Mary Costa

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Mary Costa (born April 5, 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American singer, best known for playing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty.

Costa showed her musical ability at an early age, singing Sunday School solos at the age of six. At 14, she moved to Hollywood with her parents and soon won a Music Sorority Award as the outstanding voice among Southern California High School seniors.

While studying for the concert stage, she performed with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on radio, and with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on stage. In 1952, after attending a party with her future husband, director Frank Tashlin, she found herself auditioning for the part of Disney's Princess Aurora. Walt Disney called her personally within hours of the audition to inform her that the part was hers.

Costa went on to become "one of the most beautiful women to grace the operatic stage," according to The New York Times. She performed in 44 operatic roles on stages throughout the world, including Jules Massenet's Manon at the Metropolitan Opera, and Violetta in La traviata at the Royal Opera House in London and the Bolshoi in Moscow, and Cunegonde in the 1959 London premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. In 1961, for RCA, she recorded Musetta in La bohème, opposite Anna Moffo and Richard Tucker, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. Among numerous roles sung for San Francisco Opera, she was Tytania in the American premiere of Britten's A Midsummer Nights Dream (1961) and Ninette in the world premiere of Norman Dello Joio's Blood Moon (1961). Her many television credits include multiple appearances on the Crysler Shower of Stars, the Hollywood Palace, Bing Crosby Show, Jack Benny Show and Merv Griffin Show.

Jacqueline Kennedy asked her to sing at a memorial service for her husband, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, from the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1963. She sang for the inaugural concert of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971. In 1972, she starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature The Great Waltz, depicting the life of Austrian composer Johann Strauss II. Additional movie credits include The Big Caper (1957) and Marry Me Again (1953)

Costa has dedicated her later years to inspiring children and teenagers, giving motivational talks at schools and colleges across the country. She is also an Ambassador for Childhelp USA, which ministers to the needs of abused children. In 1989 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation. In November 1999 she received the Disney Legends Award - her handprints are a permanent part of the Disney Legends Plaza at the entrance to Disney Studios. In 2001 she was recognized by the Metropolitan Opera Guild for distinguished Verdi performances of the 20th Century. In 2003 she was appointed by President Bush to the National Council on the Arts, where she served until 2007. In December 2007, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN.