JEANNE MURPHY
ON
NELSON EDDY

Presented
June 30, 1995
Riverside Inn - Ballroom
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania
for the
Nelson Eddy Appreciation Society

Transcribed from the audio recording by Claire Schwartz
July 27, 2003

My first concert was in 1940 in Rochester. There was a friend of the mother’s who had a daughter my age that was a Nelson fan. So she called and asked mother if I could come up and go with Millie. So mother said, “Well, I’ll wait and see. Her tests are coming up soon.” Never told me. So after I passed the tests, then she told me that that was my thank you.

So I went up and that was my first concert. And as I told the girls, I said, “I was scared to death.” This huge, beautiful, big hall . . . And we had seats in the twelfth row. And everybody was dressed up—a concert was a concert. And we walked in . . . of course Millie and I are talkin’, you know, about this that and the other thing. Finally the lights go down, and I said, from then on there was nobody in the theatre but me, Nelson and Ted Paxson. Everybody faded out of the scene. It was just for me. And as I said, I just sat there; I didn’t say anything; I don’t think I moved an inch—didn’t even bother with the program, I just wanted to watch. ‘Cause as I said, I had put him on a pedestal for so many years, since 1936, and to see him actually walking out on that stage, it was just, well the old saying, “a dream come true.”

So after the concert Millie says, “Do you want to go backstage?” I said, “You mean we can go back stage?” She says, “I guess so.” So she and I went back stage. And I had a small, little snap(shot) that I got out of one of the journals. So I had it in my wallet and I . . . “Oh, see if he’ll autograph this.” So I took it out, and when we got there I laid it down on the table. And he started to sign it and then . . . “Oh!” he says, “A club member!” And I said, “Yes, I am.” “Well,” he says, “I hope you’re going to stay awhile.” I said, “After tonight, I’m here for life.” <laughter> Then I handed him my program. Ah . . . so that was my first concert, and it was a very big success.

Then I graduated from high school in ’41 and went to work. So from ’42 on, I went to concerts whenever they were in the eastern part of the United States. And of course I joined all three of his clubs in 1939. The first one was the one in Canada—Loretta Schultz had it. And Loretta ended up in Hollywood, and for a short time she worked for Nelson as a secretary. It was a nice experience. As I said, with three clubs you had three journals coming in four times a year, and they always had lots of snaps in them and all. That’s where I got a lot of stuff for my collection. And of course, you always got a big list of all your club members and addresses so you could write to them.

So after reading the journals, I saw this June Bancroft from Washington who had known Nelson from 1933 at the Concert View when he started concertizing there. I thought, “Well, now she’d be an interesting person to write to.” So I wrote to June and from then on we’ve been life-long friends. I still hear from her occasionally. And as I said, from there on . . . I added on . . . at one time I had about a hundred that I was writing to. And there were four of us girls, there was June, myself, Ellen Lindstrom, and Elinor Arthur. And we used to band together for our two-week vacation and try to cram as many concerts in two weeks as we could, usually in the eastern part of the United States, which was in March and April. And as I said, we had an awful good time.

Well, of course, June was the open door to Nelson cause the minute he saw her he used to go right over to her and give her a big hug and, “how are you” and all this, and so then he got know all the rest of us. So they nicknamed us the foursome. And as I said, wherever you were . . . and George Brown his concert manager was a big help. George was a very gruff looking man, but he was a pussycat underneath. And he always told us, he says, “Girls, don’t ever rush up to him. Let him come to you.” He says, “He doesn’t care for this.” And he says, “For God’s sake, keep your cameras out of sight.” ‘Cause he said, “When he’s on tour he likes a little private time.” Which I can see why. And, honey, it paid off.

