Richard Widmark: A
Princeton legacy
Becoming Richard Widmark - Christmas Stories
Published: Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 2:07 p.m. CST
The Great
Lakes have a big influence on the climate of the surrounding landscape, acting
like a giant heat sink, moderating the temperatures of the summers and winters.
This results in a milder climate in portions of the basin compared to other
locations of similar latitude. The lakes also act as a giant humidifier,
increasing the moisture content of the air throughout the year. In the winter,
this moisture condenses as snow when it reaches the land, creating heavy
snowfall in some areas, known as "snow belts" on the downwind shores
of the lakes. The shores of Lake Superior are prone to this "lake
effect" snow and have recorded up to 350 inches of snow in a single year.
The weather can go from one extreme to another.
There was
a record high of 62 degrees in the St. Paul, Minn., area on Nov. 26, 1914, but
this was a full month later, Dec. 26 now, with 4 inches of snow on the ground,
a gray overcast sky, and temperatures back down to the normal of zero and
below, with more snow to come. "Wait a day and the weather will
change" is an apt description of weather in the Lake Superior region. The
small community 50 miles northeast of St. Paul, along the St. Croix River
had the same conditions that day, and wouldn't see the sun peak through until
just past the midday Meridian, its highest point on the horizon. The area was
along the eastern Minnesota border, 100 miles south of the southern tip of Lake
Superior. It had grown from a farm established in the 1850s, followed by a
store, hotel, sawmill, a post office and a church that still exists today. In
1857, a large colony of settlers from western New York state arrived and began
establishing farms, homes and businesses. On Oct.26, 1858, it was organized as
a township — Sunrise Township, Chisago County,
Minnesota.
The
buildings in Sunrise, in 1914 were all wooden structures, many with false
fronts to make them look taller. One of the largest establishments, using no
false front, was Elias Nordgrens Mercantile Store. It was a two-story building
on two lots. It had a wooden storefront walkway, like an uncovered porch, and
four large display windows, two in each of the twin buildings that made up the
mercantile. There were living quarters on the second floor for the owner and a
large livable lean-to attached to the store for hired help. The mud streets and
rooftops were covered with snow. Smoke lazily drifted up from the chimneys of
the buildings, carrying particles that sparkled and glistened in the emerging
rays of the sun.
A young
man and woman, married Jan. 16, 1914, had been living with family in Sioux
Falls, S.D. In the early part of the year they then moved almost 300 miles to
Braham, Minn., where the husband found work, until a more inviting opportunity
became available in Sunrise Township. It was just another 30 miles from Braham
to Sunrise Township, for a clerking job in Elias Nordgrens Mercantile Store,
with living quarters provided. It was like a shining star in the sky,
employment with lodging included. The couple were expecting their first child,
a wonderful gift to each other at this special time of the year.
There is
no movement on the street until a man, the young husband in shirt sleeves,
bursts from the lean-to looking for another person, any person. He has great
news to share and dashes for the house next door and pounds on the door. The
owner cautiously opens it just wide enough to identify his caller, his
neighbor, the clerk from the mercantile. “I have a son,” the man in shirt
sleeves announces with excitement, “His name is Richard.” The young father was
Carl Henry Widmark and his wife was Ethel Mae (Barr). Their new son was Richard
Widmark, born at 12:45 p.m., on Dec. 26, 1914, in Sunrise Township, Minn. A Christmas
gift that would entertain the world on the silver screen for 40 years and many
Christmases still to come.
It is
almost 31 years later, the middle of June 1945, and Christmas is months away.
Richard Widmark is in New York City starring in "Kiss Them For Me" at
the Fulton Theater. He had married Ora Jean (Hazlewood), April 5, 1942, and was
soon to be a new father himself. The play opened on March 20 at the Belasco
Theater but moved to the Fulton on May 14. It would have a run of 110
performances and close June 23, 1945. The cast included Judy Holliday, Richard
Davis and Jane (Cotter) Meadows, soon to be the wife of Steve Allen.
Carl and
Ethel Widmark had a second son, Donald, born July 25, 1918. He is a bomber
pilot during World War II and is shot down three times, never failing to go
back into the fray. Donald suffers a head injury during his final flight in the
summer of 1943, is captured and interned as a POW by the Germans at Stalag 13
in Barth, Germany. Germany surrenders in the early summer of 1945, and American
prisoners are liberated. The war ends Sept. 2, 1945. Richard and his family
have had a tense unhappy time for two years since receiving word that Don was
missing in action, and another Christmas loomed as being no better than the
last two.
Richard
Widmark remembered it this way, telling of his most memorable Christmas.
"We'd lost hope of ever seeing Don again," he recalled, "Then
months before Christmas, I had a short third act exit in the play ("Kiss
Them For Me") and went into the wings. I had to go on stage again within
minutes. When I turned around I was stunned. There stood my brother. Don had
returned home completely unannounced. I only had time to shake his hand before
going back on stage. I never talked so fast in life to get through the rest of
the third act. With Don back, that coming Christmas was the happiest in my
life." Don was home to celebrate with his brother when daughter, Anne, is
born on her uncle's birthday, July, 25, 1945. The Christmas of 1945, the best
that Richard Widmark could have hoped for, a new daughter and a brother thought
lost.
The first
story on Richard Widmark's birth took root, somewhat, from an article by Carol
Dahlquist, in a 2006 issue of Heritage, a publication of the Chisago County
Historical Society.
The
second story is based on a story published December 25, 1954, in the Brownwood
Bulletin, Brownwood, Texas, by Vernon Scott. Research on this story led me to
disagree with its author on some of what he wrote. He may have taken a little
too much artistic license, so I rewrote it from what I found. Scott writes that
"Kiss Them For Me" at the Foulton Theater, was in 1944, but it opened
March 20, 1945, and closed June 23, 1945. He has Widmark saying, "it was a
few days before Christmas" but it was in June. As Jean Widmark tells in a
story in "Silver Screen," January, 1949, Donald Widmark was there for
the birth of his niece and to celebrate with his brother in July. Scott had his
facts skewed, but he had the sentiment right.
Happy
100th Birthday, Richard Widmark, and thanks for the many years of great
entertainment. Have a "Christmas To Remember," and I'll continue next
year with Classmates - Tom Best, Gail Castner and Lester Peterson. There's
still time for your last-minute shoppers to get entered into my Widmark Framed
Prints Give-Away and get a free Richard Widmark DVD Movie. Stop by and take a
look.
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