Eyewitness Accounts

Over the years, our readers have written in with invaluable information. We've selected some of their comments and have indicated in which issue of Mac/Eddy Today magazine their selection or interview was originally published. We will continue to add new entries, so check back on this page. If you have a story to relate or know of a source who should be interviewed, please contact us. Annonymity is guaranteed if required.

Hello Sharon, I have never had the opportunity to meet you, soon I hope.

My name is Lee Quindlen. I wrote some articles for the Jeanette MacDonald International Fan Club when I was probably 15 years old. Jeanette wrote me back and sent me her last MGM photo. Inscribed "To Leona Sweet [maiden name] what a pretty name Best Wishes, Sincerely, Jeanette MacDonald."

We started corresponding after that. I received a letter in 1961 telling me she was coming to Philly with Gene and Blossom. I think Blossom may have been staying here then.

I spent quite a bit of time with the three of them. I knew it then and I know it now; Jeanette and Gene were married in name only. I saw Jeanette and Gene together and even at a young age [as I was 17 yrs. old] it was obvious they were not in love but, they loved each other. It was the way they interacted with each other. Gene seemed preoccupied with some place he had to be. He mentioned it to Jeanette and I got the impression he was going alone. Body language. I was so enthralled, I paid attention the entire time I spent with them. I knew it would be my only chance to see Jeanette and I wanted to remember my thoughts for a lifetime.

They did spend years married to each other not out of choice. They each went their separate ways. I believe they were good friends. I know some gay men and they make good companions. No reason for divorce; Nelson was handcuffed, no way out.

When I met Gene he was very unfriendly and distant didn't talk much and was indifferent towards Jeanette and her sister. BORING. Jeanette had everything and nothing. No one told me that but, I got the impression from her that her life could have been different. Jeanette indicated that by saying to me youth is wasted on the young. I took that as meaning Jeanette would have lived her life differently and with a different ending. Jeanette also told me that her one great sorrow in her life was not having children but, it could not have been. I interperted that as either her or her husband had some kind of problem. I would never ask why. Remember I was only 17 years old. I thought about that day all my life. Now that I'm older and have read your books, it's scary how much of Jeanette’s conversation that day could have related to the things you have learned. I can't say that anything was told to me directly; it's just my impression and my sister's. I made my sister go with me because I was afraid to go alone. All Carol remembers is an old lady with a diamond ring as big as her hand!!

Of course Nelson was mentioned. I asked her what he was like and when Jeanette spoke of him I could see her soul through her eyes. I didn't understand then but, I do know Jeanette loved him. At that time Gene had a frown on his face. I didn't know Blossom; I thought she was kind and funny and made me and my sister feel welcome. If I didn't know Jeanette was a big star I would have liked her anyway. Jeanette was a Lady and very kind and wise. Blossom also was kind. I loved the way Jeanette and Blossom laughed; they were in tune with each other.

I'm sure if she were alive today Jeanette wouldn't have any qualms about telling her story. It was Nelson’s wishes to keep it quiet; he did not want Jeanette to get hurt…shame…it really wouldn't have mattered then or now. Jeanette’s fans were as loyal as fans could be; they would never have abandoned her, never. Look at all of us now. --Lee Quindlen, March 2006

I was delighted that you wanted to hear about Jeanette’s Aunt Kitty. A most charming and lovely woman. She was Jeanette’s mother’s sister. Her name is Kitty Rice. She became a friend of my mother’s when we moved here from Pennsylvania in 1941. I’ll call her Aunt Kitty to you, even though I called her Mrs. Rice. Due to the fact that I was a Navy wife, I wasn’t in Aunt Kitty’s company too much. To this day I regret not going into detail with her about Jeanette and I’ll try and explain why.

Of course I had Mother telling me all about this lovely woman she met in church who was the aunt of Jeanette MacDonald. When Mother introduced me to her, I said I wanted her to marry Nelson Eddy. With that she countered by saying Nelson Eddy wanted very much to marry Jeanette, but she listened to her mother and married Gene Raymond. I’ll swear on a stack of bibles that she said this. I know that I was thrilled to death when she said it. I told her—“I knew it, I knew it!” then she said again, “Yes, indeed, he wanted her very much.”
 
