The Live Ghost Tent Online

HONEYSUCKLE ROSE
Memories of Anita Garvin

by Ann Dunne.

It was in 1988 when first my wonderful brother introduced me to Anita Garvin. He was here in the U.S.A. and one particular day he said, “Would you like to come to lunch with me and Steve Robinson? We are taking out a lady that used to be in L&H movies.”

I felt quite honoured that he included me actually, so off we went to pick up his guest. On arriving at the Motion Picture Home for the first time, I set eyes on this stunning looking woman. Long straight silver hair, the most amazing green eyes which seemed to laugh at you - and made up to perfection with a brilliant red mouth highly glossed. The personality and humour just hit you as you walked in the door. I even remember she wore a bright yellow trouser suit, and long dangly earrings of Stan & Ollie hanging jovially down her neck.
Anita was so proud of her L&H earrings.

We proceeded to our luncheon and had a wonderful time laughing and reminiscing, Anita was on top form and kept us laughing until tears were rolling. I remember thinking then I’d never met anyone quite like her at any age. She was in her early eighties then.

Lunch With Anita
Del Kempster, Anita Garvin, Steve Robinson and Ann Dunne. This was the start of a beautiful friendship between Ann and Anita.

By the time we’d got back to the Motion Picture Home I felt I’d known this lovely creature for ever. As I live here in the States and Del and Steve were soon returning to England, we made a pact that I would visit Anita occasionally and therefore be able to tell my brother how she was doing and so on. I also felt he wanted me to make sure she was O.K. I was only too happy to meet this lovely lady again. So every few weeks I started to have lunch with her. She’d greet me like a daughter and tell everyone around her how wonderful I was when, in fact, I was in awe of her. Needless to say we hit it off and I became a regular visitor, but she decided that I should become a Volunteer - that way I would be there even more.
So because of her I did just that, and have been a Volunteer for eleven years now. It has made my life so rewarding, I’ve met the most wonderful people in the world there and love them all. But none so much as my HONEYSUCKLE ROSE.

Honeysuckle Rose was her favourite song. Her beloved husband, bandleader and trombonist Clifford “Red” Stanley, used to play it to her. Whenever anyone came to entertain us she always requested it, then would shed a tear remembering her Red and all the good times they’d shared.

We had great times together. One of my favourite times was when the Volunteers were each asked to pick a resident to dress up for a Halloween costume party. We decided that Anita would go as the wicked Queen from Snow White. Del was here on that occasion and came with me to an antique shop where he picked out the magic mirror which looked like the real thing. You could almost imagine the cob webs and all. We also found a tiara. Ideally, of course, we would have liked the one she wore in FROM SOUP TO NUTS where it kept slipping down in front of her eyes, but I suppose that would have been too much to ask for. That was one of her best props, but the one we got for her still looked pretty good on her. She was delighted - just couldn’t wait to get that tiara on.

I used to take her favourite tipple, Harvey’s Bristol Cream, to her room and we’d have a little nip now and again. So with this in mind we started to get ready for the show. Now remember she was now in a wheelchair, and very wobbly on her legs. So getting this long black skinny dress on was no mean feat, with shrieks of laughter, a swig or two of sherry, we managed to put on the dress.

Wicked Queen
Anita has the cure for that Snow White dame.

Now for the make-up which was even more hilarious. Long false black and silver eyelashes, the long black and silver wig, what an effort, the rouge, the green eye shadow, now the lipstick which she insisted she had to do herself as only she could - the Hollywood Film Star way. Bless her.
Then that tiara. Now she was no longer Anita. She WAS THE WICKED QUEEN!

She Stood up. Looked in the Mirror and said...

“Mirror Mirror on the wall, God isn’t this BROAD beautiful.....”

Well, I cracked up.

Now for the big event. Who would win first prize? Everybody looked splendid, so much effort had gone into dressing up all the participants. Each one had to go before the judges and do a little act to portray their character.

