HE'S AS OLD AS GONE WITH THE WIND
Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) mothered him, Melanie Wilkes (Olivia de Haviland) cherished him, and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) fussed over him as "Baby Bonnie Blue Butler" but because he was only 11-days-old, Greg Giese doesn't remember his role as the youngest cast member in Gone With the Wind, one of the most popular films ever made.
Greg, now 64 and a resident of Villa Park, California, played newborn infant, "Bonnie Blue Butler", the blue-eyed child of Scarlett and Rhett in the 1939 film classic. Greg is also the only actor to play a dual role in the film. He also played "Baby Beau" ,Melanie's child. who was born during the burning of Atlanta scene. He was the baby in the wagon with Melanie while Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) drove the wagon to escape the flames.
( Because of his dual role, Greg has the noted claim to fame as being the youngest actor ever to play dual baby roles of both girl and boy in a major motion picture. That record still stands today. )
To this day, Greg can only speculate as to what prompted scouts from producer David O. Selznick's office to choose him over the other babies lying in cribs in the nursery at the old Rice Maternity Hospital in Los Angeles. "I was probably the best looking," Greg says laughing. Film buffs, on the other hand, might surmise that it was Greg's blue eyes that caught the film maker's attention. Color played a key role in both the book and the movie when the baby's given name was affectionately nicknamed by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) as "Bonnie Blue Butler" after Melanie, portrayed by Olivia de Haviland, said that the baby's eyes were "as blue as the bonnie blue flag."
Greg, was paid for his acting talents of which he still has a copy of the original pay check stub. He also has kept the original copy of the contract carefully encased in a vacuum packed frame that he proudly displays to this day.
Greg's mother, Cleo Brotherton of Garden Grove, California, who has since passed on, stated in several interviews that her most memorable moment of seeing Greg was at the Los Angeles premiere in 1939. When she saw her son in his first scene, "I screamed, That's my son!...I was so thrilled!"
Greg, can recall many memorable moments throughout the years, in meeting with the fellow cast members at various anniversaries of the film. Greg mentions that the 40th anniversary of the premiere in 1979 at the Los Angeles County Museum, was quite memorable. Olivia de Haviland, who played Melanie was there..."She gave me a hug to make sure that I was still as cuddly as a baby, She said that I still was"..., Fred Crane, one of the Tarlton twins, Alberto Morin (Rene Picard), Rand Brooks (Charles Hamilton), Cammie King (Bonnie Blue when older), Evelyn Keyes (Sue Ellen), Patrick Curtis (the older Beau). Art Director Lyle Wheeler and Costume Designer Walter Plunkett were also there. Greg recalls that, over "900 people showed for the event at $ 30 a head...that was a lot of money in those days...I couldn't believe the interest there still was in the movie."
Greg also attended the 50th Anniversary in Atlanta where he met fellow Beau Wilkes actors, Mickey Kuhn and Ric Holt. In Atlanta, Greg got to meet one of his favorite people in the movie Butterfly McQueen who uttered the famous words, "Miss Scarlet, I don't know nothing about birthing babies!." It was a wonderful get together put on by Ted Turner and the city of Atlanta.
Greg was recently featured in the award-winning documentary, "THE YOUNG AND THE DEAD"...He has also appeared in commercials and makes many public appearances and plays in charity golf tournaments.
Copyright © 2003 by Greg Giese
