Remembering Jeanette MacDonald today

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Jeanette MacDonald’s death at age 61. She is pictured above on the set of her favorite film, Maytime (1937). Also remembering today Jeanette’s sister Blossom, who ironically died 13 years to the day after Jeanette, at age 82. In a radio interview Blossom gave some months after Jeanette’s death, she sounds loving and sad about her sister but practical and down-to-earth. Which is why she was a steadying figure for Jeanette, whose life was often fairly dramatic. And that’s what she was like when I knew her. She would sometimes confirm or clarify the most heartbreaking stories and remain dry-eyed, whereas we’d walk out of there and head back to our car, bawling our eyes out. You can listen to her interview below. Remembering both sisters today with love.