Verna Felton Remembers

[Yhtapmys]

Verna Felton, much to my surprise, was from Canada, had lived here in Vancouver (not far from Mary Livingstone's house, actually) and had a home in the Victoria area at the time of her death (I'll have to find her obit again in the Vancouver papers, where they quote her about living in B.C.). I've spotted her in some newspaper ads from 1910-12 appearing in plays at a theatre in Lethbridge, Alberta. So she had a long career before radio.

Here's a short newspaper piece on her in television, dated Oct. 29, 1956:

Not all TV actors rely on the teleprompter. Some like Verna Felton, have their own special devices for jogging the old memory.
Miss Felton pastes, write s or pins "cue words" inn odd spots around the "December Bride" set. She can then take a peek at them while carrying on with her normal acting duties for the cameras.
A note stuck in the pages of a magazine on the coffee table in the living room might say simply, "Well, kids ..." Those two words will cue a long speech that Miss Felton was having trouble with during rehearsals.
Verna has stuck cues in so many strange places that the studio property department never knows what to expect. Cues have turned up written in ink across the breast of a dressed chicken in a market scene, scrawled in chalk on a watermelon, pasted inside a humidor or sometimes under the cradle of a phone.
Now the prop men even cooperate with Miss Felton in her scheme. They might write the cue words into the frosting of a cake insert them with vegetable dye into sandwiches or even scribble them on banana peels and apple skins.
The food items work out nicely, Miss Felton explained. Her role in the show calls for her nearly always to be eating or getting ready to eat.
"But I nearly came a cropper once," Verna recalled, "when I put the cue on the bottom of a cup and then someone poured in two much coffee.
"I have planned so I would take one sip and then be able to see the bottom of the empty cup and the cue word. Instead, the cup was darn near full—I had to gulp like crazy to get to the bottom in time."

Yhtapmys

[Yhtapmys]

While we're on the subject .. I've also spotted a newspaper review from Jan. 25, 1902 about Verna on stage in Woodland, California .. as Little Lord Fauntleroy! My guess is she'd probably be about 11. Several years later, she had her own road company which worked a circuit from Calgary to Spokane (hence her appearances in Lethbridge from 1909 onward).

Here's an unbylined piece from UPI (my guess is Vernon Scott wrote it) from Jan. 17, 1962:

'Mayor' Seeks Reelection
Verna Felton Is Sure of Third Term Victory
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) -- Actress Verna Felton is busier than a ward-heeling politician these days, running around cutting ribbons and officiating at such events as a firehouse opening or a delicatessen debut.
Miss Felton, a grandmotherly appearing lady who has a roll in CBS TV's "The Family" with Henry Fond, is honorory mayor of North Hollywood, a job for which she doesn't get paid a dime.
Roast Beef
But the luncheon circuit prvides Miss Felton with a goodly share of roast beef and peas, which helps the budget.
Verna has been mayor for two years and is bucking for a third. She doesn't expect any trouble getting re-elected because nobody is running against her. Besides that, there's no election.
When Verna was first appointed, she said the Chamber of Commerce took a straw poll among such citizens as the butcher, banker, and a few clubwomen. That was enugh to cinch Verna's election, without as much as one penny being spent on her campaign.
A Wild Pitch
That was two years ago. Since then, she has traveled around southern California representing North Hollywood on all sorts of occasions.
One night she appeared on the pitcher's mound in the Los Angeles Coliseum before a Dodger game started. She tossed a ball toward the plate but without much luck.
In fact, it was all she could do to just stand there. Miss Felton's high heels sunk in the soft turf, and she almost landed on her head.
Such are the hazards of being an honorary mayor but Verna takes everything in stride.
Long Speeches
"The only thing I can't stand are the long speeches women give at the clubs," she said with a grimmace. "I wish they'd come to the point and get it over with.''
Despite longwinded ladies, Verna says there are advantages to the job, besides roast beef.
"I get an air conditioned car in the summer and a heated one in the winter to take me to a ground breaking ceremony or ribbon-cutting," she said. "All I have to do is jump out of the car, break the ground or cut the
ribbon, and then jump back in ff it's too hot or cold. I'm pretty good with a shovel, but that's hard ground out there."
'Summit' Meeting
Every so often Miss Felton lupches with other honorary mayors, including Amanda Blake, who plays "Kitty" on "Gunsmoke."
"We just eat, don't discuss much,'' said Verna, possessor of a fine appetite. "It's a fun job; we get a lot of good food."

Yhtapmys

[Yhtapmys]

And here's one more, from 1924. Page one news up here.

Gets Three-Year Term for Stealing Actress' Jewels
(Canadian Press Despatch.)
Vancouver, B.C., Dec. 3.— Henry Towers, who pleaded guilty to the theft of Jewels worth $2,000 from the dressing room of Verna Felton, local actress, was sentenced today to three years in the penitentiary.
Towers was captured in Ottawa as a result of clever detective work and was brought back to Vancouver.
While crossing the prairies Towers escaped from the officer while the train was moving, leaping from the train and gaining freedom for a day. He was finally recaptured in a Saskatchewan town and brought here.

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