This weekend marks religious holidays for at least two religions. It’s a time for reflection and hope for peace on earth. For those observing Easter – and everyone else – let’s listen to Jeanette and Nelson. Sound quality isn’t the greatest but let’s be thankful we have these recordings at all to enjoy. (The Jeanette one is from a 1949 radio show.)
Here’s a beautiful website with gorgeous high-resolution photos of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. I ran the text through Google translate and came up with the following rough translation:
Jeanette MacDonald: flower scented prairie
Sometime in the beginning of the last century without Jim songs from the operetta “Rose Marie” just did not do any operetta evening. “Oh Rose Marie, of Mary, fragrant prairie flower …” (author – Rudolf Frimley, with the participation of the composer Herbert Stotgarta, 1924). This operetta was all original – from the music, bright and colorful, and up to an unusual musical comedy detective story. But the last half-century, this great (previously always called that way) operetta was completely forgotten. Forgotten and beautiful romantic film “Rose Marie”, based on the operetta. The main roles are played by Hollywood star couple there 1930-40’s Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Becoming the “pioneers” of the genre of musical adventure comedy they co-starred in only eight music hits, but the impact of these films makes them cultural icons. Today, after more than 60 years after their last movie filmed together, they are still instantly recognizable and often copied. Whenever the TV show they want to show the romance of the era operetta necessarily performed one of the arias Jeanette (unfortunately, not in our country.)
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While millions were convinced that MacDonald and Eddy were “made for each other,” a duet of the movies did not materialize. The crew called them “parrots, lovebirds,” but Hollywood tough laws did not allow them to marry. Studio boss Louis B. Mayer was against the marriage bond between Nelson and Jeanette, because I thought that the wedding between the audience ruin romantic dreams about each of the artists. But deep mutual chuvtva were. Served as a source of information older sister Jeanette – Blyusum Rocky [Blossom Rock]. She argued that the relationship between Eddie and MacDonald began in 1933 and lasted, with some interruptions to Jeanette’s death in 1965. Many letters and personal records Eddy was cited in the book “Lovers” Sharon Rich. They came to the movies in different ways from different walks of life. Prior to his Hollywood career Nelson sang in opera and performed major classical works that are in the world and American culture classics: works by composers such as Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, and Ottorino Respighi. Jeanette, on the other hand, began as a chorine, who sang and danced in Broadway musicals. A few years later their paths parted forever. After the death of Jeanette in 1965 Eddie strongly handed. January 31, 1960 in “The Night radio show on the issue of relations with Jeanette, he replied simply:” I love her. ” According to his accompanist Bob Hunter, Eddie MacDonald sang a special song each of his evening performance.
Baritone Theodore Uppman said that in 1947 he saw a couple together and the conversation that evening touched on that Jeanette was pregnant from Eddie, but he can not get a divorce. Nelson was also married to a mentally unstable woman, Ann Franklin, who blackmailed him into marriage, threatened to disfigure and Jeanette promised to make a scandal in the press, if Nelson with her divorce.
Ironically Janet MacDonald eventually married Nelson, but it was not Eddie. That’s such a sad story!
Eddie Nelson wrote a biographical screenplay about Chaliapin, in which he would play a leading role, but the film never entered production.
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Jeanette Anna MacDonald was born June 18, 1903 in Philadelphia, and was the youngest of three daughters of Daniel and Anna Wright MacDonald. The father was a businessman in Philadelphia, and his mother – a housewife. All three daughters MacDonald studied singing and dancing lessons. And all three girls gave their hearts to the world of art. (The older sister, Elsie (Bernard J. Scheiter) was a pianist, and eventually opened her own school of dance and music. Middle sister, Blossum, toured in vaudeville under the name of “Rock and Blossum” with her husband, Warren Rock. At 30 -s, she starred in a number of supporting roles in several films. later she appeared on TV as a Blossum Rock (for example: the role of the grandmother in “The Addams Family”). “My mother and father were wonderful” – says Jeanette later – “They are always helped and never stood in my way. ”
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Already back in 1993 on Valentine’s Day PBS stations across the country (USA) passed hour premiere, specifically titled “Nelson and Jeanette: America’s Singing Sweethearts,” producer Elaine Goldstein. The program represents the former MGM star Jane Powell. The “Washington Post” critic Tom Sheles called the program “a nice and sparkling,” and added that “even cynics should be able to see how to make communication so attractive.”
