Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

by Steve Taravella
Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

by Steve Taravella

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Overview

Moviegoers know her as the housekeeper in White Christmas, the nurse in Now, Voyager, and the crotchety choir director in Sister Act. This book, filled with never-published behind-the-scenes stories from Broadway and Hollywood, chronicles the life of a complicated woman who brought an assortment of unforgettable nurses, nuns, and housekeepers to life on screen and stage.

Wickes (1910-1995) was part of some of the most significant moments in film, television, theatre, and radio history. On that frightening night in 1938 when Orson Welles recorded his earth-shattering "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, Wickes was waiting on another soundstage for him for a rehearsal of Danton's Death, oblivious to the havoc taking place outside.

When silent film star Gloria Swanson decided to host a live talk show on this new thing called television, Wickes was one of her first guests. When Lucille Ball made one of her first TV appearances, Wickes appeared with her--and became Lucy's closest friend for more than thirty years. Wickes was the original Mary Poppins, long before an umbrella carried Julie Andrews across the rooftops of London. And when Disney began creating 101 Dalmatians, Wickes was asked to pose for animators trying to capture the evil of Cruella De Vil.

The pinched-face actress who cracked wise by day became a confidante to some of the day's biggest stars by night, including Bette Davis and Doris Day. Bolstered by interviews with almost three hundred people, and by private correspondence from Ball, Davis, Day, and others, Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before includes scores of never-before-shared anecdotes about Hollywood and Broadway. In the process, it introduces readers to a complex woman who sustained a remarkable career for sixty years.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781496807854
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication date: 02/01/2016
Series: Hollywood Legends
Pages: 370
Sales rank: 396,233
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Steve Taravella is a longtime journalist and communications specialist. He has received eleven writing awards, including the Dag Hammarksjold Award for Human Rights Advocacy in Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence Award.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

1 Pardon Me Lady, But Did You Drop a Fish? 3

2 From Stockbridge to the Mercury Theatre 26

3 On Stage and On Air 49

4 Anatomy Is Destiny 71

5 Miss Bedpan 83

6 Los Angeles, Mother in Tow 97

7 Lucille Ball's Best Friend 108

8 Cookies and Milk with Mother 134

9 She Kept It to Herself 146

10 Mary's Secret Cousin 159

11 "Not an Ounce" of Romance 169

12 Nurses, Nuns, and Housekeepers 193

13 When Acting Is Everything… 221

14 Becoming the Characters She Played 243

15 Success Returns 256

16 Physical Deterioration 278

17 Fade Out 285

The Roles of Mary Wickes 300

Notes 316

Index 358

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