Trivia

Always considered her older sister, Marie Blake, to be the more talented of the two, and was happy for her when she finally attained some measure of recognition, late in life, as Grandmama Addams (under her married name, Blossom Rock) on the popular The Addams Family (1964) TV show. According to biographer Sharon Rich, Ms. MacDonald never missed watching the show each week for that reason.

In many of Judy Garland's concerts, she featured "San Francisco," a song that MacDonald sang in San Francisco (1936) with Clark Gable. When Garland sang it, she sometimes added to the beginning, "I never will forget Jeanette MacDonald. Just to think of her, it gives my heart a pang. I never will forget just how that brave Jeanette just stood there, in the ruins, and sang. And sang." And then Judy would sing it. Jeanette was approached about it, and she said, "Oh, I don't mind... As long as it's Judy!".

Still has a large fan club, The Jeanette MacDonald International Fan Club.

1939: She was crowned Queen of the Movies by 22 million filmgoers in a New York Daily News survey.

In 1939 Jeanette was crowned "Queen of Hollywood" by a nationwide poll while the reigning King that year was Tyrone Power.

Made one movie with husband Gene Raymond - Smilin' Through (1941).

4/12/34: She was immortalized in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.

1941: Her salary was $300,000.

In May 1943 she made her Grand Opera Debut at His Majesty's Theater in Montreal, Canada singing the role of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet.".

Was in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Love Parade (1929), One Hour with You (1932), Naughty Marietta (1935) and San Francisco (1936).

1937: Screen Actors Guild awarded Jeanette the Best Performance Award, for Maytime (1937).

5/30/53: She was given a honorary degree, Doctor of Music from Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.

Her wedding gown was designed by costume designer Adrian. It was a gown of flesh-pink organza over matching taffeta with leg-of-mutton sleeves and a high-neck collar trimmed with lace and a tiny spray of roses. As she walked down the candlelit aisle alone, she carried a single rose and a pink satin prayer book.

Favorite film was Maytime (1937).

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6157 Hollywood Boulevard and for Recording at 1628 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

On August 8, 2018, she was honored with a day of her film work during the TCM Summer Under The Stars.

Originally wanted to marry Gene Raymond on the 17th as it was the anniversary of their first date, but the church was unavailable and so they opted for the 16th.

She was tested by Paramount for the leading lady role in the 1929 feature "Nothing But the Truth" but not used.

Her duets with Nelson Eddy are lampooned in the musical "A Day In Hollywood/A Night In The Ukraine." In the show, a movie star named Jeanette sings the song, "Oh, Nelson, What You're Putting Me Through" -- an operatic lament about her boring co-star -- while standing with a mannequin dressed in a Canadian Mounties uniform.

While co-starring with MacDonald in San Francisco, Clark Gable told co-workers that Jeanette was "such a holier-than-thou pain in the ass" that he used to deliberately order raw onions with his lunch whenever he knew they'd be shooting kissing scenes because she had repeatedly complained about his breath.

A favorite of M-G-M studio chief Louis B. Mayer, MacDonald was selected to sing "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" at the Forrest Lawn memorial service when another studio contract player died unexpectedly in 1937. This despite the fact that Jean Harlow, who passed away at the age of 26, had openly (and repeatedly) expressed a desire not to have "a schmaltzy send off" prior to her death.

Younger sister of actress Marie Blake.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage.

Sister-in-law of Clarence Rock.

In one of his earliest films Bananas, Woody Allen included a scene in which a prisoner of war is being tortured - by being forced to listen to a recording of Jeanette MacDnald and Nelson Eddy in Naughty Marietta.

By the time she left M-G-M in the mid 1940s, MacDonald's box office clout had diminished considerably. She went from co-starring with such top flight studio players as Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy to sharing the screen in her final studio film with Lassie (and the canine actually got first billing).