Aunt Kitty’s daughter was with her—she has two lovely red-headed girls—and when I said to her “You’re so lucky being able to visit Jeanette and Gene during the summer,” Aunt Kitty said Gene treated them royally. Well, a look of disbelief came over Aunt Kitty’s daughter’s face, and I thought oh, oh, something’s wrong, and I changed the conversation. This is the first time I told this to anyone, but it sure makes sense now.

While rehearsing for The Song of Norway – I was an understudy for the Countess—a very nice fella who had a lead in the show knew Nelson Eddy. While we were waiting for our entrance on stage during rehearsal, I mentioned that friends and my husband and I were going to see Nelson appearing at Palumbo’s a famous restaurant in Philadelphia (this was a year before Nelson died) and did he know that Nelson wanted to marry Jeanette. He said, “I know Nelson Eddy and he sure did want to marry her.” It seems Nelson and his mother were neighbors to his family. Nelson’s mother told his mother that Nelson was devastated when Jeanette married Gene Raymond. –Jean Johnson, Issue #11

My twin sister and I started (as dancers) in 1935. I appeared in about 75 movies, at different studios. I worked with a lot of them, Deanna Durbin, Jeanette MacDonald, others. [Jeanette] was a kind person, sweet, it showed on her face. She was a lovely lady. She and Nelson Eddy were sweethearts and he got her pregnant [during Rose Marie, in which June Thompson was a dancer]. It so happened that they hushed this thing up and the studio had her marry Gene Raymond, who was a homosexual.
 
Her affair with Nelson Eddy had to be broken up. She was told she had to have an abortion. Because the studio wouldn’t hear of her having a baby. –June Thompson Swift, Issue #38

In the early 1950s, when I was just starting out in show business, I was very close to a man who represented many celebrities. He knew Nelson very well; they met during the war and traveled together overseas. When he found out how much I loved Nelson, he delighted me with stories about him and about other celebrities. I soon learned he was well aware of what he called the “affair” between Nelson and Jeanette….as well as were many other people, some who were their friends and some who were not. He said he met them here a few times and in California and it was my impression he only knew Jeanette through Nelson.
 
There was one time I recall; he said he saw them at a restaurant next to the hotel they stayed at. He stopped at the table but did not stay because they seemed to be really upset about something. Some nights later, he met Nelson at a bar and over a few drinks, Nelson confided his unhappiness. He said he was thinking of moving to New York and trying television. Eventually, that is what he did. My friend worked with him on The Desert Song. –Carolyn Power, Issue #38

I was in complete charge of the scripts [on Nelson’s radio show, “The Electric Hour”]. I typed them, ran them off on mimeo and checked them for errors. Then I hand-delivered each one personally to Nelson. Sometimes Nelson made changes in the script; he was very good at writing comedy, and could rewrite the dialogue to make it sound more natural. I held this enviable job all during the years Nelson hosted “The Electric Hour.”
 
Even though it wasn’t part of my job, each week I sat in on rehearsals, and consequently got to meet all of Nelson’s guest stars. It was a special treat to meet Jeanette MacDonald. She was gorgeous! When she walked into a room, heads turned. Nelson was very proud of her, proud to be associated with her. He positively beamed. His solicitousness with her was a pleasure to behold. He’d hold her script, hold her hand, and see to her every comfort. This treatment was never enjoyed by any of his other guest stars that I noticed. –Norma Nelson, Issue #4
 

My husband and I [were] in the market for a larger house. In the paper I saw one advertised that interested us, it was five bedrooms and four baths, in the La Crescenta/Flintridge area. [This is a beautiful, secluded area in the mountains just north of Los Angeles.] I called for information and was told it was abandoned. We went to see it and my husband fell in love with it. When we learned the history of the house, we were even more excited.
 
The house was built in the 1930s by MGM studios, as a hunting lodge for Clark Gable’s image. Instead of really “roughing it,” he could camp out here. It’s a 4500 square foot lodge, with a 22x25 dining room, an 18x8 dressing room, master bath, with a walk-in ice box capable of holding sides of beef. It has a huge living room with fireplace.

