Today we honor Nelson Eddy on the 50th anniversary of his passing, March 6, 1967. Hard to believe…Nelson burst on the silver screen in 1935’s Naughty Marietta…from his opening number as he marched onto the screen he was a STAR. That indescribable something…more than just good looks…someone there behind the eyes…an energy…a truth…a tremendous talent…an almost naive believe in the goodness of people… a tremendous capacity to love…a misfit really in Hollywood because he was genuine in an often phony world.
He died young at 65…having lived a life of the highest highs and the lowest lows…but always brought joy and beauty with his music.
We have been working on something special to mark and honor the half-century today since his passing. Perhaps more news tonight…if not, very soon. Stay tuned!
The page above from Mac/Eddy Today, Issue #74 is an excerpt from an article showing Jeanette MacDonald’s 1948 handwritten desk diary, in which Jeanette notes that on September 5th, she and her husband Gene Raymond hosted a party at their home for singer Eleanor Steber. Nelson Eddy and his wife Ann also attended. It was all very civil. But the very next day, September 6th, Jeanette notes her trip to Lake Tahoe. At least once each year in the fall, she and Nelson went to Tahoe to renew their wedding vows made privately in 1935 while filming “Rose Marie.” If and when Jeanette ever announced publicly that she was off to Tahoe with “my husband,” she considered she was telling the truth. The Rise Steven article in the same magazine provides new details surrounding Jeanette and Nelson’s 1945 trip to Lake Tahoe. (The article is copyright 2017; all rights reserved.)