Happy Holidays to Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy fans from the Mac/Eddy Club!
Listen to Nelson singing Christmas carols here.
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Nelson Eddy called the “Josh Groban of the 1940s”
Nelson and Eddy….more online discussion of Celine Dion’s name choices for her twin sons. And, in particular, a comparison of a 20th century singing superstar (Nelson Eddy) to a 21st century singing superstar (Josh Groban).
Comparison of “our” Nelson Eddy to Josh Groban is not a terrible thing. I have been to a Josh Groban concert and it is very reminiscent of what a Nelson Eddy concert was like back then – a gorgeous male singer wowing the audience with “long hair” music….an almost-all female audience with women old and young swooning over every note…and screaming their applause.
Security these days is tighter than it was back in Nelson’s day, so Josh doesn’t have women rushing on stage mid-performance. But who knows…maybe Josh returns occasionally to his hotel room to find an eager fan hiding under his bed! That too happened to Nelson Eddy in his heydey.
For those of us who are younger and never had the joy of seeing movie star Nelson Eddy in person, we can at least get some idea of how wonderful/unique it is to have a gorgeous operatic singer to squeal over. I wrote once that Nelson Eddy was like a rock star of his day…and that was no exaggeration!
Thank goodness the 21st century bobby-soxers have a classical singer to adore!
Celine Dion names her twin sons “Nelson” and “Eddy”!
What fun! Our own Nelson Eddy is back in the news headlines right now with today’s news announcement:
Celine Dion and Rene Angelil have announced the names of their newborn sons – Eddy and Nelson.
The singer gave birth to the fraternal twins on Saturday via C-section at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. She and the babies left the hospital on Wednesday night.
The babies were named, not for the American opera singer who appeared in 1930s movies, but for a musical colleague and a Nobel Prize winner.
The name Eddy comes from Eddy Marnay, who produced Dion’s first five albums.
“He was like a father to her,” Dion’s rep told People magazine. “Eddy is a major influence in both Celine and Rene’s lives.”
Nelson is named after former South African President Nelson Mandela, whom Dion met two years ago while kicking off her would tour in South Africa.
Nelson Eddy’s Halvern House Had September Fire
For Nelson Eddy fans –
I’m a little late updating this but in early September the home that Nelson Eddy built (which he later sold to Fred MacMurray) suffered a fire. The house is currently being remodeled and was under construction.
We had an earlier post about the house going up for sale, with photos of the interior. The house has only had two owners.
Nelson designed this house himself. When he purchased the lot in 1938 he planned to use it for a family home for himself and Jeanette MacDonald. She was pregnant with his child and Nelson expected her to divorce her husband, Gene Raymond, and marry him. As we know, those plans never panned out.
Nelson married Ann Franklin instead in 1939 and they moved into the house with her son Sid Franklin, Jr. A house that was built with ample room for raising children was never utilized for that…and Nelson put his “dream house” up for sale in the mid 1940s and moved next to the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.
One of our Yahoo! group members took the photos below after the fire:
Pictures of the Halvern house in 2008 when it first went up for sale can be seen here and here.
Such a shame…it may not have been a happy home for Nelson Eddy but Fred MacMurray and his family loved the home.
Nick Clooney calls Maurice Chevalier-Jeanette MacDonald “Love Me Tonight” Best Movie Musical Ever!
From the Oakland Daily Tribune:
“I get it. I know I have really one distinction,” said Nick Clooney. “I know precisely, word for word, how my obituary will read:
“Nick Clooney, brother to Rosemary, father to George, died today. Period.”
With that out of the way, Clooney launched into a lively and memorable conversation — to call it a lecture sounds too dry and formal — for the Macomb Town Hall Lecture/Luncheon Series at the Ukrainian Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Clooney’s lecture was titled “The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen.” Attendees heard a wealth of film facts and insights, but also a lot more as Clooney took questions from the audience after lunch, sharing stories about son George; George and Nick’s travels to Darfur to raise awareness; and why so many Clooneys (George, Rosemary, Betty) have gone into show business. “We always wondered that ourselves,” he joked.
Clooney said he was approached by a publisher about writing a book about movies. His first thought, he confessed, was “Who needs another book about movies?” But when the publisher asked how movies have changed his life, he got to thinking. “How many times have I said, ‘Here’s looking at you?’” He got to wondering “which movies changed our world or how movies were done.” The movie buff and the journalist were aroused and the book was born.
Clooney makes it clear up front that his list doesn’t have “Citizen Kane” or “Gone With the Wind.” Both are “one of a kind,” he said. They stand alone. However, there are other films that, if they didn’t break the mold, they made it, and not always positively.
