SHIRLEY MACLAINE We immediately saw that Herbert was cruel to both Dolly and Julia. SHIRLEY MACLAINE It was really hot. Written as a tribute to the strength of his sister, his mother, and the coterie of women who supported them, the work broke records at . She directed the Youth Choir. Were there to help. We were in previews, and the actress who played Ouiser, Mary Fogarty, God bless her, came to me and said, I need to say something. When the producer Ray Stark made an offer to buy the rights, Harling was thrilled. The 32 year old Susan left behind her husband Dr Pat Robinson and their two-year-old son Robert after years of battling diabetes. Robert said: She walked into the room and that smile lit everything up and I said thats my sister, so she joined the party and she was magnificent., Director Herbert Ross was notoriously tough on newcomer Julia, who would go on to be nominated for her first Oscar for Steel Magnolias. So THATS what her voice sounded like. What happened to Susan Harling Robinson husband? I realised, 'okay, this kid doesn't remember his mom.. but he does know it took the biggest star in the world to play her'. Julia came in, and it was like somebody bumped up the lights. From the moment we met, he tailor-made the part for me. One thing is for sure, Mrs. Susan Robinson did not go through life without being loved!!!! The women are getting it done and the guys cannot function. And then one of the men walked into the kitchen, and I saw how the womens body language completely changed. Sorry! Im glad you had a great trip, Cuz. I wanted to celebrate my sister, it was a time of tumult and the way it took off, who knew. At the time, Margo was a working actress from Jacksonville, Texas, and she had this incredible voice. My sister had to die for all that to happen. Try again later. The magnolia specifically references . When he graduated, he chose acting over lawyeringHe didnt even pick up his diploma, says his dad, Bob Harlingand moved to Manhattan with a promise of a month or two of support from his parents. 10. Be sure to SHARE this article if you love the play and film, Steel Magnolias! Ross was hired as director. I dont know what it is about the subject matter in the movie, but going through that makes you friends for life. She wanted her life to be as normal as possible., Robert - who also has a younger brother called John - reminisces: I had all these tumultuous times growing up with my dad and one time I remember it was around Christmas - we werent getting along at all and Susan was really worried I was not going to give my father a Christmas present and she went out and got him one from me., Family was the most important thing to her and taking care of us., 'My nephew told me 'Everyone likes me - Im the only kid in my class whose moms been played by Julia Roberts. Early Friday morning found me on a boat with Gary Rispone of Paradise Louisiana TV show and retired Col. Bruce Wilson, our fishing guide for the day. Shelby was based on Robert Harling's real sister, Susan Harling Robinson, who passed away from complications due to her type 1 diabetes. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. I walked in . After her death, Susan's brother, Robert Harling, wrote the play " Steel Magnolias ". She was preceded in death by her daughter, Laura Susan Robinson and her brother, John . You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. I just wanted to see how people acted, how they belonged to themselves. And I went of course, he had no idea how would he know what her voice sounded like, said Robert. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Just like in the movie, Margaret indeed tried valiantly to save her only daughter, donating a kidney to Susan in a desperate attempt to save her life. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. I wonder if Robert inherited diabetes? Shortly after the play moved, Hollywood came calling with offers for a movie, and every big-name actress turned up at the theater to see if there might be a screen role for her. Susan Harling-Robinson was the inspiration for the play and movie "Steel Magnolias", written by her brother Robert Harling. I had to beg her to let me take this photo, and she refused to smile, but I think I captured the essence of Tracee-Truvy of All Tangled Up! My mother was a nurse and Susan wanted to be a paediatric nurse, she wanted to be around babies.. ROBERT HARLING My father, my uncle, and our next-door neighbor all invested, and I was horrifiedyou almost always lose money in theater, but there was no stopping them. How lovely a person she was. I had the pleasure and honor of not only touring all the filming sites but spending an afternoon with Margaret and Robert Harling talking about Susan. Search above to list available cemeteries. So Susans protecting him, its so clear to me. Wed decided on Meg Ryan, who had just had some success with Top Gun. But its called Eagle When She Flies, which she sings with this gospel choir that just tears your heart out. But Harling said one of the film's stars, MacLaine, helped him realize that no one's really gone. The feedback was Its not commercial because its a bunch of women and it takes place in a beauty parlor, but well send it out. Well, all these people wanted to do it. This was pretty much her first big film.'