At a MGM exhibitors sales convention in February 1949 it was announced that Metro would probably reunite Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald to star for producer Joe Pasternak in "His Excellency from Brazil." By the time the film was released the title had been changed to "Nancy Goes to Rio" and the parts were played by Ann Sothern and Barry Sullivan.
Distantly related to U.S. President Martin Van Buren.
He had a stepson, Sidney Franklin Jr..
He had one child, Jon, with ex-girlfriend Maybelle Marston, born sometime in the early 1930s.
He was a lifelong supporter of the Republican party.
He was an accomplished sculptor, and often crafted bronze statues of his co-stars and directors. The statue he made of Susanna Foster was used in her film Phantom of the Opera (1943).
He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6311 Hollywood Boulevard; for Radio at 6512 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Recording at 1639 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
His duets with Jeanette MacDonald are lampooned in the musical "A Day In Hollywood/A Night In The Ukraine." In the show, a movie star named Jeanette sings the song, "Oh, Nelson, What You're Putting Me Through" -- an operatic lament about her boring co-star -- while standing with a mannequin dressed in a Canadian Mounties uniform.
Hosted his own weekly radio show in the 1950s
Interred at Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (now called Hollywood Forever), Hollywood, California, USA, Section B, across the street from the Cathedral Mausoluem and a bit to the right.
Louis B. Mayer ordered Eddy to test for his debut in Broadway to Hollywood (1933). The 33-year old newcomer took a record 58 takes before the exasperated test director gave up. Despite this failure, Mayer overruled the general consensus of Eddy's acting talent and ordered him used for a singing sequence in the film only.
Plans to re-team Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald were announced by RKO in July 1945. Studio chief Charles Koerner was preparing a film version of the 1931 Sigmund Romberg & Oscar Hammerstein II stage musical "East Wind" to be filmed in Technicolor. Koerner's sudden death in February 1946 and the subsequent change in studio management ended the project.
Suffered a fatal stroke while performing in concert.
There is a street in Hollywood Forever cemetery now named for him.
Was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity.
Was portrayed by Mick Hucknall in De-Lovely (2004). In the movie, his portrayal was a cameo.