Gloria Swanson (1967)

Harold J. Kennedy authored and directed the play Reprise and also co-starred with Gloria Swanson. This was the second consecutive season that Kennedy wrote the opening night play and co-starred as well. The prior season, the play was Goodbye Ghost with June Allyson.

A letter dated July 9, 1967 to Whitfield Connor, written by someone on behalf of Gloria Swanson, concerned the accommodations for her stay in Denver while performing Reprise at Elitch Theatre.

Among other things, the letter included the following comments:

I am sure Miss Swanson has talked to you regarding what kind of accommodations she will want – the most important item of course is a kitchen. Will you please arrange to have bottled water delivered for her use during the one week – what we have here in Chicago comes in two-quart decanters which are very convenient. Probably two cases, or 12 decanters, will be enough for the week.

Also we will have food shipped to Miss Swanson Theatre, so we would appreciate your taking care of this until Miss Swanson’s arrival.

In the files of the Theatre, a “to do” list noted to “get yellow page of Health Foods” and “shop for organic foods produce -carrots.”

Harold Kennedy described Gloria Swanson as a “perfectionist,” and stated:

When she sends the scenic designer explicit instructions that the mantel on the fireplace is to be four feet six and a quarter inches high, that is what she means. And it better not be six and one eighth. She will know in a second and if there is any discussion she’ll bring her tape measure out on the stage with her … She is a meticulous actress and she knows how to posture herself well and effectively … If she plans to lean an elbow on the mantel she wants it to be the exact angle that is flattering.

Who else but Harold Kennedy should know Gloria Swanson better. He participated in at least seventeen separate productions with her, with two of the plays written by him especially for her: one being A Goose for the Gander (which got to Broadway) and the other being Reprise.

In her autobiography, Gloria Swanson credits Harold Kennedy for her career in theater. She stated,

I had an absolute terror of the stage… and through the years I continued to turn down all comers who tried to lure me to Broadway. Even when I had no movie career left to jeopardize, I refused to go on the stage.

Then Harold Kennedy offered her a challenge, even though he knew she was petrified at the thought of acting on stage. He selected the George Kelly play Reflected Glory as being right for her and arranged to have it performed in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Harold Kennedy selected a cast and put me to work early learning lines because he sensed without my telling him what I feared most about those thousands of words … (On opening night) as I walked onstage, my heart was pumping so outrageously that I was sure it was visibly lifting me up and down off the ground. There was a thunderclap of applause that lasted a minute, and I blessed all the people of Poughkeepsie. Then I opened my mouth, and the words came out, all of them, in the right order, by the thousands.

In Denver, following the Wednesday and Saturday matinees, Miss Swanson remained on stage for a quiz session by the audience.

Understanding the wide interest in her youthful appearance and apparently unlimited energy, Miss Swanson has question-and-answer periods following her matinees when the audience may ask about her health, age, looks and physical regimen.

When asked about her age Miss Swanson rightfully admitted to being a youthful 68 years, but she pleasantly reminded people that Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote Over the Teacups at age 70, and Verdi wrote some of his greatest operas in his 80s. Years later, in 1975, during a visit with friends, a Denver Post article referred to her as the “Spirit of 76” noting:

Gloria Swanson is unhappy about a number of things – but having lived to 76 and “being still vertical while so many are horizontal’ is not one of them. “People expect a sugar limp old lady,” she says with a laugh that sets the red carnation she clutches into spinning circles in the air.

[Borrillo, Theodore A. Denver’s Historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey, 2012.]