“I’m ready for my close-up Mr De Mille.”
When she stood up and looked in that mirror, she was transformed, and hammed it up to the hilt, she brought the house down and she was loving every moment of it. Everyone was laughing and applauding - music to her ears. She could have gone on forever, she was a star again and was in her glory. Of course she won first prize. It was a wonderful thing to see. I will never forget it.
One of the judges was Hal Roach himself, who with a wink in his eye, swore he didn’t know who The Wicked Queen was. We still talk about that day, how Anita wowed them all with her talent, humour, and determination.

There were so many wonderful times I had with Anita. Some sad times too when she was ill - too personal to mention here. But the good times stick out. We may have cried a little, but we sure laughed a lot.
Her best day ever was when Del came over in 1992 and arranged a surprise party for her with lots of her fans from England. They had come over for the Laurel & Hardy Convention in Las Vegas that year. Anita had been invited to the convention as a guest of honour but was not well enough to attend. Del had planned the whole thing like a military operation and said, “If Anita can’t go to the convention, then the convention must come to her.”

I Love Anita
“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” they sang and even their shirts told how they loved Anita.

She didn’t know a thing about all this and thought she was lunching with just the two of us. We walked into the restaurant and everybody stood up and sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” one of Ollie’s songs. She told me afterwards that it was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for her.
She loved telling me about Stan and Ollie, but she had a special spot for Stan and always referred to him as a genius.

She truly loved her devoted friends who wrote or visited her. Her sense of humour never left her. Right up to the end, she’d make witty remarks and roll those green eyes up to the ceiling. She would often say to someone going by laden with packages, or a waiter with plates, “Hey, ya got a match?” Most times it would go unnoticed, but I would sit there looking at her thinking what a marvellous sense of humour this old lady still has. She was the shining star in my life. I still miss her, but we all have such lovely memories that she has left us with. Pals
Jolly old pals: Anita and Ann.

Goodnight Honeysuckle Rose.

Anita Garvin starred in 11 L&H films:
Why Girls Love Sailors - as the Captain's Wife.
With Love and Hisses - as one of the ladies admired by Sergeant Banner.
Saliors Beware! - as jewel thief, Madame Ritz.
Hats Off - as the lady who wants to post a letter.
The Battle of the Century - as the girl who slips and sits into a pie.
From Soup to Nuts - as hostess Mrs. Culpepper.
Their Purple Moment - as one of the girls "The Boys" pick-up at the Pink Pup.
Blotto - as Mrs. Laurel.
Be Big - as Mrs. Laurel.
Swiss Miss - as the first potential mousetrap customer.
A Chump at Oxford - as hostess Mrs. VanDerVeer.

top of page

Magazine Index

Š2000 "The Live Ghost"

