Welcome back, Julia99; I hope that you had a nice return trip.
Jeanne Avery did speak about her latest granddaughter, a toddler given to theatrics. According to Avery's anecdote, the little girl (whose name escapes me just now) one day dropped one of her stuffed toys on the floor, then cried bitterly as she tried to comfort and tend to it. Avery realized that the girl was trying to get attention when she repeated the action several times. Henesy's oldest son (Luke?) also demonstrates an interest in acting.
Jeanne Avery did do her best to dispel the "stage mom" rumors. She explained that she'd had nothing to do with David's decision to act. As she told it, he came home from school one day and told her that he was going to be on Broadway and that she had to call the stage manager. Because David was so young, Avery believed that he was telling stories and didn't think anything of it at the time until the stage manager called her ( on the day of Kennedy's assassination) to say that he was holding a role for David in one of Mary Martin's plays (I believe it was called Jenny.) Later, David was inspired by a performance of Oliver to practice his singing and eventually did earn a role in the musical as "the laughing boy."
Avery told the story of David getting the role on "Dark Shadows" of course. He felt very confident after auditioning for the show, and told his mother that he was sure he'd gotten the part. As with his Broadway debut, Henesy's mother initially didn't place much importance on the issue until David mentioned that he'd be working with "some old actress named Joan Bennett." It seems that Avery was a major Joan Bennett fan at the time. She again stressed that she'd had nothing to do with getting him the role or pushing him to audition for it. In fact, Avery mentioned that David's decision to act complicated the family's life as they struggled with personal schedules and travel arrangements. She also indicated that as a single, working mother, she had little time to spend with her children and felt guilty about this. Since she was also an actress, she thought that David's acting would give them a chance to further bond.
Henesy currently owns and operates a successful restaurant in Cartagena, Columbia, which is frequented by major politicians and celebrities of the entertainment world. Avery does past life regression therapy for these same clients.
ProfStokes