D.W. Griffiths’ “The Birth of a Nation” is one example. The 1915 silent film centers on the Civil War and Reconstruction period. It had epic battle sequences and star power, but it also was “one of the worst things to happen in movies in our country,” Clooney said. Why? The film’s racist portrayals of blacks revived the Ku Klux Klan.
Clooney then jumped ahead a few years and noted, “Women became dominant in our motion pictures … which has not happened since.
“For eight of 10 years of the 1930s the top box office draw was a female,” said Clooney, citing a star-studded roster that still sparkles today: Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Shirley Temple, Hedy Lamarr and more. “(Women) had a zenith in the 1930s and it went downhill from there.”
Men still get the most money for films….
Another film of the era — 1932’s “Love Me Tonight” — Clooney calls the greatest movie musical ever made. The film starred Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald with music by Rodgers and Hart, including that classic “Isn’t It Romantic?” But the film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, was revolutionary in how it integrated songs into the story.
Jeanette MacDonald Nelson Eddy Clearwater, Florida event!
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy fans! If you’re in Florida, join us in Clearwater on Saturday afternoon, October 30, from 1-4 pm. No tricks…but some treats! Light refreshments, a Q&A, book signing and I’ll show some interesting film and interview clips.
Location: Ramada Limited Suites, 2061 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL. Hotel phone: 727-446-8007. It’s conveniently located close to Hwy 19. If you’re coming from or through Tampa, you take the hwy 60 Causeway into Clearwater and the road turns into Gulf-to-Bay.
Admission: Free!
Please spread the word to any friends or family that might be interested, and ask them to make their reservations.
PS: If you’re coming from out-of-town and want to stay at the hotel, they are offering a $49.95 room if you mention you’re with the Mac/Eddy group.
Thanks!
Sharon
Happy Birthday Nelson Eddy! June 29!
To celebrate Nelson Eddy‘s birthday, Turner Classic Movies has the following films screening:
Rosalie – 1:30 pm eastern
Maytime – 3:45 pm eastern
Sweethearts – 6 pm eastern
Set your DVR/VCR.
We will remember!
Jeanette MacDonald Nelson Eddy Homes Driving Tour, June 26, 2010
This post is for Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy fans that are joining us on Saturday, June 26, for our driving tour. If you need more info about our weekend events, check out this link.
Please make sure at least one person in your car downloads these attachments/directions so you have them at hand during the driving tour. You might also want to print this page and the three maps shown below.
1. The biggie – complete itinerary. Download Driving Tour Directions
2. Tour etiquette and Information. Download Tour Etiquette & Info
3. Directions back from Isabel’s beach house to her home in Westwood (which is 5 minutes away from Jeanette’s Wilshire Comstock, the final stop on our tour). Directions: Porto Marina back to Wilkins
NOTE: Some people want to cram in as much sightseeing as they can, particularly visiting the graves of Nelson and Jeanette. The best way to do it is to visit Nelson on Saturday prior to the driving tour (as you’ll only be a few miles away from our starting point) and to visit Jeanette Sunday morning before the luncheon at Sportsmans Lodge. On Sunday as you drive back from Forest Lawn, you can make a quick stop en route to Sportsmans on S. Mariposa St., where Nelson boarded his horse and had a small hideaway home for himself and Jeanette. If you want to see the graves plus have a mini-Hollywood tour as well, please download the following items:
4. Download Itinerary: If you want to visit their graves
5. Download Driving Directions Forest Lawn to Mariposa
6. Download Driving Directions from Mariposa to Sportsmans Lodge
7. Optional: If you want to go directly from Forest Lawn to the luncheon and skip Mariposa, Download Driving Directions Forest Lawn to Sportsmans Lodge
Please note that I have not included directions to the cemeteries. This is because I don’t know where you will be driving from. So, below are general maps showing where they are. You can click on them to see larger photos.
Where Nelson is buried:
Where Jeanette is buried:
Details of the Mariposa home area:
Important Printouts for the June 26 Driving Tour!
Hi – the details of our June 26 driving tour can now be downloaded. Please make sure that one person in your car has a printout of everything at this link:
Mac/Eddy 2010 Driving Tour Directions and Instructions!
This tour is open to anyone that is attending our Sunday luncheon at Sportsmans Lodge. Tickets are still available – I prefer that you pre-pay them online at this link:
June 27 Birthday Bash tickets!
If for some reason you have trouble ordering your tickets online – then please email me with your reservation as to how many people you will be bringing to the meeting. You can pay at the door.
Email Me
See you this weekend!
Sharon