HONEYSUCKLE ROSE Memories of Anita Garvin by Ann Dunne.
It was in 1988 when first my wonderful brother introduced me to Anita Garvin. He was here in the U.S.A. and one particular day he said, “Would you like to come to lunch with me and Steve Robinson? We are taking out a lady that used to be in L&H movies.”
I felt quite honoured that he included me actually, so off we went to pick up his guest. On arriving at the Motion Picture Home for the first time, I set eyes on this stunning looking woman. Long straight silver hair, the most amazing green eyes which seemed to laugh at you - and made up to perfection with a brilliant red mouth highly glossed. The personality and humour just hit you as you walked in the door. I even remember she wore a bright yellow trouser suit, and long dangly earrings of Stan & Ollie hanging jovially down her neck.	Anita was so proud of her L&H earrings.
We proceeded to our luncheon and had a wonderful time laughing and reminiscing, Anita was on top form and kept us laughing until tears were rolling. I remember thinking then I’d never met anyone quite like her at any age. She was in her early eighties then.
Del Kempster, Anita Garvin, Steve Robinson and Ann Dunne. This was the start of a beautiful friendship between Ann and Anita.
By the time we’d got back to the Motion Picture Home I felt I’d known this lovely creature for ever. As I live here in the States and Del and Steve were soon returning to England, we made a pact that I would visit Anita occasionally and therefore be able to tell my brother how she was doing and so on. I also felt he wanted me to make sure she was O.K. I was only too happy to meet this lovely lady again. So every few weeks I started to have lunch with her. She’d greet me like a daughter and tell everyone around her how wonderful I was when, in fact, I was in awe of her. Needless to say we hit it off and I became a regular visitor, but she decided that I should become a Volunteer - that way I would be there even more. So because of her I did just that, and have been a Volunteer for eleven years now. It has made my life so rewarding, I’ve met the most wonderful people in the world there and love them all. But none so much as my HONEYSUCKLE ROSE. Honeysuckle Rose was her favourite song. Her beloved husband, bandleader and trombonist Clifford “Red” Stanley, used to play it to her. Whenever anyone came to entertain us she always requested it, then would shed a tear remembering her Red and all the good times they’d shared. We had great times together. One of my favourite times was when the Volunteers were each asked to pick a resident to dress up for a Halloween costume party. We decided that Anita would go as the wicked Queen from Snow White. Del was here on that occasion and came with me to an antique shop where he picked out the magic mirror which looked like the real thing. You could almost imagine the cob webs and all. We also found a tiara. Ideally, of course, we would have liked the one she wore in FROM SOUP TO NUTS where it kept slipping down in front of her eyes, but I suppose that would have been too much to ask for. That was one of her best props, but the one we got for her still looked pretty good on her. She was delighted - just couldn’t wait to get that tiara on. I used to take her favourite tipple, Harvey’s Bristol Cream, to her room and we’d have a little nip now and again. So with this in mind we started to get ready for the show. Now remember she was now in a wheelchair, and very wobbly on her legs. So getting this long black skinny dress on was no mean feat, with shrieks of laughter, a swig or two of sherry, we managed to put on the dress.
Anita has the cure for that Snow White dame.
Now for the make-up which was even more hilarious. Long false black and silver eyelashes, the long black and silver wig, what an effort, the rouge, the green eye shadow, now the lipstick which she insisted she had to do herself as only she could - the Hollywood Film Star way. Bless her. Then that tiara. Now she was no longer Anita. She WAS THE WICKED QUEEN! She Stood up. Looked in the Mirror and said... “Mirror Mirror on the wall, God isn’t this BROAD beautiful.....” Well, I cracked up. Now for the big event. Who would win first prize? Everybody looked splendid, so much effort had gone into dressing up all the participants. Each one had to go before the judges and do a little act to portray their character.
“I’m ready for my close-up Mr De Mille.”	When she stood up and looked in that mirror, she was transformed, and hammed it up to the hilt, she brought the house down and she was loving every moment of it. Everyone was laughing and applauding - music to her ears. She could have gone on forever, she was a star again and was in her glory. Of course she won first prize. It was a wonderful thing to see. I will never forget it. One of the judges was Hal Roach himself, who with a wink in his eye, swore he didn’t know who The Wicked Queen was. We still talk about that day, how Anita wowed them all with her talent, humour, and determination.
There were so many wonderful times I had with Anita. Some sad times too when she was ill - too personal to mention here. But the good times stick out. We may have cried a little, but we sure laughed a lot. Her best day ever was when Del came over in 1992 and arranged a surprise party for her with lots of her fans from England. They had come over for the Laurel & Hardy Convention in Las Vegas that year. Anita had been invited to the convention as a guest of honour but was not well enough to attend. Del had planned the whole thing like a military operation and said, “If Anita can’t go to the convention, then the convention must come to her.”
“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” they sang and even their shirts told how they loved Anita.
She didn’t know a thing about all this and thought she was lunching with just the two of us. We walked into the restaurant and everybody stood up and sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” one of Ollie’s songs. She told me afterwards that it was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for her. She loved telling me about Stan and Ollie, but she had a special spot for Stan and always referred to him as a genius.
She truly loved her devoted friends who wrote or visited her. Her sense of humour never left her. Right up to the end, she’d make witty remarks and roll those green eyes up to the ceiling. She would often say to someone going by laden with packages, or a waiter with plates, “Hey, ya got a match?” Most times it would go unnoticed, but I would sit there looking at her thinking what a marvellous sense of humour this old lady still has. She was the shining star in my life. I still miss her, but we all have such lovely memories that she has left us with.	Jolly old pals: Anita and Ann.
Goodnight Honeysuckle Rose.