As I said, we found out his schedule. He would go down early in the morning and have breakfast in the coffee shop—not in the fancy part of the hotel. And then he’d buy a newspaper and maybe read that . . . and go over into the corner of the lobby or something, and read that. Then he usually picked up his mail and went upstairs. About ten or ten thirty he’d come down and go for a walk—he loved to walk—he was a walkin’ man. And, uh . . . So he’d go for a walk and come back maybe one or two o’clock in the afternoon. If he had an interview or something, that’s when the reporters and like that were there. And we got in a couple of the interviews, which was very nice. And, I said, many times at breakfast, if he’d get up and go out to the coffee shop and we were sitting there, he’d come over and turn the chair around and straddle the chair and sit there and visit with us for ten or fifteen minutes. And we sat there one morning waiting and waiting, so finally I said to the waitress, “May we have our bill?” She says, “Oh, your bill’s taken care of—Mr. Eddy paid for it.” So I tell every body he took us out to breakfast, and I let them guess the rest of it. </laughter><laughter>

But he was very, very sincere. And once he got to know you, believe me, you were his friend. But he had to get to know you on his terms. And, uh . . . it was a marvelous experience. And as I say, from then on, every year I tried to go ‘cause I had my own money and I could come and do as I wanted to do.

And the club get-togethers were grand. They were marvelous. There is nothing that will ever compare with them. We used to rent a suite for the afternoon. And as I said, the girls really loved homemade cookies and he loved fruit, so they would bake themselves silly with making cookies that were in that vicinity. And he loved brownies. And as I said, they set a nice table up, and one of the girls would bring a set of tea service, the other one would bring her coffee service, and they’d bring their lovely china cups and all. And we’d set the tables up and like that. I remember one day up in Toronto he walked in, he went around—we had name tags for the girls—and he’d walk around and meet each one personally and have a little something to say to ‘em. He turned around, “That doesn’t belong to the hotel, right there!” </laughter><laughter> And as I say, he’d walk in, one brownie in his mouth and another in his hand.

But the concerts, I say, were the treasures. They really were. And all the lovely places along the way . . . One time in Detroit we were down in the lobby. We used to hang around where they sold newspapers and magazines ‘cause usually, when he was in town, there was always something in the newspapers and we had to buy them, of course, for the collection. And when he came down he knew where to find us, we’d be all over there looking, and he’d walk right over to us. And so one day Mr. Brown came down and I said, “Is our friend around, or has he gone for a walk?” He said, “Oh, he’ll be done in a few minutes. He’s got some chores to take of.” So when he came down, I said, “Well, George told us that you were busy upstairs.” He said, “Yes, I was busy.” He leaned over to me: “I was Luxing out my undies.” I said, “What did you say!” </laughter><laughter> He said, “Well, who else is going to do it?” I said, “Well, I’m here and the rest of ‘em are here.” “Well, that wouldn’t be nice.” </laughter><laughter>

Dr. Marsh: I washed Nelson’s shorts! </laughter><laughter>

But as I said, he was very dignified. And even when he was out in amongst the people, I mean, they said he was stiff. He wasn’t stiff—he was shy. He was bonefully shy. And as I said, I still say it was the New England upbringing that his mother gave him because he was a gentleman through and through. And one day one of the girls said, “Are you coming back to Montreal again?” And he said, “Never!” And she said, “What do you mean ‘never’?” He said, “The last time I was there,” he says, “the manager of the hotel was very rude to Gale.” And he says, “I will not stand for rudeness to a woman.” So those are some of his principles. That’s the man that’s supposed to be out sleeping with every actress that comes along.

And I have a lovely . . . I wrote. . . corresponded with this mother. She was a very, very charming lady. And I happened to meet his father three or four different times on the tours, and he was a sweetheart. And we called him Mr. Eddy for a while. And finally he says, “Oh, don’t bother with the ‘Mr.,’ just call me ‘Dad.’” And he never wrote a letter, but he sent you a postcard. And he’d write on it, “Dad Eddy” at the bottom of it. He’d thank you for snaps you sent him, or something like that, and then, “Sincerely, Dad Eddy.” And according to the rumors around that he was a drunkard and all—I never saw the man even take a drink and we were at parties and all.

Question: [indecipherable]

Yes. William D. Eddy. ‘Dad’ Eddy.

And his mother’s letters were shiny. One of the last ones I got she said, “Now, if you get to Hollywood let me know ahead of time ‘cause I’d like to have you up for tea.” But unfortunately, I didn’t get there ‘til after she had gone. But, as I said, from her letters, I see where he got a lot of his good traits. That’s for sure. I wrote to him after she sang on the Electric Hour on Mother’s Day, and how much we enjoyed it and all, and I says, “Have her on again,” ‘cause I says, “this is the kind of human interest stuff we like to see.” But he must have handed her my letter because then I got a nice letter back from her, and she says . . . she ended it up, she says, “I’m so glad my son has friends like you.”

