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Jul 28, 2017 · The Heartbreaking Real-Life Story Behind 'Steel Magnolias'. We caught up with writer Robert Harling for a look back at his iconic play, which debuted off-Broadway 30 years ago. It's been 30 years since Steel Magnolias, the play that inspired the iconic film by the same name, opened off-Broadway.
- 'Steel Magnolias' Was Based on A True Story
- The Movie Offered Healing
- The Film Gave Back to Others
- It Took 10 Days to Write
- It Was Originally A Short Story
- The Author's Sister Inspired A Famous Scene
- Others Were Considered to Play Shelby
- Hollywood Royalty Wanted in
- Harling Wrote Truvy For Another Actress
- 'Steel Magnolias' Led to 'Soapdish'
Actor and writer Robert Harling wrote the play based on the true story of his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, who died from complications with diabetes.
Harling wanted his mother to leave the set when they filmed Julia Roberts's death scene, but his mother insisted on staying so she could see Julia get up and walk away after the director yelled cut. "I said, 'I can't believe you put yourself through that,'" Harling recalled saying to his mother in an interview with the Huffington Post. "But Julia h...
The nursesand other hospital staff seen in Julia Roberts' life-support scenes are actual medical professionals who tended to Harling's sister in her final days.
"The events that inspired it were so powerful that, after I found the story arena, it just poured out into my typewriter in a 24/7 tsunami of Southernness," Harling told Garden & Gun in 2013 about the speedy writing process. "I had no idea what I'd written. I asked the first person I gave it to if it even looked like a play. I wasn't really sure. A...
Harling originally wanted to turn his sister's life into a short story, but it quickly turned into a play because he wanted its Southernness to come out. "I was missing the sound of the wonderful vernacular," he told Todayin 2014. "It became a play because I wanted to hear the dialogue. And that was it."
When Harling hit a patch of writer's block while working on the play, he channeled his sister for one of its most famous scenes. "I said, 'What would Susan do?' and what Susan would do would be outrageous," he told Today. "She would do something completely inappropriate and totally out of the box." The result is that at Shelby's funeral, when her m...
Originally, Winona Ryder was considered for the part of Shelby, but producers decided she was too young. Instead, they settled on Meg Ryan, who committed to the role before dropping out for a little film called When Harry Met Sally. That's when Julia Roberts stepped in. "She walked into the room and that smile lit everything up, and I said 'That's ...
Elizabeth Taylor went to see Steel Magnolias during its off-Broadway run, and thanks to her rave review, Hollywood legend Bette Davis called up Harlingand started a push to be cast in the film as Ouiser. She also thought that Katharine Hepburn could make a fantastic Clairee and Elizabeth Taylor would be perfect as M'Lynn. Harling said that Davis ev...
While Dolly Parton was perfect in the role of beauty shop owner Truvy, the role was actually writtenfor someone else entirely—Margo Martindale. Harling and Martindale were friends in real life and he wrote the part for her. She originated the role of Truvy in the play's off-Broadway debut.
After long days on set in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the cast would gather together to play games and chat. One night, according to the Huffington Post, Harling asked each actress to name the role she'd most like to play. Sally Field said she always played "really noble, earnest women that wear crummy clothes. For once I'd like to play a b---h that g...
- 1 min
Jul 24, 2022 · Steel Magnolias True Story. News. Julia Roberts Wasn't the Original Actor Cast as Shelby in Steel Magnolias. Hear the true stories behind Steel Magnolias from creator Robert Harling. By. Rebecca Angel Baer. Updated on July 24, 2022. In This Article. Steel Magnolias' Real-Life Characters. From the Stage to the Silver Screen. Finding the Perfect Cast
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Nov 22, 1989 · Steel Magnolias: Directed by Herbert Ross. With Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah. A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship, and welcome her into the fold.
- (63K)
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Herbert Ross
- 1989-11-22
Six icons of the silver screen – Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts – come together in this hilarious and heartwarming story of life, love and loss in a small Louisiana parish. Steel Magnolias returns to theaters May 5 and 8.
Apr 23, 2024 · STEEL MAGNOLIAS [1989] – Official Trailer. Relive STEEL MAGNOLIAS for its 35th anniversary - now on 4K Ultra HD for the first time! Own the 35th Anniversary Edition Now:...
- 1 min
- 21.7K
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
Synopsis by miranda8625: Steel Magnolias opens to a spring day in modern Louisiana and follows a young woman walking down a residential street. The woman soon walks into a home-based salon owned by Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton).