. Its like the line There is no such thing as natural beauty. That was something somebody said who sold makeup in Natchitoches. ROBERT HARLING Im still working out the ramifications of this whole insane journey that only art can let you move through. in the early quiet morning on Saturday . Now comes the true metaphor behind Steel Magnolia.What does it mean? Its an incurable, unpredictable horrible disease. And there was an equally amazing director, Pamela Berlin, who totally got it. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Susan helped Harlingwrite the "hit me" scene. It stopped the show. Sara Nathan Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. With its 25th anniversary this year, memories of a teenage Julia eating hamburgers grilled by his dad at the family home, while Dolly Parton sang on his sofa, come flooding back as Robert, 62, speaks. Lets open it up. The casting director said, Theres this girl. Anywhere you point the camera youre going to frame a good shot. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. And now here was Susan having to turn back to her and say, Mama, you need to help me now. When she needed a kidney, we were all tested to see if we were matches, but my mom basically said the buck stops here, and thats how it was. Very interestingthanks for sharing!!! SHIRLEY MACLAINE I loved studying the townspeople and walking through their lives a little. I said, Okay, say, Oh, Im not crazy, Ive just been in a very bad mood for forty years. She wrote it on her hand. My dad couldnt talk about anything; none of them knew what to do. ROBERT HARLING Susan was incredibly supportive after I came to New York. "When we lost her, it was really devastating to me, and I was having a lot of trouble dealing with it.". Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Go back and ask what would amuse her, how she would edit, what would be too vulgar, where she would put her foot down. So we got a draft of the script together, and Ray was happy. And then she would always make everyone laugh. However, there are moments that were dramatized for the cameras, he says. The default was not to break down, the default was to change the conversation or lift it somehow. We thought we were just talking like the people from that part of the country talk. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. Don't worry about me. 18:23 GMT 28 Mar 2014. Harling didnt want to use real names, so he gave the character based on his mother the name of a close friend from Alabama, who was called MLynn. ", 6. She said it was on the corner right behind me and that I could pull in and park beside the house. When I was a kid, the mystique of the beauty parlor was that guys were never allowed. Im not a hairdresser. Susan left behind her husband Dr Pat Robinson and their two-year-old son Robert after years of battling diabetes, and amid the . Susan had been cautioned about the complications of having children, given her severe diabetes. But you know, my sister died and I wrote about it and people look at it and think its all limos and glamour and sitting next to Princess Di at the royal premiere. He'd been in New York for eight years at that point, a period during which Susan had married and decided to start a family, despite . You need a Find a Grave account to continue. However, he recalls calling his nephew one day as a young child, who proudly proclaimed that he was a cool kid at school, smiling: Roberts a very handsome man now, but he was a preemie, and at that age he was skinny not the definition of cool! The story is always with me, but its a time just to stop and remember Susan and us as kids, what the town meant to her, to touch base.. She was a proud of the Kappa Iota chapter of Phi Mu. They failed. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Make sure that the file is a photo. Interment will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery in Natchitoches. Nobody could sit through the actual health dilemmas that my sister went through. Stressed and distraught, Harling was advised by his fellow acting class workshop members to put his thoughts on paper. From that point on, the cathartic experience of Steel Magnolias started in our family. They married in 1979. 9. Twenty-five years ago, "Steel Magnolias" captivated moviegoers with the heartbreaking, yet laugh-filled story based on how playwright Robert Harling lost his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, in 1985, and how a group of women in a small southern town cope with their tragic loss. Herbert said, Its a wonderful Hollywood move. "When she walked in, somebody just turned the lights on in the room," he said. He TRULY loved that woman! The title was inspired by real life Harling said the title,. Determined to resume her career in the neo-natal field and continue to be the best mother possible, a kidney transplant was necessary. Olympia lived down the street. By The original stage play was so successful that it spawned a number of off-Broadway tours and a 1989 film starring Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, and Sally Field. Ill have to ask Gary if and when hes going to use that footage. Susan had been cautioned about the complications of having children, given her severe diabetes. