49 Fun Facts About Steel Magnolias

Which actress plays salon owner Truvy Jones in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Dolly Parton clashed with the director, who she later said was unhappy with her acting; a co-star recalled her answering him with bawdy jokes.

What medical condition does Julia Roberts' Shelby have in Steel Magnolias?

Type 1 diabetes is why Shelby's doctor has told her not to have children, a warning she defies within the year, to her mother's dismay.

Which actress plays M'Lynn Eatenton, Shelby's mother, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Sally Field plays M'Lynn, who alone stays at Shelby's bedside to the end; the men of the family, she says at the grave, could not bear to stay in the room.

What is the nickname of Shirley MacLaine's grouchy character in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Ouiser, short for Louisa, blames a neighbor's gunfire for her dog's lost coat and says she no longer has a good side, yet lets her friends reunite her with an old flame.

Which U.S. state is the setting of both the play and the film Steel Magnolias?

Louisiana is where playwright Robert Harling grew up; he set the story in fictional Chinquapin Parish and insisted the film be shot in his real hometown.

Which Footloose director made the 1989 film version of Steel Magnolias?

Herbert Ross, a former ballet and Broadway choreographer, was hard on newcomer Julia Roberts, co-stars recalled; the rest of the cast rallied around her.

Which actress plays Annelle, the shy beauty-school graduate, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Daryl Hannah's Annelle arrives hiding a husband who ran off with her car and money, and ends the film devout, newly married and expecting a baby she will name after Shelby.

Which actress plays Clairee Belcher, the former mayor's widow, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Olympia Dukakis, fresh from her Moonstruck Oscar, plays the widow who breaks the tension at Shelby's burial by offering up her best friend to be hit.

The 1989 film Steel Magnolias ends with Annelle going into labor at the town's celebration of which holiday?

Easter. At the town egg hunt, Annelle's husband Sammy is dressed as the Easter Bunny, and he follows her to the hospital on the back of a motorcycle.

In Steel Magnolias, what animal is the groom's cake at Shelby's wedding shaped like?

An armadillo. Jackson's Aunt Fern bakes it from blood-red velvet cake under gray icing, so cutting into it looks like the animal is bleeding.

In Steel Magnolias, how does M'Lynn sum up Shelby's 'blush and bashful' wedding colors?

Pink and pink. Shelby insists she chose two shades, one much deeper than the other, and M'Lynn says the church looks hosed down with Pepto-Bismol.

In Steel Magnolias, Truvy says that laughter through what is her favorite emotion?

Tears. Truvy says it at the cemetery, moments after the women's grief for Shelby has collapsed into helpless laughter at a joke made at a friend's expense.

Robert Harling, who wrote both the play and the film of Steel Magnolias, held an unused degree in which subject?

Law. Harling skipped his bar exam to take a stage acting job, and he was still getting by on TV commercials in New York when he wrote his first play.

Robert Harling wrote Steel Magnolias after the 1985 death of which family member, the model for Shelby?

His sister Susan, a pediatric nurse, died in 1985; Harling first wrote her story as a short piece so that her young son would know who his mother was.

Which real town, Robert Harling's hometown, hosted the 1988 shoot of the film Steel Magnolias?

Natchitoches kept a souvenir: one house used in the shoot became a bed-and-breakfast, the Steel Magnolia House, with rooms named for the characters.

Julia Roberts lost the Oscar for Steel Magnolias but won which award for playing Shelby?

A Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress went to Roberts, the newcomer in a cast with three Oscar winners, and she was also the film's only Oscar nominee.

Which actress was first cast as Shelby in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias but left before filming began?

Meg Ryan left to make When Harry Met Sally and Julia Roberts stepped in; years later Roberts passed on the lead in You've Got Mail, which went to Ryan.

Who plays Drum Eatenton, Shelby's father, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Tom Skerritt's Drum spends the wedding morning firing blanks into the trees so birds won't spoil the reception, to the fury of a neighbor whose dog he terrifies.

Which actor plays Jackson Latcherie, Shelby's husband, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Dylan McDermott and Julia Roberts became a couple while playing newlyweds and got engaged, but the relationship ended in 1990 before any wedding.

Which Pulitzer-winning playwright plays Truvy's husband Spud Jones in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Sam Shepard's Spud is out of work for most of the film, then leads Truvy, eyes shut, to a second salon he has opened for her; 'I'm a chain!' she cries.

How did the cast of the original Steel Magnolias play differ from the 1989 film's?

It was entirely all-female: on stage the husbands and sons are only talked about, heard at most as a radio DJ's voice, and the film put them on screen.

Where does the entire stage play Steel Magnolias take place?

Truvy's beauty parlor is the play's only set, across four scenes; the film opened the story up to a wedding, a Christmas festival and a hospital ward.

Which cable network aired the 2012 remake of Steel Magnolias with an all-Black cast?

Lifetime said yes without a second's delay, the remake's producers recalled, asking only when they could start shooting; the premiere drew 6.5 million viewers.

Who plays M'Lynn in the 2012 television remake of Steel Magnolias?

Queen Latifah was also an executive producer, reuniting with the producers of Chicago and Hairspray, two earlier films she had made with them.

Which singer plays Truvy in the 2012 remake of Steel Magnolias?

