I wish they did so that more people could honor and learn about this amazing woman. And it is clear that the bonds that have kept Susan tied closely to Robert all these years are still as tight as ever. Learn more about managing a memorial . He stood there and listened for a while and said Ah! What happened to Susan Harling Robinson husband? In a lot of ways, they talked in bumper stickers." The rest of us were always complaining. She died during minor surgery in 1985, at the age of 33. Id go to the ice cream store and the magazine place and the video store. We all thought it was a drama, and then the first night it was in front of an audience, we were shocked. The play came out at breakneck speed and had its first production in February 1987. ROBERT HARLING We were shooting part of the Christmas scene, and this was in the dead of August, and we were sitting out on the porch of Truvys beauty shop. I thought, since people come to the salon to tell the truth, theres something about Truvy. The women were dressed for Christmas, and Dolly was sitting on the swing. Hes about to marry again I think Susan is just hoping this one works!, Stories about Susan come out organically, Robert says, adding: I think Robert talks to my dad about Susan more than me because everybody thinks Ill go write it down! The title was inspired by real life Harling said the title,. She was determined to have the family she'd always dream of. I went okay job done, mission accomplished. Olympia lived down the street. Complications ensued. Sally Field admitted last year: He went after Julia with a vengeance. Finally, the date was set, and we started shooting at the end of June 1988. So, I parked beside the fabulous plantation home and walked back a half block to the park at the corner. The woman's name was Susan Harling Robinson, and her brother, Robert Harling, wrote a play based on her life. We caught up with writer Robert Harling for a look back at his iconic play, which debuted off-Broadway 30 years ago. There was an error deleting this problem. She was extremely determined and focused - she wanted what she wanted and what she wanted was a kid. 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. Wed decided on Meg Ryan, who had just had some success with Top Gun. Following the death, a writer friend advised him to write it down to come to terms with the experience. What parish was Steel Magnolias filmed in? They think I'm really cool. Ray called and said, Olympias doing Clairee. I knew Olympia from her work in New York theater, so I knew she could do anything, but I was worried that she wasnt Southern. It only ran for four weeks at the WPA, and we all wanted to figure out how to keep it going. In Shreveport, Susan met and fell in love with a pediatrician, Patrick Robinson. And then another neighbor told me, You know its not about you, its about Susan. And I realized thats why they wanted to do it. ROBERT HARLING So I put these ten characters in a beauty shop, and it only took me ten days to write it. I said, Its got to be a painful thing for them. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. She was one of the great goddesses of cinema [Hannah had already starred in Splash and Roxanne]. Stressed and distraught, Harling was advised by his fellow acting class workshop members to put his thoughts on paper. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Sadly, the transplant didnt work. This isnt the weekend the price will be low, either. "She never missed it. It was about her fight with diabetes and her death . ", "People would like to feel they were the person who always had the snappy comeback and would always speak the truth," says Harling. Less than a year into the plays run, the legendary producer Ray Stark bought the film rights, and in 1988 it was made into a movie starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts as the mother/daughter characters, MLynn and Shelby. He is one of the most genuine and drawing people that i think i . Lets open it up. The casting director said, Theres this girl. Stark had made the hit The Way We Were, and the plays hed made into movies included Funny Girl and Chapter Two. Year should not be greater than current year. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. When one child is diagnosed with T1 the entire family has to go to educational classes to learn how care for them and they for themselves. But its called Eagle When She Flies, which she sings with this gospel choir that just tears your heart out. Robert recalls: Julia would come over to the house to see my mom and dad all the time, she worked so hard. But when Olympia came down, all the women in town thought she had the most accurate accent. Failed to remove flower. Steel Magnolias has been his way, he says, of keeping Susan alive for her son, now 31, about to marry for a second time this summer and living in Texas. What people dont understand is that its honest even below what they see as a story. [Roberts grew up in Smyrna, Georgia.] Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). When Susan learned she was a diabetic at age twelve, one of the first things she said was that her illness was not going to get in the way of anything. True to her word, she never let it slow her down. 9. . At the corner of Pine and Cypress streets is a small memorial park dedicated to Susan Harling Robinson, whose name may not mean anything to you, but the film her story inspired almost certainly will. But she wanted a child, she went ahead and had a child, and then, sure enough, her metabolism started to failcirculatory system, kidneys, the whole thing. You might need some tissues to watch this emotional clip from Steel Magnolias: the true metaphor behind Steel Magnolia., Soda Really Does Taste Better In A Glass Bottle, Leonardo DiCaprio Donates $100 Million Towards Wildlife Conservation. Well do the play, itll come and go, and they wont know anything about it. I was just chicken. I realized this hermetically sealed environment would be the best place to have these women express their true feelings. Harling also wrote and directed the sequel to Terms of Endearment titled The Evening Star (1996). All rights reserved. Learn more about merges. 