Sweethearts: The Timeless Love Affair -- On-Screen and Off -- Between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, updated 20th Anniversary Edition

This is such a great book, that I am already rereading it. It is well-documented, and Ms. Rich writes in a manner that is easy to read. She bright Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy back to life. I want to read more of her work.

You have checked this review because you want to know if one of the books or magazines put out by Sharon Rich are fact or fiction. Sharon has compiled biographical books on Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy separately and as the extraordinary MGM film star team they were from the 1930’s until the 1960’s, when first Jeanette and then Nelson died. The “MacEddy Today” magazines are a treasure trove of photos, stories and nostalgia told from interviewees who know the stars. Jeanette MacDonald wrote an autobiography that she never published. I found it at a book fair and gave it to Sharon, saying she should annotate it with all that she had learned about Jeanette. It’s a fascinating read of a star who is trying to protect a “nice” view of her life versus what was really going on. The manuscript only survived the trash bin because the transcriptionist kept it. Even Nelson’s opera years have been preserved because Sharon Rich cared enough to put out the book.Sharon Rich is an extraordinary woman. I know. I've known her since first reading "Farewell to Dreams" and asking her to actually document the Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald story better before attempting to sell it to Hollywood. It was at this time that I began to insist that all of the interviews with some of Sharon's sources be videotaped or audiotaped so that the research could be preserved even after the interviewees died. Many of them have, sadly, passed on. But the tapes survive! In those days, a co-writer and I insisted that Sharon meticulously database the whereabouts of all the principals from the moment they met until their deaths, and she did just that. She poured through documents -- every kind of printed source (including the LA Times, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department logs, English newspapers, fanzines, Variety, etc) until she could darn near tell you on an hourly basis where Nelson, Jeanette, Gene, Ann Eddy, L.B. Mayer, and others were. While compiling the database, Sharon also came into possession of letters, unpublished autobiographies, and people who are still alive who can swear to the veracity of the information in Sweethearts. I can personally swear to meeting many of the people who knew Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. I can tell you, I have met Gene Raymond, interviewed him over lunch and also watched him meet one of his former lovers and Jeanette's gay friends. I have talked to people who sat at Blossom Rock's feet and heard the story first hand. I am convinced, from these interviews, that Blossom was not only in her right mind but capable of telling the story (one way or another). Just because you cannot always speak doesn't mean you cannot write or communicate in other ways. This book is true, and the sources are available for researchers to access. It's a shame people like Turk do NOT make use of the invitation to do so. This is not only a terrific read, but it is the life work of a woman who made a promise to Blossom Rock to tell the truth about Jeanette. She has kept her promise.Many years have gone by since “Sweethearts” was originally written for Donald Fine publishers, and many more interviews with people who knew Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and Gene Raymond have caused the original text to be updated. A story told to us by Sunny Griffin concerned Nelson going undercover during World War II. There was no other proof of that tale until the last couple of years, when others came forward to say Nelson did go to Cairo, killed a Nazi sympathizer, and went home wounded. In the years between the original edition and the revised, so much more of the story has been uncovered and corroborated. This is the story or a grand romance, adventure, and lives that were lived magnificently and tragically. I was a successful television writer in Hollywood for over a twenty-five years, and I know when a book is well written and worth a good read. You owe yourself a terrific read, and you will get it in “Sweethearts, revised”.

I loved this book. My mother loved Nelson and Jeanette. I never became interested until I watched Maytime a few years ago on TCM and cried like a baby.The book is enlightening to say the least. My Dad told me of the Hollywood rumor that they both hated each other. Well, wrong! I was blown away at the love affair these two had and how well hidden it was from the public. Nelson bought Jeanette extravagant gifts and wildly romanced her. He wrote passionate emotional letters to her! And she was wildly passionate right back. Maybe, today, it does seem like a bit of excessive or possessive behavior, but, heck, I could go for a little of that! He was so hot. She was so beautiful. How unbelievably romantic. It was pretty electric. Unfortunately, the reality in the importance of their careers and fear of losing their status overshadowed their desire to be together forever.It's a shame that both of them married others and had unhappy marriages. I really believe that if Jeanette and Nelson would have married maybe both of their egos, relationship immaturity or his drinking might have eventually separated them. There was not much longevity in a celebrity marriage, then or now. For them, I suspect, it was mostly the excitement of the rendezvous.Pain and pleasure is addicting to some. It was obvious that they both suffered for love. But at least they were able to "get together" more often than most married Hollywood couples even do today.Sharon Rich put a lot of research and work into this book. I commend her for that and an enjoyable read. It was a real revelation. When I watch another Eddy & Macdonald movie, I will see it with a different viewpoint, that's for sure!

This is a very well written book, as it portrays the real life love affair of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. “Rose Marie” is a fall favorite movie of ours. I always understood Jeanette and Nelson disliked each other; however, watching the movie made me scratch my head. There was a great deal of obvious electricity between them. Understanding their backgrounds was another story. They were both career driven and neither would put their professional life on the back burner. Why would Jeanette compromise her talent in order to stay home, become a housewife, and raise children when she had the operatic world at her feet? And there was no question in Eddy’s mind that she should be the one of the two to do so! Talk about an ego! I am about half way through the book. Eddy had some scary personality conflicts, I.e. Jeckle & Hyde. The book also portrays the power of Louis B. Mayer and MGM Studios.

The story is a crazy one. The author did a good job of piecing together the fabric of their lives. So much secrecy, deception, and foolishness it almost seems like fiction.

This book has stayed with me. My mother and her father loved Macdonald/Eddy. She and I watched their movies on late-night TV when I was a kid, and over the years we'd view them again and again. This book shows what was before our eyes the whole time but fell for the studio PR machine manipulated by a cruel monster: they were madly in love. It isn't a happy story: these two were star-crossed and married the wrong people. Love came and went; broke their hearts and health. Their story is ultimately tragic, but their love never died. It's a great read about two beautiful and talented people who were unable to control their destinies. It also reveals how the misogynist studio system got away with murder in its abuse of female stars. My mother would have been shocked, enthralled, saddened, uplifted. We would have put on their LP and had a good cry.

Very prompt and delivered in tact thank you

I am still reading the book; it is great!

So sad. Beautifully told.

Ver good reminded me of my youth