Nelson Eddy - A Kind Man

Nelson Eddy sang a concert in Phoenix, AZ on February 14, 1941 which received a nothing short of rave review. "Encore after encore was demanded by shouting, stamping, whistling, clapping audiences - and Nelson Eddy did not fail his fans. He sang what mildly be called a 'triumph' for the young artist, and the audience hit a new high in appreciation and expression of that for Phoenix. It would be difficult to say which of the 22 numbers - believe it or not - which he sang was the most roundly received or was the best. But there is no doubt that the audience went wild when he came to his final group of encores to sing I'll See You Again, At the Balalaika, I'm Falling in Love with Someone, and then Maytime." The review went on to describe, at length, the classic turns and the variety of his program. How he had the audience in the palm of his hand completely.


Shortly thereafter Nelson spent a month vacationing at a local ranch and managed to catch the annual senior play at Wickenburg High School and was duly impressed.  He then wired the school that he would sponsor their annual senior class trip. He did so and they traveled to Los Angeles as his guest and paid a visit to MGM Studios (commemorated by the photo above). They toured the studio as well as a visit to Columbia Studios and were his guests at a dinner held at The Florentine Gardens.


The above image was shared by an online friend of mine. It shows Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald and the senior class of Wickenburg High School 1941 on the set of her film Smilin' Through.

Nelson Eddy was not your typical Hollywood star, that's obvious. What a kind man he was. It would be great to find any recollections of these young students of their weekend on Nelson Eddy.