Mary Costa

Mary Costa (born April 5, 1930) is an American actress and soprano. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, she moved to Glendale, California in 1946 to pursue vocal training at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music while still a high school student. After performing in radio and television programs connected to Edgar Bergen, she was cast as Princess Aurora in the Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty in 1952; a work she spent the next three years recording. The film was not released until 1959, but became the work for which Costa is best known. She also starred in the films Marry Me Again (1953), The Big Caper (1957), and The Great Waltz (1972). Beginning in 1955 Costa became the co-host of two television programs with William Lundigan, Climax! and Shower of Stars, in which she was featured as the spokeswoman for Chrysler automobile commercials. She continued to co-host these programs through the Spring of 1958; leaving when her career as an opera and concert soprano began to gain traction. She made her professional opera debut as Micaëla in Glynn Ross' staging of Georges Bizet's Carmen at the Redlands Bowl in 1957. This was followed by her first appearance with a major opera organization in 1958 when she appeared in the title role of Il segreto di Susanna at the Glyndebourne Festival. Costa had an international career as an operatic soprano; performing with major theaters like the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Paris Opera, and the San Francisco Opera among other organizations. While she appeared in more than 40 opera roles during her career, she was particularly known for the part of Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata which was her most frequently performed character. She also appeared in concerts with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles...