Last night (Friday the 13th) I was a guest on Tommy Kovac’s horror film podcast “Splat From the Past”. We celebrated the 80th anniversary of the release of Nelson Eddy’s starrer “Phantom of the Opera” (1943) featuring Claude Rains as the Phantom. The gorgeous Technicolor film (nominated for two Oscars) had a rocky beginning, first envisioned as a comedy for…
I’ve always particularly loved this diary entry written by Nelson Eddy’s mother dated “Xmas at Misty – 1945”. (Misty was the nickname for the old remodeled cowboy bunkhouse Nelson rented on the property high up in the LA hills at 1330 Angelo Drive.) “Upon arriving, Blossom (Jeanette’s sister) and I left the packages and took a long mountain ride, leaving…
Hello! It’s certainly been a trying few years for all of us. Recently lost my wonderful husband of 35 years but am finally forging ahead with projects long-stalled due to the pandemic. Deep breath… and may the 4th be with us! With my 21-month old flag-waving granddaughter (a “Naughty Marietta” fan), wishing you a happy, safe and healthy holiday!
The night of March 5th, 1967, Nelson Eddy suffered a stroke while singing onstage and died the next morning without regaining consciousness. Two years after the passing of Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson’s death made front page headline news. Does it even happen anymore that an A+++ movie star (as they call the greatest Hollywood icons) gets a full page notice? I’ve…
When I was writing Sweethearts in the early 1990s, I was fortunate enough to have access to over 400 original postmarked letters written in the 1940s, containing very private information and quotes from diaries and letters by Nelson Eddy or Jeanette MacDonald, as well as many typed pages from the in-progress memoirs of Isabel Eddy, Nelson’s mother. As we know,…
I Married An Angel was the final Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy film together. Released in July 1942, the surreal comedy/musical wasn’t understood by audiences or critics. It’s one of those films like Vertigo or It’s a Wonderful Life that found its audience years after being considered a failure. Today, some fans claim it as their favorite teaming because the two stars…
Today, Turner Classic Movies is screening all but one of the Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy classic musicals. Check their website for the schedule which begins at 6:30 am Eastern time. You can follow the live blogging articles for some of their films at this link. Included are some behind-the-scenes information about the making of these films. Enjoy!
Happy 120th birthday, Nelson Eddy! Here are four new YouTube videos from his last years. In the first interview, Nelson says he loves Jeanette MacDonald and thinks she loves him. Even though it’s said in an offhand way, and he also says he sees Jeanette “all the time,” there’s a definite effort from Jack Paar to get more, even to…
Some time after Sweethearts was published in 1994, I did a joint book signing with Judy Lewis, the illegitimate daughter of Loretta Young and Clark Gable, at the Beverly Hills Woman’s Club. Her story was poignantly told in her autobiography, Uncommon Knowledge. In a nutshell, this is Judy’s story as noted in Publisher’s Weekly, ©1994: Born in 1935, Lewis was…
A young shot of Jeanette MacDonald, today’s birthday girl. She was gorgeous, talented and wildly successful and should have enjoyed every happiness in her life. I just posted on YouTube a couple interviews that are revealing and informative. Both are from 1959. She only lived another five years. In the first one, Jeanette discusses the release of her record album…