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. She said, Good luck, and they rolled her down to the operating room. Softly spoken and with a Southern accent that still hints at his Louisiana upbringing, Robert Harling wrote the play Steel Magnolias shortly after the death of his beloved sister Susan Robinson aged just 33 in 1985. Its unfair to make a four-year-old think my mom died because of me. Thanks for your help! And that was it. Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Academy Award winner Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts. At the end, I was really torn up, I said mom, its okay we dont have to do this, it doesnt matter, I cant put you through this. A kidney transplant from her mother, and dialysis, did little to help. However, there are moments that were dramatized for the cameras, he says. As the years have gone by, there are a lot of lines that get quoted back to me. Upon her graduation from the NSU School of Nursing, Susan became a pediatric nurse and resided in Shreveport. . One thing is for sure, Mrs. Susan Robinson did not go through life without being loved!!!! Sara Anne Berger officiating. SHIRLEY MACLAINE I loved studying the townspeople and walking through their lives a little. SHIRLEY MACLAINE We immediately saw that Herbert was cruel to both Dolly and Julia. We became one. If there is one moment of joy to be gained out of this experience, you cannot deny them that. Unfortunately for Susan, the pregnancy had taken a toll on her kidneys. After the play had some success and everybody from Natchitoches went up to New York to see it, I was really worried because Ouisers such a crotchety old curmudgeon. I actually had to get off the call because I was going to an audition. 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. But to do everything my parents did and for it still not work, there were some very dark times, he admits. Interment will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery in Natchitoches. Susan left behind her husband Dr Pat Robinson and their two-year-old son Robert after years of battling diabetes, and amid the waves of his grief, Robert, then an actor, put pen to paper at the urging of close friends and wrote all about the town of Natchitoches, where his mother Margaret ruled the roost and the women spoke in bumper stickers. A peaceful fountain forms the centerpiece of the park, with benches placed around for silent meditation. If you dont tell them, I will.. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. This was pretty much her first big film.'. Im not a hairdresser. Assuming your son. But first a lot of stuff had to happen. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Its original incarnation was a play that had a successful off-Broadway run. There I sat facing a tall iron marquee that read American Cemetery, and to the left was a gorgeous plantation-style home. Julia came in, and it was like somebody bumped up the lights. Well do the play, itll come and go, and they wont know anything about it. I was just chicken. Its that Southern thing of using a family name as a first name, Harling says. He says he was inspired to write the story after the 33-year-old died in 1985 from complications related to diabetes. Why Trust Us? Toast to my sister, Susan,'" Harling said. Writer Robert Harling wrote Steel Magnolias as a way of coping with the passing of his sister . Cypress St. was easy enough to find, but at the corner of Cypress and Pine, I turned right into a dead endthe most interesting looking dead end Ive ever encountered. The 32 year old Susan left behind her husband Dr Pat Robinson and their two-year-old son Robert after years of battling diabetes. But Julia Roberts was perfect as soon as she walked in for her audition, Before "Steel Magnolias," the Oscar winner was only really known for her role in "Mystic Pizza," but Harling said that he knew she was perfect for the role of Shelby as soon as she walked into the room. ROBERT HARLING Just after my dinner with Herbert, Olympia Dukakis won the Oscar for Moonstruck. They were just flummoxedI wasnt a writer. In the film, Shelby is found unconscious at home by her husband while her baby son cries in the background. - Rob What is your son to your husband's cousin's child? It was much grimmer than I portrayed it in the play. At the urging of friend Kathy Weller, Robert told his mother about his play while she was visiting him in New York, and recalls: She was stunnedShe said whats it about? I said You!, 'Susan died in the fall of 1985. cemeteries found in Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Shes Shelby. I thought, Okay, I can breathe now, my sisters in good hands., SHIRLEY MACLAINE The moment Julia walked into the reading, I thought, That woman is going to be a star. I called my agent and said, I dont know if she has an agent, but you should handle her.. Well, for Harling, it was based on something his mother once said. And I realised, okay, this kid was two when his mom died, he doesnt remember her, but he does know that it took the biggest star in the world to play her. 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. Score: 4.2/5 (2 votes) . Harling wrote the play, and eventual screenplay, as both catharsis and as something that Harling could pass along to his nephew. In Steel Magnolias Id be part of an ensemble. We went back to the list: Laura Dern, Winona Ryder, all the hot young stars. Therefore, your body doesnt make insulin and you have to take insulin through shots or a pump every time you eat. By everyone that knew her! Susan left behind her husband Dr Pat Robinson and their two-year-old son Robert after years of battling diabetes, and amid the waves of his grief, Robert, then an actor, put pen to paper at. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. It was originally going to be a shortstory, Harling said when he began putting his sister's story down in writing, it began as a short story. We talked about life, and I tried to help her because I was a dancer and understood the choreographer mentality. Heres his backstory, In her downsizing move from Charleston to Raleigh, the celebrated Southern chef got down to the basics. It is the image of a small, blonde-haired all-American boy beaming in the Easter sunshine that flashes up at the end of Hollywood classic Steel Magnolias and stays with you long after the credits have rolled. Harling at first thought his story was a drama, When the play was first in rehearsal, Harling says they thought it was strictly a drama, since they were performing a dark, emotional story.
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