Thursday, January 31, 2013

Diane Mahree is with us. She is with us always.

I had a wonderful chat with my friend, Diane Mahree this week.  As any self respecting Manos The Hands of Fate fan knows, Diane played the part of little  Debbie's mother and wife to Michael.  Interesting thing I had never really considered before now...We all know what happened to Michael.  He replaced Torgo as the Valley Lodge caretaker and we know what happened to poor little six year old Debbie.  She had the dubious distinction of becoming one of, if not the youngest bride in film history (This is where I count on fans of film to either confirm or rebuke my last statement).  So what happened to beautiful Margaret?  Perhaps Hal had further plans for her character in another film.  Lest we forget the very end of the film where it says "The End?".  I suppose we'll never really know, but we do know that actress and model Diane Mahree did not die in a fiery car crash as Manos mythology once claimed.  She's actually healthy and doing just fine in Colorado.  She and I had the opportunity to meet again in December 2011 back in El Paso where it all began more than 45 years before.  We were there working on the sequel to Manos.  Manos; Search for Valley Lodge.  Don't ask.  I don't know what's going on with that and can't talk about it anyway.  We spent a week together, had a great time and were amazed at our instant connection to each other.  She is still so very beautiful and has a wonderful voice which sounds nothing like the dubbed voice that emitted from her mouth in the film.  She is also a fabulous story teller and had so many great stories of her life adventures and  incredible experiences as a highly sought after model in New York and then Europe.  While talking this week, I asked if she would re tell some of her Manos related stories for me to share with you and happily, she agreed.  My  next post will be how Diane became involved in the first place.  So stay tuned and thanks so much for reading.

8 comments:

  1. that's awesome! I always wondered what happened to her, and I'm glad to know that she's still alive.

    ...how very interesting.

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  2. I think Margaret become one of the wives at the end. Shes shone right before Debbie. Manos! so greedy!!

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    1. Someone else told me she was right before me. Maybe because she was my mom, I blocked out the horror of it. Lol. Thanks for setting me straight. It's important to me to get the stories right.

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  3. I remember after a long day of filming, staying up to the wee hours of the morning listening to her share her memories. She has great stories and is a great story teller, as are you, and I can't wait to relive them again through your words.

    Thanks for sharing this part of Manos that would otherwise be lost forever...

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    1. Yep. That was really great. I'm glad she's agreed to let me share a few of her stories here.

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  4. I'm glued to this Blog! Can't wait to hear stories from the Lovely Mrs Mahree!

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  5. So, Manos internet myth suggests that Diane did the vocals for the songs. Can you confirm or deny?
    - Rachel

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    1. Nope, wasn't Diane. The identity of the vocalists are still unknown and they probably have no idea how famous they have become. Or maybe they do, and choose to stay hidden.

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