Nelson Eddy…Jeanette MacDonald…a picture worth a thousand words!

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald photographed on a date together, attending an LA operetta performance of Maytime. This photo was taken before they made the film version.

We have seen another shot from this backstage moment. The right side of the photo was cropped in every magazine or newspaper that ran the photo…so we could barely see that Nelson’s left arm was around Jeanette’s waist. One has to wonder if that cropping was intentional. But this photo is even more interesting. His hand is no longer on her waist. Look at the finger play between the two of them with their left hands.

This is an intimate moment and one can observe Jeanette’s self-assurance with Nelson holding her tight to him even though he has that flirtatious smile for someone else. She looks radiant and we can see that they are together and happy at this time.

We have read and heard many accounts of people who saw Nelson and Jeanette together at parties or events where observers watched the intimacy between them and commented on it. Here is one such example. When you read in Sweethearts this quote from Charles Blackwell, who saw Nelson and Jeanette at a party together during the war years – as a couple – you can get a visual idea now:

“[They] looked very much in love. I remember his hands on her waist the whole time. She was dazzling and everyone commented on how happy they looked…They couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”

Photo from the Maria Escano collection