Legendary Jeanette MacDonald :: The Iron Butterfly

WORLD WAR II

In 1942, MGM let go of Jeanette MacDonald. Immediately, she devoted much of her time to the war effort, working for the USO. Gene Raymond, her husband, went into active duty in the Army Air Force and was sent to England. At the same time, she gave a series of concerts to benefit the American Women's Voluntary Service, of which she was a founder. She also did a fifteen city recital tour to benefit the Army Emergency Relief, all performed to huge crowds. Jeanette MacDonald also took opera lessons with the great German soprano Lotte Lehman, and made her official opera debut in Montreal on May 8, 1943, in Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette," as Margeurite. She followed this with a Canadian tour of it from Quebec City to Toronto, and then to Chicago. It was a big success. In 1944, Jeanette appeared as herself in Universal's "Follow the Boys", a multi-star Hollywood revue where she sang "Beyond the Blue Horizon" to an audience of GIs. In 1945, Jeanette appeared in "Faust" at Chicago's Civic Opera House. After the war she said goodbye to opera because it was too much work for her. In 1948 Jeanette resumed her film career.