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kodak.com
presents
Film star Jane Withers
Brownie pictures and the stories behind them
November 02, 2000
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Lil:
Do you ever leave the house without taking your camera
Jane Withers:
(laughing) I don't think so! I really, truly don't think so.
I know a couple of times we had to stop and go back for it, because I changed tote bags.
I carry the heaviest, biggest tote bags you have ever seen in your entire life. But no, really truly, three or four times, I said "STOP the car, we can't go, I have to get the camera" and then we scurry back home and get it. It's like an old friend!
Big Cat:
Do you think all the pics you've taken have helped you preserve the memories of your film experiences?
Jane Withers:
Oh, definitely. And not only my film experiences but my extraordinary friend experiences. I can look at a photograph and have total recall, whether I'm three years old, thirty years old, sixty years old, or 74 years old! Speaking of photographs,
I've got to share this with you all, because it's really scrumptious. I had the privilege today of visiting the George Eastman home, wow, what a wonderful experience,
to see the history of photography unfold right in front of my eyes. I was so thrilled and so grateful, and I know a long time ago when I was a little girl I would say my prayers and make a list of all the people who had invented certain things that I used all the time
or things I appreciated it.
And I would always say "And thank you, God, for my camera
and the people who invented it because those pictures mean so much for me…and I hope other people will have the privilege of enjoying and appreciating their photographs,
and it will mean as much to them as it has always meant to me."
I also yesterday found out how film is made and manufactured. It's absolutely awesome!
So now every time I put a little cartridge in my Kodak camera I will always have immediate recall of the extraordinary tour that I took yesterday of how they create film for that camera. It's just amazing! And don't forget, if it wasn't for that incredible film,
dear Gussie, we'd never have movies. So, I'm extremely grateful for that, because I'm the luckiest lady alive, to have done all the films that I was privileged to do
and also have my five wonderful children and the wonderful parents I had and any time I look at a picture of any of them I have extraordinary gratitude for a wonderful and interesting life.
Armand8:
What was it like working on “The Hunchback of Notre Dame?”
Jane Withers:
Fantastic fun! I love doing voice-overs, and I loved Laverne the Gargoyle but it meant a great deal to me, because a wonderful lady named Mary Wickes was portraying Laverne the Gargoyle, and she had a heart attack in the middle of the film and died. They didn't quite know what they were going to do. One of the animators who created Laverne said, “I know Jane Withers can do impersonations,
why don't you give her a call and see if she would be willing to come in and take over for Mary Wickes?” When they called me and explained the situation I said I would be proud and honored to complete the job for this great lady of whom I am a big fan. If I can complete a job for her that she always did so brilliantly, it would make my heart very, very happy to do so. So they sent me a tape of her voice as Laverne. I told the driver to wait outside, I should be maybe 20 minutes at the most. I played the tape of Mary Wickes as Laverne, listened to it carefully, prayed that I could do a good job in impersonating her voice, and said all the words and lyrics that I lovingly called the script
that she was to say as Laverne that she had not completed yet. I took the tape back out to the driver and said here it is, let's hope it works!
So as soon as they got back to the studio, they called and said they were so thrilled
because you couldn't tell where Mary's voice stopped and mine begins. So I was very glad I could complete the job for this great lady that I always admired and that she got the billing for being Laverne the Gargoyle, so she could complete the job she had started.
It made a great deal to me to do that to honor Mary Wickes and her great talent.
Oooh! I just finished “Hunchback 2,” and it will be out in about three more weeks,
and it's fun! I even get to sing in this one, I had a ball!
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