Marilyn Monroe's Singing Voice

I heard the song "Bye Bye Baby" from the musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" last night on Sirius FM Broadway, and it struck me what a beautiful singing voice Marilyn had. She sang in that very stylized, affected 50s Hollywood style, but she had a beautiful vibrato and trill to her singing.

People seem always to debate the virtues (or lack thereof) of her acting, but people rarely comment on what a stellar singing voice she had! I happen to think she was a brilliant comedienne and had much serious acting potential, but I never hear her get the accolades for her singing.

Am I correct in my assessment of this? For those of you in the know, was she considered a great singer during her time?

There's a good interview from TCM done in the 90's with Jane Russel & Robert Mitchum, who both worked with & were friends with MM. Russel talks about how she had to take her under her wing & boost MM's confidence so she would even leave her trailer on set for Gentlemen.
The interview is on the DVD for the film Macao with Mitchum & Russel, if you can find it, though maybe somebody has put it on youtube?

Updated On: 10/9/19 at 02:53 PM