This celebrity couple has affected millions of hearts, inspired countless young people to follow a musical career and made classical music, met her many who may have never heard of or an interest in it.
Risë Stevens, the last surviving movie co-star of Nelson Eddy, passed away on March 20, 2013. From the New York Times obituary:
Risë Stevens, the internationally renowned mezzo-soprano who had a 23-year career with the Metropolitan Opera, where she practically owned the role of Carmen during the 1940s and ’50s, died on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 99.
Her son, Nicolas Surovy, confirmed the death.
On the Met’s roster from 1938 to 1961, Ms. Stevens was a superstar in an era when operatic superstardom was conferred mostly on sopranos and tenors. A Bronx native from a modest background, she was widely admired as a populist who help democratize the rarefied world of opera. She was known to a large public not only through her recordings and recitals, but also through her appearances on radio and television and in motion pictures.
After retiring from the stage, Ms. Stevens had a prominent second career as an arts administrator with the Met and as president of the Mannes College of Music in New York City.
As a singer, Ms. Stevens was known for her acute musicianship, her expansive repertory, her accomplished acting and, in particular, her warm, velvety voice. (In 1945, Lloyd’s of London insured her voice for $1 million.) Though she occasionally sang Wagnerian roles early in her career, she soon abandoned them in favor of the less heavy, though no less rich, parts to which her voice was ideally suited….
In Hollywood, she sang in “The Chocolate Soldier” (1941), with Nelson Eddy, and in “Going My Way” (1944), with Bing Crosby; she also supplied the voice of Glinda the Good Witch in the animated film “Journey Back to Oz” (1974). On television, she appeared often on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Tonight Show.”
Despite her acclaim, Ms. Stevens was by all accounts a down-to-earth diva, as comfortable singing Broadway musicals — as she did in a 1964 production of “The King and I,” by Rodgers and Hammerstein, at Lincoln Center — as she was singing Bizet. As the magazine Opera News wrote in 2006, Ms. Stevens “was perhaps one of the sanest big opera stars of her time.”
Ms. Stevens recorded a record album with Nelson of “The Chocolate Soldier” and was a guest star on his radio show.
Listen to Risë Stevens and Nelson Eddy sing “My Hero” from The Chocolate Soldierhere.
And finally, below is a snapshot of Ms. Stevens at age 98! We understand she was active throughout her 90s and we are glad she had a happy and long life! She was one of those few great opera voices that found success in movies during an era when opera and Hollywood didn’t normally mix well. She preferred to return to opera, though, and said she regretted that Nelson didn’t do the same when his film career ended.
Below is a video interview with Rise Stevens from 2011.
This is the lovely flyer designed by Grace Webster for the upcoming meeting this Saturday at the home of her sister, Maria Escano. If you live in the area, you can print a PDF high-resolution version of it and give it to friends, post it at your library, etc. Thank you, Grace!
Gorgeous man…gorgeous voice…if Louie B. Mayer were around today, he’d no doubt still be scratching his head wondering what the fuss was still all about with “the baritone.” But of all the great MGM stars, there are no two more fiercely remembered, loved, defended and enjoyed into the 21st century than Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald.
Good news! K.T. Ernshaw’s novel, To Love Again is now available for instant download on Kindle.