Jill Scott, the remake's producers said, built the salon owner from the script and made no attempt to recreate the performance in the 1989 film.

Who earned an Emmy nomination as the town grouch in the 2012 remake of Steel Magnolias?

Alfre Woodard said it was fun to play someone 'not accommodating at all'; hers was the remake's only Emmy nomination, and she won the NAACP Image Award.

Which relative of Phylicia Rashad, who plays Clairee, plays Shelby in the 2012 remake of Steel Magnolias?

Her daughter Condola Rashad, Tony-nominated months earlier for Stick Fly, shared the film with her mother but played another woman's child.

Which European film festival opened in February 1990 with a screening of Steel Magnolias?

Berlin. It was the first Berlinale held on both sides of the newly opened Wall: the film was also shown in East Berlin, and Julia Roberts posed at the Wall itself.

Which studio released the film Steel Magnolias in November 1989?

Tri-Star Pictures released it for producer Ray Stark, who had bought the screen rights within months of the play's 1987 Off-Broadway opening.

In Steel Magnolias, Shelby says she would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a whole life of what?

Nothing special. Shelby says it at Christmas to win her mother's support for a pregnancy her doctor had warned her against.

Who played Truvy when Steel Magnolias finally reached Broadway in 2005?

Delta Burke, the Designing Women star and former Miss Florida, led a run that closed after four months, against nearly three years for the original Off-Broadway.

Who plays Sammy DeSoto, the bartender Annelle marries, in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Kevin J. O'Connor's Sammy flirts with Annelle at Shelby's reception, then bristles at her new piety, saying he would rather eat dirt than pray; they marry anyway.

Which future film star played Shelby in the first Australian production of Steel Magnolias in 1988?

Nicole Kidman took the part on stage the same year the film had to recast it: its first-choice Shelby dropped out, and Julia Roberts won the role.

After buying the local radio station in Steel Magnolias, Clairee goes on air as color announcer for which sport?

Football. Clairee, a widow who says she really does love the game, covers the local Devils and tells listeners about the team's uniforms instead of the plays.

Which small role did playwright Robert Harling take on screen in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

The minister. Harling, an actor before he was a writer, presides over both Shelby's wedding and her funeral on screen.

Which Laverne & Shirley star played M'Lynn in the 1990 sitcom pilot based on Steel Magnolias?

Cindy Williams led a pilot set after the film's ending, with every main character but Shelby; CBS aired it once in August 1990 and ordered no series.

Which character actress, a friend of the playwright, originated Truvy in Steel Magnolias Off-Broadway in 1987?

Margo Martindale was the friend Robert Harling wrote Truvy for; the film handed the part to a bigger star, and her own Emmys came more than twenty years later.

Which future Northern Exposure regular plays Nancy Beth Marmillion in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Janine Turner's Nancy Beth is crowned Miss Merry Christmas, then stripped of the title after being found in a motel with a politician; a year later Turner was a bush pilot on TV.

What is the call sign of the radio station Clairee buys in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

KPPD. Clairee hears the Antilley family is selling it, Shelby tells her she has plenty of money to buy it, and by Christmas she owns the station.

What is the name of the dog owned by Shirley MacLaine's character in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias?

Rhett. His owner hauls him to the Eatentons' door straight from the vet, blaming the gunfire next door for the nervous condition that cost him his coat.

Shirley MacLaine's turn as the town grouch in Steel Magnolias earned a nomination from which country's film academy?

Britain. BAFTA nominated her for Best Supporting Actress in 1991, when Whoopi Goldberg won for Ghost; the Oscars had nominated only Julia Roberts from the film.

In Steel Magnolias, what does M'Lynn make Shelby drink when she falls ill in Truvy's salon chair?

Juice. Truvy offers a cookie, but M'Lynn says juice is better and holds the struggling Shelby until she drinks it and comes back to herself.

In the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, what does M'Lynn donate to Shelby?

A kidney. The transplant works at first, but months later Shelby collapses at home on Halloween and never wakes from the coma.

Shirley MacLaine's character in Steel Magnolias says she isn't crazy, she has just been in what for 40 years?

A very bad mood. It is her answer when M'Lynn, a counselor, suggests she come and talk to someone at the guidance center.

In Steel Magnolias, Clairee says that if you can't say anything nice about anybody, you should come do what?

Sit by me. Clairee tosses it off as something 'somebody always said' after being scolded for gossiping about her own kin.

In Steel Magnolias, Clairee jokes that her friend's hairless dog would be which breed if it had hair?

A St. Bernard. The dog has shed its coat from nerves, which its owner blames on the bride's father and his morning of gunfire next door.

Which Hollywood legend invited Robert Harling to tea to lobby for a role in the film of Steel Magnolias?

Bette Davis summoned him after seeing the play's success and pushed to play the town grouch herself; the part went to Shirley MacLaine instead.

The Christmas festival scenes in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias were shot during which season?

Summer. The whole shoot ran from July to early September 1988, so the cast wore Christmas sweaters and winter hats in heat near 100 degrees.

Which 1959 John Wayne film was shot around Robert Harling's hometown three decades before Steel Magnolias?

The Horse Soldiers. John Ford filmed its Civil War cavalry along the Cane River, and a 1988 report called it the only Hollywood production there until Harling brought his film home.