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Jeanette & Nelson: The month in tabloids

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November 2016: A dubious honor indeed;  Jeanette and Nelson made it into the “rags” twice! And what’s even more surprising, the information about them is true!

The first magazine has a cover story about “What’s true &  what’s false: Hollywood’s most scandalous rumors!” Among stories about Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Rudolph Valentino, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and others; lo and behold, they mention Jeanette and the fact that LB Mayer ordered her to have an abortion BUT that she miscarried Nelson’s baby…see below.

And then, in another tabloid there is a cover story about Shirley Temple, “What the World Never Knew.” The article opens with “a murder attempt” that we are very familiar with, her 1939 radio debut with Nelson…and the magazine has small photo of the two together on that broadcast!

Interesting….!

 

An interesting blog discusses the Gene Raymond – Buddy Rogers scenario

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Above, Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond, along with the couple that  honeymooned with them, Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers.  Others include Jeanette’s wedding party: Basil and Ouida Rathbone, Johnny Mack Brown and wife Connie, Allan Jones and his wife Irene Hervey, and Fay Wray.

Yes, we’ll admit it, it’s difficult sometimes to understand WHY the marital ties of Jeanette-Gene and Nelson-Ann occurred and endured for all the years it did. We will never totally understand it all as the existing written documentation is from the 1940s onwards. The many interviews done over the years give us insight into what Jeanette and Nelson themselves said to others. And of course, each saw it from their own viewpoint. As some have suggested, perhaps it was just easier to remain married. How many couples have you known that aren’t particularly happy together romantically but find it easier to keep the status quo? There is also the factor of theirs being “Hollywood” marriages, which is a whole different animal.

Here’s a link to an article that explores in more detail the Gene Raymond – Buddy Rogers connection.  We don’t know whether Mary Pickford went into her second marriage wanting more than a handsome man on her arm as an escort and close companion. From many reports, Pickford apparently never never truly got over the love of her life, Douglas Fairbanks. Here’s the article to read, with many great photos, at this link.

 

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