Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Texas.
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- SERVES
- 24
- SERVING SIZE
- 2 tablespoons
- COOK TIME
- 30 Min
Betty's Famous Baked Crab Dip is known all over in her little corner of the country! It's won contests, and everyone looks forward to it at holidays and church potlucks. When we found out about it, we knew we had to share it with the world! Betty's Famous Baked Crab Dip is full of yummy seasonings, and it's got a bit of zest from a secret ingredient - hot sauce! Trust us on this one, this is a 5-star winning recipe everyone will love!
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (we used Old Bay)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked
- 1/4 cup fine, plain breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 1-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, egg, lemon juice, hot sauce, seafood seasoning, and salt; mix well. Fold crabmeat into mixture, then spoon mixture into baking dish. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs and butter; mix well. Sprinkle on crab mixture.
- Bake, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve warm.
People and Places
The Lenape people populated the land now known as New York. They’re also known as the Delaware Indians. Their settlements also spread across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and parts of Delaware and Connecticut. However, the Dutch were the first Europeans to settle the area and named it New Netherland.
Settlements and trading posts developed up and down the Hudson River. Albany, the state capital, was once called Beverwijck and the center of the fur trade. In 1624, the Dutch established a settlement on Nutten Island named New Amsterdam. Two years later, they would move to Manhattan Island, and the colony flourished.
Over time, the settlement exchanged hands between the Dutch and British several times, each without bloodshed. The first exchange, in 1664, would name it New York.
Independence & Influence
After declaring independence, the colonies later created the Articles of Confederation. Soon they discovered a stronger governing document was needed.
While New York sent three delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, only Alexander Hamilton remained to sign the final document. A Federalist, Hamilton held strong opinions that could potentially influence the framing of the young nation’s new governing document. For one, Hamilton supported a life term of service for the President.
From the timeless halls of Ellis Island to the epic beauty of Niagara Falls and breathtaking Adirondacks, New York is infused with grand vistas and endless historical paths to retrace. With New York City as the epitome of a melting pot long before the term was coined, the state is full of inspiration for artists, sparks intelligent debate and philosophical discussion.
