Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 - March 6, 1967) was an American singer and movie star who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he co-starred with soprano Jeanette MacDonald. He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby-soxers as well as opera purists and in his heyday was the highest paid singer in the world.
Born Nelson Ackerman Eddy and named for his paternal grandfather, he was the only child of an impoverished family. His father, Bill Eddy, was a drummer who performed in many bands, and a singer who performed in church choirs. His mother, Isabel Kendrick, was a southern belle born in Atlanta, Georgia, but raised in Philadelphia. Stationed in Georgia during the Spanish American War, Bill Eddy had become ill with typhoid fever and was nursed by Isabel, a volunteer nurse at the military camp. They were married the next year, with young Nelson born eighteen months later, their only child. Working as a toolmaker and machinist in Philadelphia and in Providence, Rhode Island, Bill Eddy never achieved much in life, and in 1915, he abandoned his family, becoming divorced two years later. His mother never remarried.
When his first movie "Broadway to Hollywood" (1933) was less than memorable, Nelson contemplated returning to the concert stage. Nelson met Jeannette MacDonald for the first time at a dinner reception in 1933; for Nelson it was love at first sight, but for Jeannette, she had reservations about him, considering him rude and fresh. In 1933, he met up with an old girlfriend, Maybelle Marston, and had an affair with her, and she gave birth in June 1934 to a son, Jon Eddy. 
After Jeannette married actor Gene Raymond in 1937; a year and a half later, on January 19, 1939, Nelson married Anne Franklin, in a marriage that lasted 28 years until his death in 1967. Both Nelson and Jeannette were serious about their careers, and not willing to risk a scandal that would endanger their chosen careers, even though they loved each other deeply. Ideally suited for each other, they would become secret lovers, keeping it hidden from the Hollywood tabloids. The Hollywood publicity moguls would spin the myth that they had a pure, platonic love, both on-screen and off, that endures today; both would deny having any romance between them in their later years (when they were both married to other people). Their last film together was in 1942, and their careers took them in different directions.
Eddy made more than 290 recordings between 1935 and 1964, singing songs from his films, plus opera, folk songs, popular songs, Gilbert and Sullivan, and traditional arias from his concert repertoire. Since both he and Jeanette MacDonald were under contract to RCA Victor between 1935 and 1938, this allowed several popular duets from their films.
In 1938, he signed with Columbia Records, which ended MacDonald-Eddy duets until a special LP album the two made together in 1957.
In 1938, he signed with Columbia Records, which ended MacDonald-Eddy duets until a special LP album the two made together in 1957.
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Gale Sherwood & Eddy arriving in Sydney, Australia for the final tour there in 1967 just weeks before Nelson’s death. |
During his 40-year career, he earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for film, recording, and radio), left his footprints in the wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, earned three Gold records, and was invited to sing at the third inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
Here's Nelson Eddy in an excerpt of The Danny Thomas Show (S4 Ep 2) original airdate Oct. 8, 1956. Nelson sings "Great Day" then does a hilarious parody of a rock-n-roll singer.
Here's Nelson Eddy in an excerpt of The Danny Thomas Show (S4 Ep 2) original airdate Oct. 8, 1956. Nelson sings "Great Day" then does a hilarious parody of a rock-n-roll singer.