A while back I wrote about the little maid in the 1953 Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol. With only 42 seconds on screen, and no dialogue, this shy little woman has captured the hearts of thousands of fans. Unfortunately, these fans have never had a name to associate with their crush.
Well, now we do, and I’ll be interviewing her by phone in a few days.
So I’m asking all Fred’s Maid fans to let me know what questions they would ask, or what messages they would pass along if given the chance, and I will relay as many as I can.
Advertisements
Posted in: Section A: Most Recent, Section G: Journalism
• Hyperbole and a Half
• The Comics Curmudgeon
• XKCD
Pop Culture's Kids
Raghead: The fiendly neighbourhood terrorist
• Before Morning Breaks
• In Jaynes World
• Laura's Unlikely Explanations
• Mental Poo
• Murrmurrs
• My Mind Wandered: And Never Came Back
• Nonamedufus
• The Good, The Bad, The Worse
• Too Many Mornings
• We Work for Cheese
• When I Reach
• Ziva's Inferno
David Jaundrell
October 11, 2013
This is great news. Please ask her to relay some fond memories she might have of the cast and of the shoot.
Frank Lee MeiDere
October 11, 2013
Good idea. Perhaps she can give us the names of some of the others who weren’t credited. I believe the actress who played Mrs. Cratchit remains unknown.
nonamedufus
October 11, 2013
What did she end up doing for the rest of her life?
Frank Lee MeiDere
October 11, 2013
That much I can tell you already — she got married had children and now has grandchildren. It was because of her grandchildren, in fact, that we found out who she is. Few in her extended family knew she had been an actress. Last April or May they were trying to convince her great grandchildren that they actually had an actress in the family and went online to find photos of her in A Christmas Carol. It was only then they discovered Fred’s Maid cult, a loose, but amazingly large legion of fans who had been trying to discover her name. Her son contacted me (and apparently this other blogger) with the information about her name and present status. But the upshot is that she has had a perfectly lovely life and has an extremely nice family to show for it.
nonamedufus
October 13, 2013
Amazing story, Frank.
Boom Boom Larew
October 19, 2013
Love the story of Fred’s Maid! Thanks for sharing it!
David Jaundrell
November 5, 2013
How did the phone call go? Are you able to transcribe some of the Q&A’s for us please?
Frank Lee MeiDere
December 4, 2013
Hi David, sorry for the delay, but my life has been in a bit of a turmoil lately. Fact is, I’ve not had access to a phone with a good long distance plan for a while. I’m hoping that will change in a week. I’ll let you know how things go then.
Gina
December 17, 2013
Hi Frank — Gina from Dickensblog here. Found you via IMDb. I’m so glad to hear that you’re in touch with her too! I hope you can do your interview soon, and I look forward to reading it.
David Jaundrell
December 24, 2013
Hi Frank. I am watching our favourite scene right now. I hope you get your turmoil sorted soon. Best wishes. David