And as I said, uh . . . she’s . . . charming family all the way through. I don’t believe any of the rumors that are going. . . . I never will. And as I said, uh . . . there are things I could mention, but I won’t go into detail. And, um . . . what else have I got? Oh, there’s so much.

Oh, one time we were up in, uh . . . up in Buffalo, and we were standing around visiting with him in the lobby, and this nicely dressed lady came over and she says, “Mr. Eddy,” she says, “I am Mrs. Noah Beery and,” she says, “I am the sponsor of your concerts.” So we girls all kind of backed away over in the corner. And he visited with her for a while. And we were gonna go out and take a walk for ourselves so we turned to go out about the door and I heard, “Girls!” So we turned around, and it was him—and he was motioning all of us over. So we went over and he introduced each of us to her, “These are four friend of mine.” Oh, God, that did my heart good. </laughter><laughter> Not fans—friends. My maiden name was Harmon. He says, “This is Jeanne Harmon.” “You’re the lady.” I says, “What?” She says, “Well, you’re the one I received the request for the tickets before we even knew he was coming here.” </laughter><laughter> Nelson looked at me. He says, “How did you know?” Well, we didn’t want to give George away, but George always sent us the mimeographs right from Columbia Concerts when he got ‘em hot off the machine—where they would be, what hotel, what time they arrived, all this stuff. I said, “Oh, we. . . we have a network.” I said, “This is . . . you know . . . this is how we know these things.” ‘Cause I didn’t want to get George in trouble . . .

And also all along the tour, George would have clippings from the papers, concert programs, and he’d stuff ‘em in an envelope and send them to me. That’s why I got such a nice collection on the concerts. I got clippings from all over. And I used to do year by year and city by city. And as I say, that book is full. But it’s one of the paper ones and the pages are getting so thin in it, you know. I’d like to transfer it to . . . like I done . . . I got the radio book here if anybody wants to look at it. And I’m trying to put ‘em in protective sheets so that they will last me a little longer. And my concert scrapbook, I took over to when he came to Syracuse to have him autograph it. And I took it backstage, and I said, “Would you autograph this?” And I had a picture on the front page and then I had a place for him to sign it. So he kind of thumbed through it: “George, look at the stuff she’s got in here! I don’t have half this stuff! Where did you get it?” </laughter><laughter> George went like this at me and I said, “Oh, I have friends up and down the trail.” </laughter><laughter> So I have a snapshot with me. He signed the front page: “To Jeanne—congratulations on your nine pound baby.” Then he signed it, “Nelson.” But most of ‘em are autographed.

And as I said it was a lovely time, and we’d all attend the get-togethers. And nine chances out of ten he’d pick the tab up for the room in the afternoon. And this is the way . . . and when you were at the Waldorf at the nightclub act to see him there, he picked the tab up there. He had . . . his father was there, and he was sitting next to me at the club table. And so he introduced his us all from the floor after he sang a couple of numbers. And then he introduced his Dad. He says, “Dad, don’t steal my girl until I can get to her.” </laughter><laughter>

So, as I said, this is the type of person he was. So don’t believe the rumors that you see printed because, believe me, from my heart, they are not true. And there was never . . . <applause> there was never any pregnancy between Jeanette and him. Believe me, there wasn’t. I know the facts; I have them right from the horses mouth—his.

