Virginia Cherill
Yesterday, side-by-side on the obituary page of my hometown paper, were two un-related women who, by all appearances, were just everyday members of this tiny, rural community. But these two senior citizens—who died on the same day—were relatives of some noteworthy Hollywood stars.
Six Degrees from Charlie Chaplin
Mary Agnes Habben, 91, of Carthage, was born on March 19, 1918, at the family home in Carthage, a daughter of Lawrence C. and Stella (Paris) Cherrill.
…which means she is a direct relative, one of the last remaining in the area, of Virginia Cherrill, who was Charlie Chaplain‘s leading lady in the classic silent movie City Lights. Virginia Cherill, who played the blind ingenue in the film, was originally from Carthage, and was just profiled in a new biography by British writer Miranda Seyour.
I had never met Mary Agnes Habben, but I think she was a pretty well-known lady in the community (especially because, well, everyone is.)
One Degree from Frasier’s Father
Vera A. Jones, 82, of Carthage “….is survived by [among many others] two brothers, John Mahoney of Oak Park and Bernard Mahoney of England….” making her the sister of “Frasier’s dad” John Mahoney. (Or for you 80′s film fans, that would be the father of Lloyd Dobler’s girlfriend).
I didn’t really know Vera, but she was one of my regular customers during my five years as a cashier at the grocery store in Carthage during my high school days and college breaks. I will always remember her because she was the only person I ever knew in Carthage with a British accent.
But I also probably took a bit more notice of her than other customers once I heard the rumor that she had a famous brother.
In the era when her brother was on NBC’s “Must See TV” every week during “Frasier,” this little lady would come in to the store for her Pall-Malls and to get quarters for the paper machine outside, never giving away a single clue to her status as the sibling of someone famous.
For a long time I thought it might just be a rural legend. I mean, John Mahoney doesn’t appear to have a British accent. And even if he did have one but controls it in his acting, how did he and his sister end up in rural Illinois?
I still don’t know the answer to those questions, but I do know that John was a master’s degree student here at WIU in Macomb, and that he got his first break in the Midwest (during his theatre days in Chicago).
Makes you wonder…
Looking back, Vera now reminds me a bit of Louise Harrison, (the sister of the Quiet Beatle), who was also a British lady in small-town Illinois, (Galesburg) and who (as I discovered while researching for my newspaper column) was also quiet about her ties to fame.
R.I.P., Vera and Mary Agnes; Carthage will miss you!
Tags: Carthage, local_history, local_news
Hello, I am Theresa Wilkens, the youngest child of Vera Jones. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your article, “The Passing of Two Local Ladies with Ties to Hollywood”. My mother was a class act. I still can’t believe she is gone. It has been almost a year since her passing, and the void is HUGE! She was THE most WONDERFUL mother, and person, as was my father, Grant Jones, who passed away in 1987. I just wanted to Thank You for your kind words, of my mother, Vera Jones. We, her family, enjoyed and appreciated your article, and I just wanted to relay that to you. :)
Love,
Theresa (Jones) Wilkens
Dear Theresa,
I hope you will see this reply– thank you so much for your kind note, and for additional details about your mom and dad. I’m glad you appreciated the post. I’m so sorry for your loss, too.
Like I said, I really didn’t know her at all, but I just wanted to pay some kind of tribute to her when I saw in the paper that she had passed, because I always remembered her from my years working in the grocery store. Take care, and thanks again for your post.