A long time ago (I believe it was when Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989) was the first time I heard the reference that she was an 'April Rose' - any actress who passes away in the month of April. I believe it was a news reporter who was reporting on her death which made the reference and caught my ear (I was in my mid-20s). Over the years I have read about it on different blogs - referring to the deaths of actresses Agnes Moorehead, Dixie Carter, and Bea Arthur. It came up again just a month ago when Georgia Engle passed - someone on a blog referred to her as 'an April rose amongst us'.
Has anyone else ever heard of this phrase before? Does anyone know it's origins? I've tried Googling, but nothing comes up. (I believe once someone explained it came from Victorian times, but I'm not 100% positive).
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Have one other suggestion- do you have a large library nearby? Often the librarians will be able to track a reference down when GOG ( Good Old Google) just can't' make the connections. good luck
sabrelady said: "Have one other suggestion- do you have a large library nearby? Often the librarians will be able to track a reference down when GOG ( Good Old Google) just can't' make the connections. good luck"
Thank you for the suggestion - I work in an academic library at a large university, as it happens! LOL I did ask one of my coworkers (she loves theater so she was just as intrigued) and she tried pinning down the origin with no luck (though she did come across something similar called a 'Black Rose' which was referred to a dead actress in general).
Yet your link to 'April Rose' and the definition which followed was very helpful! I'm wondering if one particular actress long ago who passed in April was described this way and all actresses who passed in April have been given the same name?
An April Rose is a type of Japanese camellia. It is the state flower of Alabama. Though none of the women you mention seem to have any link to that state.
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
I've never heard of this reference before. It's interesting to me that I can't find any source that refers to any of the actresses you mention as an "April rose". I'm not saying that you haven't heard the reference, I'm just saying that I can't find any source that does, or has.
My best guess is that (perhaps) someone has made a poetic reference to the lyric from "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" (it's the only common instance I'm aware of that uses that phrase):
It's the April rose that only grows in the early Spring* ...and its subsequent lyric:
Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living ...which could be a comforting thought to friends and family.
Perhaps it's a poetic reference to our love for these women, and that these actresses are not truly gone from us, but have 'grown' into a new, eternal life.
Also, a rose that "only grows in the early Spring" is unique, so referring to them as an 'April rose' may be a way of complimenting their perfection, and emphasizing their uniqueness.
*The rose is considered to be a "perfect" flower, and also holds religious significance i.e., in the Biblical Song of Solomon, use of the rose as an icon for the Virgin Mary, etc.
Thank you all for your responses. SO many of them make sense in different ways. I will try to find some examples on the blogs I read, but of course...when you're looking for something is when you can't find it.