Marcy Tigner

Marcy Tigner (born Marcellaise Hartwick, August 24, 1921 – May 17, 2012) was an American Christian children's entertainer, who released numerous albums for several prominent Christian record labels in the mid-1960s through the early 1980s. She used her natural voice, which had a very unnatural childlike quality. She developed the Little Marcy ventriloquist's doll to aid her performances to give a congruent visual aid to match her voice, and thus toured the United States for several years under the Little Marcy guise for evangelistic crusades and solo concerts. Her last album appeared in 1982, after which she made a few local appearances in Oregon. By the mid-1990s she was entirely retired, but it was about this time that record collectors specializing in "weird" music brought about a re-interest in her output.

Biography Hartwick was born to Perry and Erma Berkey Hartwick in Wichita, Kansas on August 24, 1921. Tigner's first instrument was the piano, but she switched to trombone subsequent to hearing a performance of gospel music on the instrument. She accomplished some proficiency on the trombone, winning performance contests at various levels. In 1946 she was briefly a resident of Albany, Oregon. She married Malcolm Everett Tigner in 1942, with whom she had two daughters, and settled in the Eugene, Oregon area. Slightly later she released a solo trombone album for the Christian Faith label. Despite only four months' circulation, it was the tenth-best selling religious record of 1960. By April 1961 a doll named Little Marcy was created by the same dollmaker who made Charlie McCarthy, based on Tigner's specifications of herself as a small child, and this doll became so popular through personal appearances that Tigner's name was dropped and further recordings and appearances were simply credited to "Little Marcy." At the peak of her output she was releasing 5 albums of original material a year, and sales figures were respectable by even secular standards. These albums were repeatedly repackaged as budget albums and for other Christian labels such as Chapel Records. In addition to strictly Christian material, Little Marcy released recordings which would otherwise receive the approval of her Christian base, including a 1969 fire-safety record in which she is partnered with Smokey Bear. In the mid-1980s Tigner and the Little Marcy doll made some personal appearances in Oregon, where she and her husband lived, for the next few years. When Tigner performed as "Little Marcy" at churches she told religious stories through the doll in addition to singing. Tigner was able to modulate her speaking voice to sound more adult.

In addition to the numerous LP records, Little Marcy books, toys, and other paraphernalia was produced. Tigner's personal appearances drew upwards of 2000 children, at one occasion in 1971 an appearance originally scheduled for four performances was expanded to ten in order to meet demand. She wrote at least two cantatas for children, "The Jesus Story" and "Noah's Ark", the latter in collaboration with Joe Rizzo.

Tigner's popularity re-ascended in the mid 1990s. Following her death a special version of the KWVA program Sunday Morning Hangover focusing on Little Marcy's career was broadcast on June 3, 2012.