Now, here's one for the books.
Future Academy Award winner Jodie Foster was just 13 when she made "Bugsy Malone" in 1976. The only other "name" in the cast was Scott Baio, who'd parlay the gig into a run on Happy Days, and, well, you know the rest of his story, I'm sure.
The gimmick to "Malone", a musical that had kids playing adult-type characters in the days of prohibition, was that older performers were dubbed in for musical numbers. One such case involves Ms. Foster, whose character, Tallulah, takes center stage in the following clip, but the singing voice certainly isn't Jodie's at all.
A number of years back, I found a copy of the soundtrack album----on vinyl, mind you---at a second hand store. I put it back on the shelf, but not before reading the back cover and learning who actually did the vocals. The actress whose voice you'll hear in "My Name is Tallulah", is comedienne-turned-voice-actress-turned-gourmet chef Louise "Liberty" Williams, who would appear on the sitcom Busting Loose the following spring, but may be better known to a couple of generations of cartoon fans as the voice of Wonder Twin Jayna on the Super Friends from 1977-84. Louise may have honed her singing talents while with the comedy troupe, the Groundlings, before turning to television, for all we know. Check it out for yourself, pilgrims, and let me know what you think......
"Bugsy Malone" is hardly shown on television these days, depending on who has the cable rights, but I think it may be available on DVD.
2 comments:
I love this musical. Saw it on TV once as a kid!
Wish they'd play this on cable more often.
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