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Before she became a movie star, Jeanette MacDonald was a Broadway ingénue. In 1927 she fell in love with Irving Stone, who worked for his uncle's famous Milwaukee department store, The Boston Store. For two years, Jeanette and Irving kept their long-distance romance alive with frequent long, newsy letters.Irving carefully saved all her correspondence -- hundreds of pages of mostly handwritten letters that were found in his home after his death. Even after the affair ended Jeanette kept writing. She discussed her Hollywood career with him, including co-stars such as Nelson Eddy. Her last correspondence to Irving is dated 1938.

The Irving Stone letters are a revelation. Once and for all they disprove the fiction that Jeanette MacDonald was a prude. She frankly discusses topics like sex, industry gossip, her views on homosexuals, and marriage to someone she's not certain she loves. In 1927 she worries about pregnancy and setting up trysts behind her mother's back; the following year she carefully juggles simultaneous affairs with two men. She discusses various health problems including her earliest documented heart attack in 1929 at age 26.

These letters are transcribed uncensored in their entirety, with many of the originals reproduced. They give insight into the fiercely determined young singer who went on to become a 1930s Hollywood icon.

Sharon Rich has annotated the letters, adding rare photos, commentary and historical background.

Reviews:

"Loved it! A great collection of hand-written letters by MGM's musical songbird, before she was a star. Lively, entertaining, and she sure wasn't a boring prude like some others have made her out to be. Ms. Rich wisely keeps the annotations to a minimum, since Naughty Marietta tells it like it was in her own words. I particularly enjoyed MacDonald's Broadway and Hollywood gossip from the good old days! Lots of good dish."

Customer Reviews (2)

Definetely the REAL Jeanette!!
I am a huge fan of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, and I'm sure Jeanette MacDonald would not have wanted this book published, since it shows her in several love affairs with married and unmarried men.This book is great in that she is just writing with no pretenses to her lover/exlover/then friend her Big Irving.Jeanette's life was fascinating and yet tragic and lonely at the end without a certain baritone.

I highly recommend this book, it is always wonderful to read the truth for a change.Let Jeanette and Nelson's beautiful voices live on through their wonderfully nostalgic movies & cds!! There will never be anyone like them again!

The REAL Jeanette MacDonald reveals herself--great read!
Loved it! A great collection of hand-written letters by MGM's musical songbird, before she was a star. Lively, entertaining, and she sure wasn't a boring prude like some others have made her out to be. Ms. Rich wisely keeps the annotations to a minimum, since Naughty Marietta tells it like it was in her own words. I particularly enjoyed MacDonald's Broadway and Hollywood gossip from the good old days! Lots of good dish. ... Read more

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Chapters: Aaliyah, Mariah Carey, Joan Baez, Kathryn Grayson, Debbie Gibson, Diana Ross, Jeanette Macdonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Anne Hathaway, Jessye Norman, Beverly Sills, Renée Fleming, Kathleen Battle, Deborah Voigt, Tara Strong, Anastacia, Patti Labelle, Florence Ballard, Emmy Rossum, Mary Wells, Syesha Mercado, Keyshia Cole, Laura Claycomb, Elaine Malbin, Mary Mccormic, Anneliese Van Der Pol, Alessandra Marc, Patricia Racette, Angela Brown, Rose Bampton, Gianna Rolandi, Licia Albanese, Maureen Mcgovern, Monica Yunus, Grace Moore, Laura Benanti, Alyson Stoner, Coko, Klara Barlow, Josephine Antoine, Susanna Foster, Dawn Kotoski, Arianna Zukerman, Deniece Williams, Jean Fenn, Alice Nielsen, Amanda Forsythe, Goapele, Judy Kuhn, Aundrea Fimbres, Melissa Fahn, Judy Kaye, Kimilee Bryant, Lucy Isabelle Marsh, Vivian Della Chiesa, Dawn Upshaw, Geraldine Farrar, Christiane Noll, Astrid Varnay, Alice Swanson Esty, Christine Mcintyre, Eileen Brennan, Barbara Bonney, Megan Hilty, Annaleigh Ashford, Meagan Miller, Hila Plitmann, Mary Beth Peil, Taylor Strande, Roberta Peters, Rosalind Ashford, Gwendolyn Bradley, Lois Hunt, Lacey Mosley, Dorothy Kirsten, Erin Wall, Merle Louise, Wanda Young, Laurie Ann Haus, Bárbara Padilla, Millie Kirkham, Anna Fitziu, Bunny Debarge, Kvitka Cisyk, Jessica Rivera, Janice Baird, Tanya Blount, Rebecca Luker, Frances Greer, Judith Raskin, Jo Sullivan, Joan Diener, Jennifer Sowle, Suzanna Reeves, Rebecca Sjöwall, Brenda Miller Cooper, Julianne Baird, Ruby Elzy, Melissa Ferlaak, Elizabeth Caballero, Haley Webb, Neva Pilgrim, Anna Christy, Gianna D'angelo, Alma Gluck, Jane Henschel, Helen Phillips, Kathy Westmoreland, Bernice Claire, Carol Lynn Maillard, Judith Bettina, Sondra Radvanovsky, Claron Mcfadden, Ann Crumb, Patti Cohenour, Wanda Cochran, Brittany Hargest, Revella Hughes, Eglise Gutiérrez, Bethany Beardslee, Loulie Jean Norman, Marie Van Zandt, Custer Larue, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Anna Case, G...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19499 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 902 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and textual cross-references to related essays. ... Read more

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Music by Rudolph Friml. Based on the book and lyrics by Otto A Harbach with additional lyrics by Gus Kahn, Chet Forrest and Bob Wright. ... Read more

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With 32 pages of photos. " The facts in this book are the findings of hundreds of hours of relentless research. It all began with the random conversations Nelson Eddy had with the father of one of the authors, in which he spoke candidly about his life and goals. The surprising bits of information he revealed were verified by the other author through Jeanette MacDonald's sister, Blossom Rock.The realization came that we were sitting on a story, and we began to dig deeper. Although both Jeanette and Nelson were gone, we attempted to contact the many other people who had known them. To our surprise, we were suddenly the enemy, and numerous doors were abruptly slammed in our faces. Despite this suspicious attitude, we persisted. We finally were able to reach a half-dozen people who grudgingly consented to talk to us. The startlingly vivid truths that came out in bits and pieces led to the writing of this book."--- excerpt from Author's Preface ... Read more

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NOT ON CD! THIS IS THE HARD-TO-FIND AUDIOTAPE CASSETTE RECORDING OF THE COMPLETE LUX RADIO THEATRE PROGRAM PERFORMANCE (SEPTEMBER 4, 1944) OF "MAYTIME" BY SIGMUND ROMBERG--FEATURING NELSON EDDY & JEANETTE MacDONALD--INTRODUCED BY CECIL B. DEMILLE (HOST)! 1988 SANDY HOOK RECORDS/ RADIOLA RECORDS #CSH-2008. ... Read more