Eliza Doolittle

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Eliza Doolittle
Pygmalion character
Julie Andrews Rex Harrison My Fair Lady.JPG
Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle meets Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in the 1956 musical adaptation of Pygmalion, My Fair Lady
First appearance Pygmalion
Created by George Bernard Shaw
Portrayed by
In-universe information
AliasLiza
Nickname"The Flower Girl" (Act I)
GenderFemale
Occupation Flower girl
FamilyAlfred P. Doolittle (father)
SpouseFreddy Eynsford-Hill or Henry Higgins
NationalityEnglish
Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle on the set of the 1964 movie musical My Fair Lady. Harry Stradling-Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.jpg
Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle on the set of the 1964 movie musical My Fair Lady.

Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, My Fair Lady .

Contents

Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower seller, who comes to Professor Henry Higgins asking for elocution lessons, after a chance encounter at Covent Garden. Higgins goes along with it for the purposes of a wager: That he can turn her into the toast of elite London society. Her Cockney dialect includes words that are common among working class Londoners, such as ain't; "I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman" said Doolittle. [1]

Doolittle receives voice coaching and learns the rules of etiquette. The outcome of these attentions varies between the original play and the various adaptations (see the Pygmalion article).

History

The character of Eliza Doolittle was likely inspired by the real story of Eliza Sheffield (1856–1942), a barmaid in London who rose through the ranks of society in the late 19th century through marriage, various relationships, and forgeries. [2] [3]

The part of Eliza was originally played by Mrs Patrick Campbell, at that time the most famous actress on London's West End stage. Shaw had written the role for her, and although many considered her too old for the role, she triumphed. [4] The unprecedented use of the word "bloody" – as a scripted intensive – caused a sensation when Campbell delivered it.

For the 1938 film Pygmalion , George Bernard Shaw personally requested that the young English actress Wendy Hiller play Doolittle, a part she had previously played on stage opposite Leslie Howard as Higgins. Her performance was the definitive film portrayal until Audrey Hepburn played the role in the highly successful 1964 film musical My Fair Lady .

Julie Andrews originated the musical version of Doolittle on stage in My Fair Lady, with Rex Harrison as Higgins. Sally Ann Howes took the role of Eliza Doolittle in 1958 when Julie Andrews left. Harrison went on to reprise his role in the 1964 film alongside Audrey Hepburn as Doolittle. At the 37th Academy Awards, the award for Best Actress went to Andrews for her performance as Mary Poppins. Hepburn was not nominated. Despite this, many critics greatly applauded Hepburn's "exquisite" performance. [5] "The happiest thing about [My Fair Lady]", wrote Bosley Crowther, "is that Audrey Hepburn superbly justifies the decision of Jack Warner to get her to play the title role." [6] Her co-star Rex Harrison also called Hepburn his favourite leading lady, and Gene Ringgold of Soundstage also commented that "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages," [7] while adding, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice." [7]

Martine McCutcheon played the role in the 2001 London revival of My Fair Lady. She missed many performances (citing health problems), with various understudies performing the role, and withdrew nearly five months early from the production's transfer to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, but nevertheless she won the award for best actress in a musical at the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. One of the understudies was the then unknown Kerry Ellis.

Lauren Ambrose played the role in the 2018 Lincoln Center Theater revival of My Fair Lady on Broadway, a performance for which she was nominated for the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and won the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Kirsten Anderson has been Ambrose's alternate, performing the role once a week. Laura Benanti replaced Ambrose in October 2018 to perform the role through July 2019.

Eliza Doolittle Day

A song from My Fair Lady, titled "Just You Wait", sung by Eliza, includes this passage:

One day I'll be famous! I'll be proper and prim;
Go to St. James so often I will call it St. Jim!
One evening the king will say:
"Oh, Liza, old thing,
I want all of England your praises to sing.
Next week on the twentieth of May
I proclaim 'Liza Doolittle Day!" [8]

Fans of My Fair Lady have, ever after, been fond of making an informal observance of Eliza Doolittle Day each May 20. [9] [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>My Fair Lady</i> Stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe

My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Hiller</span> English stage and film actress (1912–2003)

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<i>Pygmalion</i> (play) 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, named after the Greek mythological figure. It premièred at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913 and was first presented on stage in German. Its English-language première took place at His Majesty's Theatre in London's West End in April 1914 and starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree as phonetics professor Henry Higgins and Mrs Patrick Campbell as Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle.

The 37th Academy Awards were held on April 5, 1965, to honor film achievements of 1964. The ceremony was produced by MGM's Joe Pasternak and hosted, for the 14th time, by Bob Hope.

<i>My Fair Lady</i> (film) 1964 film by George Cukor

My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy-drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion. With a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, the film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle who overhears an arrogant phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak "proper" English, thereby making her presentable in the high society of Edwardian London.

<i>Pygmalion</i> (1938 film) 1938 British film written by G. B. Shaw from his play

Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play of the same name, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard as Professor Henry Higgins and Wendy Hiller as Eliza Doolittle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Could Have Danced All Night</span> Song by Julie Andrews (Broadway)Audrey Hepburn (film-dubbed by:) Marni Nixon

"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956. The song is sung by the musical's heroine, Eliza Doolittle, expressing her exhilaration and excitement after an impromptu dance with her tutor, Henry Higgins - in the small hours of the morning. In a counterpoint during the second of 3 rounds, two maids and the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, urge Eliza to go to bed, but she ignores them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wouldn't It Be Loverly</span> Song

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audrey Hepburn on screen and stage</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Andrews on screen and stage</span>

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References

  1. Shaw, George Bernard. "Pygmalion/Act I" . Retrieved 19 June 2016 via Wikisource.
  2. "79: Eliza Fairchild". Magnificent Women. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  3. Martin, Tony & Davis, Sally (9 April 2015). "Evelyn Diana Sheffield". Roger Wright & Sally Davis. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  4. Huggett, Richard (1969). The Truth About Pygmalion. p. 20-27. Random House.
  5. Audrey Hepburn Obituary. Telegraph
  6. "My Fair Lady (1964) Screen: Lots of Chocolates for Miss Eliza Doolittle:'My Fair Lady' Bows at the Criterion". NY Times
  7. 1 2 Ringgold, Gene. "My Fair Lady – the finest of them all!", Soundstage, December 1964
  8. Just You Wait lyrics from My Fair Lady
  9. PlayBill
  10. NPR
  11. On This Day