So as I say, this is the way it is ‘cause . . . I guess it was ’83 when he came to Syracuse for the nightclub act—’63. And I pulled in the parking lot. It was a huge, big place way on the outskirts of Syracuse. And later we found out that the Mafia run it and he was fit to be tied when he found that out. And it was early, and I got there early ‘cause I was going to meet Mary Lou Burgess who used to have his Musical Notes Club. But she wasn’t there, so I pulled in and started to get out to go in the office. And I heard somebody hollering, “Jeanne, Jeanne.” I . . . , “Who knows me over here?” And I looked over in the corner where the diner was, and here comes Gale and Ted and him. So they walked over the car. And it was the first year those little Corvairs come out, the small Chevys. And we had bought one ‘cause my husband and I had traveled quite a ways to work. We worked at Hancock Field for the Air Force. So he came over and Gale stood a while and she got cold. It was in March. And then Ted stayed. Then he had to go call his wife. So Nelson’s lookin’ the car over, he says, “What’s this?” I said, “That’s the little new Chevy they had out.” And I said, “Do you believe we traded a Cadillac in for it?” He says, “You could have put this thing in the trunk!” I said, “Yeah, that’s just about it.” So he says, “Can I look inside it?” “Sure, go ahead.” It was sharp lookin’. It was black on the outside, red leather on the inside. It had the bucket seats and all this, you know. So he’s lookin’ in it and lookin’ in it. Finally he gets one leg in. I said, “You better push that seat back, or you’re never gonna make it. So I put my finger on the button to move the seat back and he got in, he kinda looked around . . . Now this is from the horses’ mouth, girls . . . He looked at me: “Gee, there’s not much room in here for a family.” And I said, “Well, we don’t have to worry about that.” I said, “We can’t have any.” And he looked me right in the eye and he said, “Me either.” Now take it from the horses mouth, not what you read. So as I say, all of that other crap is just hearsay. And if there’s any of the so-and-so’s fans here they can take it back to her. I’m not mentioning any names! </applause><applause>

Does anybody have a question?

Question: [indecipherable]

Oh, yeah, well . . . from, I guess it was ’47, ’48 and ’49 I kept pestering him that I wanted a piece of his sculpture work. “Awe, you don’t want any of that.” I said, “I want a piece of your sculpture work.” So in ’49 I said, “Are you ever going to send me a piece of that, or do I have to buy it?” “You really want it?” I said, “What do you think I’ve been going through for three years.” “Well, write me a note when I get home and remind me.” So I wrote him the note, but it went on six weeks and I heard nothing, so I thought, “Well, this is the end of this, I won’t bother any more.” Well, the package came in the mail and I got my bust, and I got a snapshot of it here. And then a . . . when I was up in Toronto, I says to him, “You know thing is getting’ green lookin’.” I says, “It looks obivious. What can I do with it?” It’s only plaster-of-paris. And he says, “Well, go to a hobby shop and get a can of spray copper paint. And just set it on a piece of newspaper and spray it.” I said, “Is that all I do?” He says, “That’s all you do.” So I just sprayed it again to take the picture ‘cause I wanted it to look nice. But this is mine. It came to me. It is not through anybody else. And I said, “Who is it?” “Well,” he said, “I was monkeying-around out in the shop one day,” and he says, “I had a face of Ann’s out there,” and he says, “I wanted to see what she would look like with long hair.” So that’s the one I’ve got. And there was a tiny chip off the nose. He didn’t have it packed too well when I got it, but it doesn’t show unless you look for it.

I also have one of his ties that I ripped off his neck. <laughter> [indecipherable] went out shoppin’ and bought all three of them new ties. So when we came back, I said, “June, you call and see if we can give ‘em the ties.” So she called him. And he said, “Yeah,” he says, “I’ll see if I can get a hold of George. So when we got up to his room, they were there. So we told ‘em we’d been out shoppin’ so we handed them the new ties So they go, “Oh, hey, this is nice!” So we started ‘em taking —a brown one with a gold figure in it. And I was inchin’ my way up his neck, and when he had it all undone, he took the new one in his hand, so I went to feel and—zip—“You won’t need this any more, will you?” </laughter><laughter> So that’s all in my scrapbook.

Oh, yes, and my concert scrapbook, I have cigarette butt in it. There was three in the ash tray and I wanted all three, but the girls said I was being very selfish so I didn’t get them all. But I got it in plastic, and he smoked Old Golds at that time. And when we had our tea party, one of the girls saved the cup. She’s never washed it. She wrapped it in plastic. </laughter><laughter>

Dr. Marsh: And they call me Dr. Outrageous.

When I came home I said to my husband after he sat in our car, I says, “Don’t you ever sell that Chevrolet!” “Why?” I said, “ ‘Cause Nelson Eddy sat in the front seat.” “What in the hell was he doin’ in the front seat?” </laughter><laughter> I said, “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

So as I say, if you’ve got any more questions, if I can answer them, I will.

Question: Did he smoke a lot?”

He quit right after that. As I say, you know he had two strokes before he had the final one. Yes, he had one in ’55 and he had one in ’59 or ’60, I don’t remember just which. And that was the one the doctor told him he had to slow down and not get involved in so much. He said, “You can do your singing, but” he said, “tone it down.” But he didn’t.

