November 6 is the birthday of Juanita Hall (1901-1968). Halls Broadway career began in 1930 when she appeared in a choir for the show The Green Pastures. Her most famous roles came later, when she created the character of Bloody Mary in South Pacific (1949) and also appeared in other 1950s hits like House of Flowers (1954) and Flower Drum Song (1958), her last role. Despite playing in over 900 performances of South Pacific, Halls voice was dubbed by singer Muriel Smith in the 1957 film version when vocal arranger Ken Darby decided Halls voice had aged and darkened. This is a film clip that features Halls actual singing voice in the scene featuring Happy Talk.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 15:18:47 +0000