MOVIE DUBBERS

Compiled by Ray Hagen, Laura Wagner, Steven Tompkins et. al.

Credits for 618 Movies

Last updated: July 13, 2011

This list is a result of more than forty years of compulsive-
obsessive data-gathering by the above trio, separately. When our
paths crossed a few years ago we combined our lists together.

Finding out who dubbed who in the 70-plus years of sound movies is a
fairly daunting task since until relatively recently such information
was kept secret by the movie studios who carefully guarded the
reputations of their contract players. But in recent years the
explosion of books and articles on every aspect of filmmaking has
made the task somewhat easier, contradictory as different sources may
be. Laura Wagner in particular has spoken to many of these dubbers.
To credit every source would be impossible, there've been so many.

Included are not only the singers but credits for "dancers" who
couldn't dance, "musicians" who couldn't play, and even a few actors
who couldn't talk too good.

What's NOT here, obviously, is data on stars who did their own
singing. But some stars sang for themselves in some movies but were
dubbed in others. Barbara Stanwyck, for example, "sang" in seven
movies but was only dubbed in three of them, so only those three are
included here. Also, some stars were only partially dubbed in a film,
doing their own singing for some of the songs but not all of them, or
even singing parts of songs with only the more demanding passages
dubbed. In those cases we've noted that the dubbing is only partial.
(But if you don't find a listing here for a specific title you're
wondering about, it doesn't necessarily mean the singer wasn't
dubbed, it may mean we just don't have the information.)

And finally, there's one legendary dubbing credit you won't find
here. For years it's been accepted as gospel that Andy Williams
dubbed Lauren Bacall's vocals in "To Have & Have Not." The story has
become something of an urban legend, but sorry folks, that was
Bacall's own voice. Williams, then an unknown singer doing dubbing
work in Hollywood, was hired by director Howard Hawks to record the
songs because he couldn't find a female singer with a low enough
voice, but when Bacall began singing along with the playback he found
that he liked her voice better, so he scrapped Williams' recordings
and she did the songs herself. If the story sounded too good to be
true… it was.

This project has always been, and remains, a lifetime work-in-
progress. Any additions and/or corrections are most welcome.

Ray Hagen