And as I said, a lot of people have a lot of things to say about Anne, but she was a very charming woman. And it was what he wanted. They had been going together since 1936. And I said, he knew what he wanted. And I said, I don’t blame her for being protective because you got a man that’s on the road four months out of year, he comes home and does a movie or a radio program, then gets ready for another concert tour, at least you want a few hours with him. And I can see her point of view. But after he was gone, I have four friends in California, she invited them to lunch several times. One of them was the girl I spoke of the other day, Rosemary Sullivan, who married MeredithWilson. And they all said the same thing; she was a very kind person. And she was very lonely after he left.

Question: Did he really love her?

Yes, several different things. It’s not what you see on the screen. I think there was a very deep friendship and love there. And if you’ll look at a good picture of Ann, you would see where she looks so much like his mother. And he had such a deep, deep affection for his mother—it wasn’t even funny. But as I said, Ann looked so much like her. And as I said, I think a lot of it was kind of a mother image thing he was looking for. But as I said, a lot of men, I don’t think, really marry for passionate love. They’re looking for a girl who will take ‘em on their merits and go along with ‘em. Mine was a hunter and a fisherman. And I was lucky if I saw him for lunchtime or suppertime. But I didn’t care as long as the car was there so I could use it—he could go.

And the first time I . . . the last time I saw him in Syracuse in April I talked him into going with me. I said, “It’s only fair you go with me, “ I says, “After all, you’ve never seen him.” “No.” I says, “Well, will you go?” “I suppose so.”

Dr. Marsh: The most famous words in the husband’s vocabulary, “I suppose so.”

So, he did. And we had private regular before, and then the show came on, and we wanted to wait to see the show. And he was impressed with it, and he liked the number he did, the “Shenandoah,” where he walked around the floor, hands in his pockets, and then he did “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” after that. He popped a button on his tux. So when he came out to do an encore—a safety pin. </laughter><laughter>

So after it was over with we sat down and we were having our dinner, our dessert, and I had my back to stage so I didn’t see what was going on. So all of a sudden my husband says, “Your boyfriends coming.” I didn’t know what he meant! So I’m eating my dessert, I look down; I see some patent leather shoes. Everybody around us is buzzing, you know. And I got my hug around the shoulder. “How are ya?” “Fine.” “Haven’t seen you in a long time.” “No.” “You haven’t written much.” “I know.” So then I introduced him to my husband. He gets up and shakes his hand, “Well, Mr. Eddy, we have pictures of you in every room of our house.” </laughter><laughter> Nelson says, “Every room?” “Yup. Every room.” He says, “Is it causing any problems?” He says, “Not yet!” </laughter><laughter> So this is the type of guy he was. He traded jokes back and forth. He probably stood there five or ten minutes. So then when he left, I got my kiss on the cheek, which I usually did.

But as I said, he was just a great guy, I’m tellin’ ya. As I said, he was down-to-earth; he was fun. When I took my mom backstage to meet him at one of the concerts, we always waited ‘til the very end ‘cause we figured we’d have a few minutes to talk to him. And I had my mom with me. And George Brown saw us standing there, and he went and got my mother a chair so she could sit down. So anyhow, when it was all near the end I took my mom over. And of course Nelson is stands up like the perfect gentleman he is, you know, and I said, “Nelson, this is my mother, Mrs. Harmon.” And he took her hand and holds it. All the time he’s talkin’ to her, he’s holding her hand. I thought, “I don’t get that treatment!” </laughter><laughter> And, uh, . . . my own mother . . . girls, you’ll appreciate this. She says, “Now, Mr. Eddy, there’s something I want to know.” He says, “What?” “Is my daughter a good girl on these trips with you? Does she cause any problems?” I wished the floor would have opened up. </laughter><laughter> “You mean her? Well, we have to sit on her once in a while, but she’s not bad!” </laughter><laughter> So when I got home, I say” “Mother, why did you say that?” She said, “I was so nervous, I didn’t know what to say!” </laughter><laughter> “But,” she says, “I agree with you—he is a charmer.” I said, “Yeah, Ma, you hit the nail right on the head.”

