Donna Dixon put a little Marilyn Monroe in her role on Bosom Buddies
Many people know the 1980 series Bosom Buddies as one of Tom Hanks' earliest screen roles, but Donna Dixon was an overlooked actress who was a key component to the series.
Bosom Buddies follows the story of two single men who must disguise themselves as women in order to live in an apartment they can afford.
Although Kip (Hanks) and Henry (Peter Scolari) were at the forefront of the series, Dixon's character, Sonny Lumet, played a crucial role in grounding them.
If her character in Bosom Buddies reminded you of something, or someone, that's because Dixon based her character on the icon, Marilyn Monroe.
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"I put a little Marilyn Monroe into Sonny Lumet," Dixon said in a 1981 interview with The Kansas City Star. "Not too much. I have the same type of voice, the same breathy tone."
According to the interview, before Bosom Buddies, Dixon did a screen test for casting director Joyce Selznick. At the time, Selznick was searching for someone to play the role of Marilyn Monroe in an upcoming TV series.
"She kept raving about how much I sounded like Marilyn," Dixon said. "It upset me, because I thought she thought I was doing a put-on, but our sounding alike was just a coincidence. Someday, I'd like to try playing Marilyn."
Although she didn't get the part as Marilyn, she had Bosom Buddies to help her practice for the part. Before Bosom Buddies, Dixon was mainly a commercial actor. In fact, during the time of the interview, she had a total of three national ads running at once with her face in them.
According to the interview, Dixon found the transition from commercial acting to television to be difficult. However, she said she trusted herself and her character in Bosom Buddies to get the job done.
"I use a lot of subtleties in Bosom Buddies," Dixon said. "Like Marilyn, I'm vulnerable and naive, but I'm not completely like her. Sonny isn't a dumb blond. They're giving her substance."