Gale Sherwood has died… We read an online posting from writer Laura Wagner (who is friends with someone in contact with Gale’s estate) that Gale Sherwood, Nelson Eddy’s nightclub singing partner of 14 years, passed away on December 31, 2017.
She was Canadian born on March 4, 1929 as Jacqueline Nutt. Her film debut was in 1939 in They Shall Have Music…see the adorable film clip above!
Under her stage name Gale Sherwood she also starred Blonde Savage (1947) which you can see here. Her greatest fame obviously stemmed from her association with Nelson in his nightclub act. She was also his co-star in the 1955 TV film of The Desert Song.
Above, an early shot of them together and below, arriving in Sydney, Australia for the final tour there in 1967 just weeks before Nelson’s death.
After her retirement, she lived quietly in Florida and kept her privacy out of the limelight by using her married last name. A widow, in recent years she had suffered with health and memory issues.
This news was originally posted on Facebook by Laura Wagner.
Update: part of the death certificate verifying this.
Not all patriots were officially enlisted so we also honor Nelson, Jeanette and those in the close circle of their lives who fought in their own way in WWII.
Nelson Eddy served bravely (if secretly) as an Allied spy under the guise of traveling overseas to sing for the soldiers. Now we know the details and that he was injured in the line of duty. While stateside, he also donated his time, salaries and efforts to singing on various war-related radio shows and benefits.
Jeanette MacDonald did not have medical clearance to entertain overseas during WWII. So remaining on the home front, she helped form the Hollywood Emergency Relief Fund, sang at the Hollywood Canteen, opened her home to visit with returning soldiers, donated her time and effort singing on the frequent war-related radio shows, and traveled the US on lengthy concert tours, breaking records and raising over $94,000 for the war effort by auctioning off her encores. In 2015 dollars that’s close to a million and a half dollars – just for her encores! For this she was honored by President Roosevelt.
Nelson was never able to be publicly honored. So I find irony in the fact that while Jeanette often acknowledged certain brave, injured or fallen soldiers in her radio shows or concerts – and always mentioned her husband Gene Raymond, she could never acknowledge the work of Nelson Eddy. Her love affair with him was secret as was knowledge of his war work.
Gene Raymond was a decorated Army Air Force pilot, first serving in England and later in the US. After the war he remained in the reserves and finally retired as a Colonel after Jeanette died, in 1968. No matter how one views the problematic Jeanette-Gene marriage, Gene (and Jeanette) took pride in his military achievements – perhaps one of the only areas in which he wasn’t in direct competition with (and losing to) Nelson Eddy.
Theodore Paxson, Nelson’s longtime friend and accompanist, was at Nelson’s side during the war years whether concerts, radio shows, benefits, and on the dangerous overseas trip. Whether Ted’s life was ever put in danger is unknown but he was a married man with two children and it should not be forgotten that he also sacrificed his time and energies for the war effort.
And finally we have Marine Major Woody Van Dyke II who sadly did not survive the war but his contribution was vital and unique nevertheless. By 1939 had turned his MGM office into a recruiting station, plus he urged his male stars to jump in and set an example in a climate where Hollywood was still covering its eyes and ears, trying to ignore what was happening overseas. In his final film, Journey for Margaret (see below), he showed the tragic effect of war on children.
It’s probably no coincidence that Nelson enjoyed making his early 1939 film, Let Freedom Ring. Though Virginia Bruce was his co-star, the love story was secondary to Nelson’s rough-and-tumble character standing up for humanity and freedom. Yes, the story of decent folk winning over tyranny takes place in an earlier era but there’s no mistaking Nelson’s indirect reference to the atrocities already going on in 1939 Europe when he looks and speaks into the camera. In the final scene Nelson gives a spirited speech and sings with passion as only he could – aiming straight for the hearts and emotions of his millions of fans. No “acting” here, he’s being true to the idealism and patriotism that was such a vital part of him. So we end this Veteran’s Day article by thanking those men and women who have fought for freedom, and with Nelson Eddy calling out what is needed for a sane world:
Shipping this coming week! A beautiful new magazine celebrating our 40th anniversary! Those of you with memberships will automatically receive these when they are shipped out; otherwise you can purchase it at this link.
Here is the June 2017 LA meeting video honoring Jeanette and Nelson. Thanks as always to Tracy Wilborn for putting our event video together so beautifully! We’ve come such a long way over these years, haven’t we?
We received an email from Joe Kennedy that you should find informative. Thank you, Joe!
Dear Ms. Rich,
I have followed your writings for some years and am always impressed by the diligence and dedicated research that you and your colleagues have made into the lives and careers of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. As someone who has done research for authors, I appreciate the difficulty of tracking down often-obscure sources.
I recently came across some information in a biography of Wilfred Jackson, a Disney director, that may be of interest to you. As I am sure you know, in 1946 Nelson Eddy recorded all the voices for a Disney short cartoon “The Whale who Wanted to Sing at the Met,” which was part of a compilation feature, Make Mine Music.
In 1959, Disney planned to use this short in an episode of the Disneyland television series on opera, and Wilfred Jackson was the director of the program. At some point in the planning stage, it was suggested that they bring in Nelson Eddy to host the show.
Jackson’s personal notes are reproduced in the book, and he records his excitement at the idea of working with Eddy. Mr. Eddy was apparently very busy in early 1959, and as a result, he was not able to meet with the Disney team for some months.
Finally, a date was set, and Nelson Eddy came to lunch at the studio with Walt Disney and the director. And after all the months of buildup, Walt Disney suddenly decided after lunch to drop the idea of using Eddy altogether, for reasons unspecified. He instructed the director to come up with another concept.
It’s too bad that it did not happen, as I imagine Nelson Eddy might have demonstrated the multi-channel recording equipment that enabled him to sing in harmony with himself.
In any event, I though you might like to have a copy of Jackson’s notes, which are transcribed in his biography and also reproduced in their original form. You will be amused at Jackson’s growing excitement and ultimate disappointment. it is a very slight bit of anecdotal information, but perhaps it will add to your existing knowledge about Eddy’s later career.
There is also another story about Disney and Nelson Eddy, which dates back to the 1946 recording sessions for the film. (I’m sorry but I do not have the source for this story handy. However, I will try to find it if you are interested.)
The director of the sequence, Ham Luske, was known to be completely tone deaf. He and Nelson Eddy played a joke on Walt Disney. When Disney sat in on one of the recording sessions, Nelson Eddy sang perfectly, but Luske kept interrupting him, telling him he was off-key, or that he hadn’t hit the right note. Eddy would apologize and do another take, again perfectly, and Luske would again ‘correct’ him.
Walt Disney sat watching this interaction with growing indignation, and finally stopped the director, telling him that Nelson Eddy is a great artist, and he had no right to try to criticize his performance. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, and Walt was furious that he had been made the butt of this joke. Supposedly he never forgave the director, and who knows, maybe that was an unconscious part of his decision to drop Nelson Eddy from the television program!