So, as I said, it was a lovely experience. And now I’m alone, I only have an 86-year-old sister left. That’s all the family I have left. But she and I, of course, don’t see eye to eye on an awful lot. So, as I said, Nelson is my memory and everything else. And I’m so glad that I had the experience because it was something nobody else will ever have.

And as I said, I met Jeanette and I enjoyed her too. She was a lovely, lovely woman. Beautiful! More beautiful in person than you could ever came across on the screen. Beautiful complexion. Ah, it’s funny, the two of them—their personalities—were so much alike. They thought the world of their fans—the ones that were loyal to ‘em. Now when Jeanette was sick in New York one time, I sent a couple of cards. I found out what the address was at the apartment that sh . . . they, uh, well, kind of shared with this other couple. Both times I got a lovely thank-you note in her handwriting back. And as I said, I think along towards the end when their movies were kinda . . . slacked down, they both had the blues, because Nelson wrote a letter to one of the journals one time and he said, “You have no idea what you letters mean to me.” And Jeanette said the same thing. She said, “I wait for the mailman to come every day.” So, I say, anybody you know that’s down in the dumps—please write to them. Even if you drop them a card with a little note on it, ‘cause it means so much to somebody who’s kinda got the blues.

Question: [indecipherable] (about his relationship with Jeanette)

Well, as I say, I have worked with several people for over a number of years, and I do get a very close attachment to them, and I think this is what they had because they did share so much together. And as I said, one of the girls told me when she saw the “Naughty Marietta” broadcast there in Hollywood, and she said they waited for them to come out so they could get their autographs. So they signed autographs. And she said Nelson took her over to her car. He unlocked the car door for her. And one of the girls says, “We started to walk away,” she says, “and I turned around,” she says, “You ought to seen the smooch he gave her!” And he helped her in her car, and he waited ‘til she was out of the parking lot. So as I said, there’s a very, very close friend deal there. I don’t think there was any sex considered at all. As I said, she did have a husband. She did love her husband. Emily told us a lot about them—her secretary. And as I say, it was just a very, very strong friendship. And you know if you’ve got a long-time friend that if something happens to ‘em, you’re devastated. And this was the way he was when she died. ‘Cause he said to someone, “I didn’t realize she was that sick.”

Question: Did you meet Gene Raymond?

No. I met him at the party, just to say ‘hello’. That’s all. And as I say, when Gene come to the party, Gene had . . . so, some of the time I don’t know if Gene really knew where he was. Uh . . . Sue Bauman went to the bathroom with him! </laughter><laughter>

So, I say, we all have our own stories, but God, I’m awful thankful I got mine! And I found my friends in Rochester at the birthday party back in ’91, so now they . . . they put up with me. Millie puts up with me over night. She just can’t throw me out after one day.

Dr. Marsh: We put up with you for a whole week. </laughter><laughter>

Jeanne: Anything else I can do for ya?

Question: [indecipherable]

Jeanne: Unfortunately, I’ve always been a good-sized gal, and I didn’t want to strain his back. </laughter><laughter> But a friend of Pat’s that I used to write to, Betty Burke, that’s the little blond that he picked right up and set her on his shoulder. Yeah. Betty’s got a picture of it. Betty [indecipherable] er, Pat. Yeah, Betty Burke was her name. In fact, she and Pat double dated. That’s how she got what she’s got back there.

Dr. Marsh: Never go on a double date. </laughter><laughter>

Question: Some husbands would be more like Nazaroff with a collection of another mans photos all over the house, and your husband was entirely different. But some husbands aren’t.

Jeanne: I know—jealousy.

Question: Yes. Even of a photograph or admiration . . .

Jeanne: We know a couple in our group.

Question: [indecipherable]

Jeanne: No, I just told him it was about a [indecipherable], and he took me to see a Nelson Eddy [indecipherable] for four weeks.

Question: [indecipherable]

Jeanne: No. His name was Robert W. Murphy. And if anyone’d say what’s the ‘W’s’ for, I’m ashamed to say this, but he’d tell ‘em, “whale s--t.” </laughter><laughter> He did several times, but he was very sincere. That’s my husband. He was a hunter and a fisherman. As I said, as long as he wanted to hunt and fish and he left me the car and he went with somebody else, I was happy.

Dr. Marsh: We thank you much. <applause>
</applause></laughter></applause></laughter>