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. He must have been a special man if Susan loved him! So, the faithful Sears man showed up first thing this morning. It was the only time Id ever seen Kathy get riled at me. Its the kind of humor that would sear through treacle. ROBERT HARLING Herbert had this wayhe was from Brooklyn and started out as a chorus boy, but he became this acclaimed director and managed to talk like British gentry. I grew up very near the Red River, but had never fished it before. and what Susan would do would be outrageous," he said. But when you put it in a theatrical situation, people respond to the honesty of it. The movie has inspired others to give back. It helped that Natchitoches is gorgeous. Never. They came to New York to visit a week before we went into rehearsal, and I got up some courage. And yallshes the owner of the shop. People filled it up to see Dolly Parton eating in the back corner. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. I took the opportunity to share my story with her about having known Susan many years ago, and she told me about a memorial park in her honor. Everything they talk about in the play is true. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. It was really hot. Why dont you let loose? Dolly very serenely smiled and said, When I was young and had nothing, I wanted to be rich and famous, and now I am. So happy you got to meet your Truvy and get a do. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. The film, shot entirely on location in Natchitoches in the summer of 1988, celebrates the strength and indomitable spirit of Southern women. She was determined to have the family she'd always dream of. It takes your breath away how quick they are. The feedback was Its not commercial because its a bunch of women and it takes place in a beauty parlor, but well send it out. Well, all these people wanted to do it. Im not a hairdresser. ROBERT HARLING I knew the actress Margo Martindale, who is now a huge star, and I wrote the role of Truvy for her. 30 years on, Natchitoches still a popular destination for 'Steel Magnolias' fans. She was a majorette. Harling says the name Annelle just came to him one dayIts so Southern to take two first names and just jam them together. And then there was Truvy, the operator of the salon. April/May 2017. illustration: Steve Brodner. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Your email address will not be published. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Susan had gone in to get a shunt to help her dialysis and usually you have a local anesthetic But for some reason she had a general anesthetic and her heart just stopped.. Oops, we were unable to send the email. She was a candy striper at Natchitoches Parish Hospital. Funeral services for Robert May Harling Jr. will be Saturday, Aug. 3 at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Natchitoches with the Rev. There was Dolly with a waist cincher no more than sixteen inches around and heels about two feet high and a wig that must have weighed twenty-three pounds. It would make her very happy to know you are experiencing it now. Harling wrote the play, and eventual screenplay, as both catharsis and as something that Harling could pass along to his nephew. Just after my dinner with Herbert, Olympia Dukakis won the Oscar for, Next, Herbert said, I really like Daryl Hannah for I thought he was going to the Shelby place, but before he got there, he said Annelle. Try again later. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. She was a majorette. . The title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel". Then one day I basically told him to go f**k himself and everybody heard it and things got better. Unfortunately for Susan, the pregnancy had taken a toll on her kidneys. TheChristmas festival in Natchitoches is real, and Susan loved it, "She loved the Christmas festival which was the first weekend in every December," Harling said. Add to your scrapbook. A bit of irony that Susan should be in Shreveport and you just across the river all those years ago. So over dinner one night at Orso [the evergreen New York theater district restaurant], he said, Rawbuht, how would you feel about Sally Field playing your muthuh? I couldnt speak. We became one. Robert Harling reveals: 'Susan died in the fall of 1985. Im very glad I found out about the park and had a chance to visit. She never complained about anything. "Here, hit this!" We moved the play to the Lucille Lortel. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8696788/laura-susan-robinson. MARGO MARTINDALE I think they actually did see me for the role of Truvy, but that was just a courtesy, and I was not upset that Dolly got the role. Susan left behind her husband Dr. Pat Robinson and their 2-year-old son Robert. The reality, Robert says, is more passive. She said, Good luck, and they rolled her down to the operating room. The playwright and screenwriter reflects on the Southern film that touched the world. She played flute in the high school band. Robert recalls: Julia would come over to the house to see my mom and dad all the time, she worked so hard. What happened to Susan Harling Robinson husband? (Robert gave his sister!) Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. . It was an extraordinary time, Dolly would come over with her guitar, she said Ive written a song for Susan, which never made it into the movie. ROBERT HARLING Its like the line There is no such thing as natural beauty. That was something somebody said who sold makeup in Natchitoches. TRISTAR PICTURES The play's title has become a metaphor for Southern femininity: a strong emotional core beneath a delicate-looking exterior.