 I stumbled onto someone who had pictures taken there of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard by the fireplace, during their courtship. These were interesting, but what was even more fascinating was some pictures of Jeanette and Nelson in that house. Jeanette is wearing wide bottom, loose pants that were fashionable in the 30s and 40s. Her shirt is blown open at the neck, and she wears a straw hat. In one shot her hands are akimbo and she is definitely very pregnant. According to my source, this photo was shot while making Sweethearts. Jeanette and Nelson worked till noon on Saturdays, then came up to this hunting lodge to spend the rest of the weekend. One shot is of Jeanette and Nelson together.—Sylvia Collender, Issue #35

It seems like only yesterday instead of [March of 1942] that Nelson Eddy was sitting across from me at the microphone. As was the custom in those days, my birth name, Myrtle Louise Carry, was changed to Sally Martin for the "At Home With Sally Martin" show, broadcast daily over radio station WDBO in Orlando, Florida.... Nelson was here, not on the screen but beside me, in real life. It was also the week Variety headlined him as the most popular star and top money maker....

Nelson suddenly took over and interviewed me for part of the show, which was always mostly ad lib. The next day the gossip columns were having a field day deciding "who interviewed whom." How some critics could call Nelson "wooden" I'll never know. Charming, witty, playful, mischevious, sympathetic when you needed sympathy, laughing sometimes with touches of sadness - That was Nelson.... Oh yes. I mentioned Jeanette, and when he said she was a "wonderful person," I caught just a flicker of expression on his face that made me think she was indeed the "one and only." – Myrtle Louise Carry, Issue #44

In essence, this is what he related over a period of time. He and Jeanette were indeed in love and wanted to marry. At that time, with the studios having a strangle hold on performers, one did what they said. They really thought that the public would stop going to their pictures if they married each other. [Nelson said] that they were very, very much in love and had they been allowed to, they would have married. I got the impression that he would always love her. –Bette Wilmot, Issue #49

This is from a lady in Idaho who is now dead. I believe this took place in late 1938/early 39. The lady was about 13 when she witnessed this, on a trip to Culver City with her parents, she was turned loose to hunt movie stars all day. She went into a soda fountain and, sitting a few booths away, were Nelson and Jeanette, sharing an enormous ice cream soda with two straws and whipped cream on top. They were talking and laughing and flirting, holding hands on the table. He said something and she laughed and sucked up a bunch of whipped cream into her straw and blew it right on his face. He pretended to be mad and then laughed and wiped it off. They finished their soda and left money on the table and walked out, Jeanette’s arm tucked through Nelson’s. The girl waited a few seconds and followed. She followed them down the street and saw that Jeanette removed her arm from Nelson’s and they held hands instead. They passed an alley, and Nelson pulled her into it. The girl ran into a store that bordered the alley and found a window that looked out….Anyway, they were standing there, Jeanette’s back to the store wall, hugging and kissing like teenagers. They stopped for a moment and Jeanette fished around in her purse for something, and came out with a ring, which she handed to Nelson, who put it on her finger. They kissed some more, then walked back out to the main sidewalk and continued to wherever they were going. The girl left her vantage point and caught up with them. “Miss MacDonald, may I have your autograph?” Jeanette stopped and turned around. “Of course, dear. Do you want Nelson to sign it too?” “Yes please” so they signed it for her, and she told them how much she loved their movies and knew all their songs and that her favorites were “Indian Love Call” and “Will You Remember.” Jeanette looked at Nelson, who looked at her, nodded, and they looked back at the girl, who was watching. Right there on a sidewalk in Culver City, Nelson and Jeanette faced each other, he put his hands on her waist, she put hers on his shoulders, and they did the chorus of ILC for her. She about died. Their singing drew a small crowd of fans, so then they had to do more autographs, but they were very nice about it. They allowed the girl to walk with them until she got to wherever she was going.
 
I bought that picture from her as a Christmas gift for my best friend, who is also a huge huge fan. —Katie, via email, Issue #64