Goodnight Mrs. Calabash
Goodnight Mrs. Calabash; some might remember that being the signature signoff of the one and only, Jimmy Durante.
There are a few theories of who this “Mrs. Calabash” was.
One of those theories is that Mrs. Calabash was a tribute to his late first wife, Jeanne Olson, who passed away in 1943. She was hospitalized in Calabasas, California, but because of her illness had trouble saying Calabasas, and it came out Calabash. It turned out to be an inside joke in the Durante household. In an interview with Sonny King, a comic that appeared in a few Rat Pack movies and was a long time sidekick of Jimmy Durante, stated that “Mrs. Calabash” was indeed Jeanne Olson.
However, another theory, that deems more real to us here in Brunswick County, was that “Mrs. Calabash” was Lucille “Lucy” Coleman the owner of Coleman’s Original Restaurant that is still running today, on Nance Road in Calabash. In 1940 Jimmy Durante and his entourage wandered into Coleman’s Restaurant for dinner. He beckoned Lucy over to his table, after a night of great food and hospitality for some idle conversation. Supposedly, Jimmy Durante told Lucy that he would make her famous. He left not ever knowing her real name, but as he exited the restaurant he said “Good night Mrs. Calabash.” Shortly after that, he began signing off his radio and television shows with “Goodnight Mrs. Calabash-wherever you are.” Lucille Coleman recognized his signoff, and if she had accepted the interviews and all the publicity, she would have been famous. Just as Jimmy Durante had stated.
Lucille was so private with the Jimmy Durante story that her daughter, Clarice Holden, did not learn of her “famousness” until a few years before Jimmy had passed away.
Lucille passed away in 1989 almost fifty years after Jimmy Durante came into her restaurant.
People can speculate all they want, but as far as the people in Brunswick County is concerned, Lucille Coleman was “Mrs. Calabash.”
A little food for thought: After Jimmy Durante had signed off that way for years, it is said that restaurant owners changed the names of their restaurants so the heading would be “Calabash seafood” to gain a little bit of the hype and popularity.