For those who don’t know her, she was a longtime confidante of Nelson Eddy’s and the main character in the book is based on the Nelson she knew. Readers will recognize him immediately from the very beginning. From one of the reviews:
It’s an interesting plot if you like futuristic novels, and this one isn’t set too far in the future, but let’s face it, Nelson Eddy fans will want to read it for the love story. You have to keep in mind that this author had an extensive intimate relationship with Nelson Eddy, off-and-on over a period of 20 years. She has preferred to play this down and writes under a literary name, but she did show up in person and was agreeable to answering questions about Nelson, except for the most personal. She said she wrote the book for two reasons, to give some biographical and true understanding of the Nelson she knew and to combine that with a novel idea that she wanted to tell. It’s a long book but but thoughtful and well worth reading on many levels. On a related subject, when asked about Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, as in “did they or didn’t they?” she answered that they in fact “did,” that Nelson himself told her and she learned from him some of the details over the years.
To learn more about the author read an interview with her here.
Watch a short clip from ITN news covering the funeral of Jeanette MacDonald. When you click on the link , which opens in a new window, scroll to the bottom of the page and then click on the orange button: “Play Clip.”
Nelson Eddy is featured making his entrance. Gale Sherwood and Ann Franklin have already arrived and walk separately from him (with Gale trailing Ann). Nelson walks past Gale and licks his lower lip as he approaches Ann. He looks like he’s trying to compose himself. Then photographers step in front of his face and raise their cameras to get a good shot. Nelson doesn’t walk beside Ann but seems to cut left behind her. This short clip ends with Jeanette’s casket arriving in the hearse. Heartbreaking.
This week we set up a new maceddy.com Facebook group.
You can join the group (and Facebook itself) at this link.
For those of you who are not on Facebook, we have selected some of the unusual, different photos that folks have posted on our Facebook page (such as the one above), and added them to our own Photo Gallery page. That way everyone can enjoy them.
Please note that all Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy newsworthy items – whether posted on our Facebook group, our Yahoo group or found on the ‘net – are also posted here on our website. This way no one misses out.
We also have an email newsletter, with all news updates. If you’re not signed up for it you can do here.
If you live in Spain, watch for the upcoming March 2013 release of a new novel by by Fernando Alonso Barahona. He is a Madrid film historian with 34 books about Hollywood to his credit, including Cecil B. De Mille (1991), Cinema, ideas and art (1991) King Vidor (1992), Spanish cinema Biography (1992), Charlton Heston (1992), Sean Connery (1992), Michael Douglas ( 1992) One hundred horror films (1992), Gary Cooper (1994) and All About Ingrid Bergman (2005).
His novel “Retrato de Ella” will be available in Spanish. The genre is “romance – suspense – historical” and Jeanette and Nelson are among the historical celebrities featured. Here’s the synopsis (thanks to Google translate):
The story of Irene Valdes….The love story of Irene and Alexander over time in Cadaques fascinating scenarios and Lucerne. The circles of women, sensuality, magic of artistic creation, the love between Irene and criminal intrigue in the world of art….he shadows of soulmates, Salvador Dali and Gala, Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy….[This is Barahona’s third novel] after “Restoration” (2008) and Circle of Women (2010).
If you are on Facebook you can see a page devoted to the book at this link. PS: Fernando is a devoted Jeanette-Nelson fan and hosts a Spanish fan page for them on Facebook as well.
Our own Fred Phillips, who did makeup both on Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy during their early MGM teamings, was a valuable source for information about their romance. He was at Lake Tahoe during the filming of Rose Marie. Fred was very much aware not only of Jeanette’s pregnancy and the aftermath, but also the Wrath of Louie B. Mayer (towards Nelson) and Mayer’s insistence that the makeup team go overboard and make Nelson look laughable.
I met Fred Phillips through my screenwriter friend, Judy Burns, of Star Trek fame (“The Tholian Web”). She knew Fred because they worked together on the original Star Trek. Judy, Fred and I met for a long afternoon luncheon at a beautiful outdoor cafe near the beach…and later I had several follow-up phone conversations with Fred.
Above is a picture from the February 15, 2013 issue of Entertainment Weekly. The cover story features the new Star Trek movie. In the sidebar article, “Spock’s Ears: The Origin Story,” Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, asserts that the creator of the pointed Vulcan ears was “the series’ makeup artist Fred Phillips.” The article adds: “…there’s no doubt that they remain the most recognizable cranial feature in sci-fi history.”
