# Mary Martin

Mary Virginia Martin (1 December 1913 – 3 November 1990) was an American actress and singer, who originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music, but became most famous in her role as Peter Pan.

## Quotes

* Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes.
** As quoted in Right Time, Right Place, Right Move, Right Now! (1992) by Perry W. Buffington, Section I : Life
* Even as a baby I quickly learned to crawl out of my crib. … They'd put up barriers but I learned how to go over them.
** As quoted in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008) by Ronald L. Davis. p. 6
* Peter Pan is perhaps the most important thing, to me, that I have ever done in theater.
** As quoted in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008) by Ronald L. Davis. p. 180
* I can't tell you the joy I felt in flying in that show … I loved it so. The freedom of spirit that was Peter Pan was suddenly there for me. I discovered I was happier in the air than on the ground.
** As quoted in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008) by Ronald L. Davis. p. 183
* Neverland is the way I would like real life to be … timeless, free, mischievous, filled with gaiety, tenderness, and magic.
** As quoted in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008) by Ronald L. Davis. p. 183
* You are my Peter Pan.
** To Sandy Duncan, who had told her "You're the only Peter Pan I'll ever know" in a meeting after a Duncan's performance in the role, as quoted in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008) by Ronald L. Davis. p. 183

### My Heart Belongs (1976)

* Mother was the disciplinarian, but it was Daddy who could turn me into an angel with just one look.
** p. 19
* 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
** p. 20
* 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. I don’t remember that, but I do remember that I never wanted to go to bed, to go to sleep, for fear I’d miss something.
** p. 20
* It was all role playing. I felt Larry was my little brother, Ben my big brother. Role playing was something I had known since I was born, but it wasn't a good basis for a marriage.
** On her early married life with her first husband Ben Hagman, p. 39
* I was seventeen years old, 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.
** p. 39
* Anything was better than playing cards, and I was doing something I wanted to do — creating.
** On becoming a dance teacher, and creating her own moves, p. 44
* Things can get very lovey and feasty with a bunch of stimulated hams.
** p. 268

## Quotes about Martin

* The irrepressible boy who refused to grow up had been the star's favorite character since childhood, and she longed to play the role on stage.
** Ronald L. Davis, on Martin's first prospects of playing Peter Pan, in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008), p. 180
* Mary was forty years old when she first played Peter Pan, yet she rehearsed fourteen hours a day and seemed fresh and high spirited while everyone else in the company drooped with fatigue. She was determined to fly all over the stage in the part.
** Ronald L. Davis, on rehearsals for Peter Pan, in Mary Martin : Broadway Legend (2008), p. 182

## External links

* Profile at IBDB
* Profile at IMDb
* Profile at Find a Grave
* Photos of Mary Martin, hosted by the Portal to Texas History