Jeanette MacDonald 1946 Albert Hall recital – eyewitness account

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Jeanette MacDonald, pictured above in the printed program for her concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1946. An eyewitness account from Dorothy Mcbain:

When I was 8 years old in 1938 I was taken to the cinema by by my parents to see a film called ‘Rose Marie’. There were two wonderful stars in it and I fell madly in love with both of them…that day was a turning point in my life…I saw every film they made sitting through their films time and time again and they were to be very much a huge aspect of my whole life.

In 1946 [just months after World War 2 ended] much to my delight I read in a National Newspaper than an impresario named Harold Fielding was bringing Jeanette to Britain to do a series of concerts. I was thrilled that she was coming to this country but I knew that no way would I be able to see her…money was tight and as she was not doing a recital near my home it was an impossible thought. I however wrote letter to Mr Fielding saying how thrilled I was that she was coming to this country and more or less did not give the letter another thought. However imagine my surprise when about a week later I received a letter from Mr Fielding thanking me for thanking him and enclosing a ticket for Jeanette’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London and arranging that his secretary Susan Howe meet me at a pre-arranged venue, escort me to my seat and take me back stage later to actually meet Jeanette. My parents obviously collected the money for my train fare and I set off a very excited 16 year old. The recital was fabulous….Jeanette came on stage in a beautiful pale pink gown her red hair shining and the most wonderful complexion imaginable. The audience went berserk when that tiny slim figure walked on to the stage and I can honestly say everyone but her faded into oblivion… The recital was wonderful and any one who said Jeanette was not a good opera singer should have been there that night…she sang every type of song imaginable …the encores went on forever, the audience just didn’t want to let her go and she was so gracious…one wonderful trouper our Jeanette….she had not been well but nobody would have known. When she finally went off the stage Susan came and took me backstage to meet her. There were about seven of us waiting to see her…I found out the other 6 were members of the British Fan Site and incidentally went to every concert. I was so awe struck…she greeted us with that wonderful smile and all I could think to say was ‘I think you are wonderful’ and got that wonderful smile as she replied ‘Thank you very much’ . What a whimp I was…wish I had asked where Nelson was! No not really, I have a bit more tact I hope!! I have so enjoyed doing this and being transformed to that wonderful night …love you all we all have very good taste. I would just like to say a big thank you to Jeanette and Nelson for making our lives full of good friends.

Jeanette told the audience at the Royal Albert Hall that night how distressed she was driving through the streets of London and seeing the bombed houses and buildings. She was very genuinely upset and also the fact that food was very rationed…examples everyone was allowed 2oz butter,2 oz sugar 2oz margarine per week..powered eggs. no sweets or chocolate [do me good now]. Children were allowed bananas when available which was rare. I think Jeanette was unselfish enough not to have Savoy Hotel food for VIPS I am not 100% certain and that statement but at the back of my mind it rings a bell. Jeanette was a very caring, very special person as we all know. It was actually very brave of her to come over with the way things were post-war..it was a gloomy miserable time that’s why Harold Fielding did a wonderful thing in bringing her over…..she made the whole gloom lift. Where Jeanette was everything was golden.  wonderful thank you dorothy

When Jeanette said she was upset driving through bomb-damaged London…she was near to tears…a lovely, sincere caring lady who would be so proud and grateful to you and the wonderful job you have done just as we all are.

Thanks to Maria Escano for use of the photo above.

We get letters…

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I am 92 yrs old.  Saw Jeanette in person  at concert in Pittsburgh in 1944.  She was so beautiful and sweet and she mentioned that her husband had just been promoted to Major.  At the time we thought she was happily married to Gene Raymond and since reading your books we realize she was actually with the man we hoped she was in love with.

My friends had adored Jeanette from our first glimpse of her and I had purchased all her records old 78s and Mother and I went to all her movies.  For the concert in 1944 it was wartime and we all had to pool all our gas stamps since it was approximately 40 miles from our home in Latrobe PA.  The concert was unbelievable and we couldnt believe we were actually seeing our idol in person.  She was more beautiful in person and her sweetness shone through her songs.  Her singing was so lovely and we were all saddened when the concert was over.  After reading your books [ and they were so well written and revealing] that I almost wish I had not read them because I had always thought she had a fairy tale life which she richly deserved and to find that it was completely opposite saddened me.  For Gene I have the utmost contempt but even Nelson though no doubt loved her with utter passion had many liaisons which hurt her deeply.  To think Gene put his hand on her in anger!  Why didn’t anybody realize she had a serious problem with her heart and get her help much sooner.  How she performed and made movies with a weakened heart just blows my mind.  Thank you again for the books as I read them constantly and play her music in my car and at home. I know she is being treated like the star she is in heaven and she is high on my list to see after my family.

