Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald - "Mists" hideaway home - maceddy.com Master Class #5, 8 Dec 2013

In the fifth "Master Class" presentation written by Madeline Bayless and read by Linda Tolman, details and photographs are revealed of the Beverly Hills hideaway home on Angelo Drive that Nelson Eddy leased for himself and Jeanette MacDonald. We already had access to mid 1940s letters written by Nelson's mother, Isabel Eddy, describing the place and the renovations in great detail, when both Nelson and Jeanette were spending time there. (These letters are transcribed in the biography "Sweethearts" by Sharon Rich.) Madeline Bayless, daughter of Capitol Records co-founder and executive, reveals that she visited "Mists" (as it was called in the letters) several times with her dad during those years. James Bayless worked at MGM in the sound department when Nelson Eddy arrived in 1933. Always pushing the latest tech to its limits, Bayless built Nelson's home recording setup, where Nelson was able to record not only himself, friends and party guests, but recorded himself singing 4-part harmony - a novelty for that time. When Nelson had his own weekly radio show in the 1940s, Bayless recorded each broadcast and brought the records to Nelson for his critiquing - often delivering them to "Mists." Because of this, Madeline Bayless was able to describe the grounds of Nelson's renovated "bunkhouse" on the Enchanted Hill grounds that had once belonged to screenwriter Frances Marion and her cowboy actor husband Fred Thomson. Of particular interest is a photo from the period showing the small "lake" that was added; that and the thick area of trees across from the "bunkhouse" prompted Jeanette MacDonald to comment that it reminded her of their days at Lake Tahoe, where they filmed the 1936 film "Rose Marie." For more details, visit www.maceddy.com.