Even though Margaret didn’t know Virginia Weidler back when they were both child actresses (Margaret as Peggy Lynch), I still had to talk to her about one of the things that bothers me about the Weidler legacy. It’s a quote from Virginia’s husband Lionel Krisel which apparently first appeared in a book on child actors in the 1970s, a few years after Ginny’s premature death.
“When asked about her career in her later years,Virginia would always change the subject as quickly as possible without being rude. She never watched her old movies or replied to requests for interviews. Although she was never one to criticize, I think our boys got the impression that their mother didn’t think very much of the motion picture industry.”
I talked to Margaret about the quote, I didn’t have it word for word at the time, but she certainly got the idea from what I told her. She compared it to her own love/hate relationship with the industry. She’s proud of her accomplishments, but also remembers the excesses of the studios’ power in those days.
One story she mentioned was when she worked on THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER with Ann Gillis. Ann, Margaret recalled, was a talented girl who bucked the odds because she made it when around the industry she was considered quite plain (sound familiar?). There was a scene being shot that involved Ann having to cry, Margaret said she thought it was because the boys were trapped in a cave.
Anyway, the director needed to get the scene done so he went up to Ann and started yelling at her, telling her that they were behind and having to shoot retakes because of her inferior performance. He also told her that she would be replaced if she “didn’t get this scene right.” As he hoped, Ann fell apart and cried that she had no idea she was doing so poorly and proceeded to cry throughout the rest of the scene just as the director had hoped.
I quizzed Margaret about the director, but she couldn’t recall his name. Norman Taurog was the main director on the film, although H.C. Potter did some scenes and George Cukor and William Wellman shot retakes. I’m guessing it was Taurog who at the time was receiving great publicity and praise for being this wonderful director of children. Margaret said she could never forget how horrible that day was.
She also told me that the studios encouraged the parents to keep the kids completely in the dark about the facts of life and the opposite sex long after they would have been told as normal children. She recommended that I read Dickie Moore’s autobiography, TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR (but don’t have sex or take the car) because she found it to be the most delightful and accurate view of the life of a child star.
Summing up what she thought Virginia’s ambivalence toward the industry was a sign of she said, “We went on to our next careers.”
I told Margaret that the quote from Lionel Krisel bothered me because it makes me feel that Virginia might not approve of what I do here. It also sounds so inconsistent with the friendly, happy adult Virginia I’ve heard about. The lady who still sang around the house all day.
Margaret’s reply was blunt. She told me that Virginia doesn’t get a say in what I do at the Society. That she belongs to the ages now, and I am not wrong to try to reawaken the public to her.
I found that reassuring somehow.
Next-We didn’t talk about it much, but Margaret takes great and proper pride in the longevity of her alter ego, Tinkerbell. We also talked about Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, and The Andy Griffith Show.
Please go by and take a look at Margaret’s website, http://www.tinkerbelltalks.com/ and if you become a member of the clubhouse, tell them you heard about it here. I don’t get anything for that, but I’d like her to know.