-Marion Statler

PS Thank you for responding to my Email.  I just needed you to know how much her fans love her forever.

Dear Marion, thank you for the wonderful email. In answer to your question regarding Jeanette’s health: they did not have the medical technology to handle her heart in earlier years.  The nurse that I interviewed who tended to Jeanette in Washington, D.C. in 1957 said they did do some sort of surgery but found they could not help . She was the one who said that Gene was there at first and then left.  In theory, the arterial transplant done by Michael DeBakey in 1963 should have given Jeanette a longer life but she was already quite weakened by then and spent almost 3 months in the hospital. It is my belief that if Nelson had remained at her side she might have been able to regain her strength and bounce back (to some degree) yet again but it was not to be. – Sharon

The Funeral of Nelson Eddy

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If there was one thing to know about Nelson Eddy, it was that the man had tremendous energy. He was known for his stamina in many areas. He was an Energizer type of guy who – up till literally the moment that he dropped while singing onstage – seemed indestructible.

This was a guy who sang 14 encores at a concert – no biggie.

In his last years, he would sing 2 shows a night and sometimes perform during the daytime at a charity or promotional event – no biggie.

There were times in Jeanette MacDonald’s last years, when she was upset or ill or he was worried about her, and he’d hop a plane in the morning and fly to her for a few hours, then fly back to wherever he was supposed to perform and go on that evening as though nothing unusual had happened that day.

He painted and sculpted and wrote songs and re-wrote lyrics…and penned who-knows-how-many pages of writings…so well-written and stylish that he could have had a fifth career after opera – films – concerts – radio – nightclubs – as an erotic romance writer. The man was a prolific artist. Plus he wrote his nightclub act, several movie treatments and scripts…there was no stifling the guy.

There are women who can attest to the stamina he had in other ways…well into his later years.

Despite his usually gentle nature and boyish enthusiasm which remained with him till his final day, he suddenly and rapidly began to age. This was after the death of Jeanette MacDonald. In two years, he went from hanging onto “middle age” into looking like an old, beaten man. He had always been so robust, the one person everyone could count on; he would have to practically be on his deathbed to cancel a performance, he was that much a consummate professional.

Which makes it all the more poignant to see this photo – a casket with his body in it being carried away from his funeral.

 

It seems so out of context and so wrong to imagine that Nelson Eddy could have finally fallen.

Jeanette MacDonald’s death was a long time coming; she had a bad heart and had a slow decline. Her sister Blossom said that the last 20 years of her life was borrowed time. But Nelson Eddy? His own father outlived him, his mother lived a long life too…for him to age almost overnight and to literally drop dead 2 years after Jeanette, he had to drive himself into a early grave. Which he did.

“He drank himself to death,” was Blossom’s take on it but it was more than that. Nelson drank… but his unhappiness, suffering and tragedy and a loveless, toxic marriage beat down his soul.

“He won’t outlive me by long, ” predicted Jeanette…and she was correct.

In this video footage you  will see Gene Raymond speaking about Nelson’s great energy and the shock to realize that this life force is  gone. Pallbearer Lloyd Nolan tried to put some truth there (and expressed genuine grief)  by mentioning Jeanette and the magic that she and Nelson had together in their films. (Gene Raymond is pictured below.)

It is interesting to see a somewhat emotionless Ann Eddy and more emotional Gale Sherwood walking together to the car after the service, considering that Ann resented her husband’s  “mistress. ”

By the way, some folks have asked me whether Jeanette’s sister Blossom was at the funeral. I checked with someone who was there and she said no. Obviously Blossom was still recovering from her stroke and probably would not have been able to attend.

In this final chapter of Nelson’s story, we once again owe a huge thank you to Katie and Angela who arranged to get this archive video footage and make it available for your viewing pleasure. Unless you have worked hard on finding and procuring research of this type, it may difficult to understand how much time, money, effort, sweat and tears go into a project like this. Angela took on the task of preparing the videos and also adding one of their songs to each of them to top off sad footage on a high note, you might say. And once again Katie has done a great job voicing the outrage that any decent human being would feel when presented with facts such as we have in the Jeanette/Nelson story. Katie’s blog link is here and the video is below.

 

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