By Liz Armstrong
Steel Magnolias is a story of resilience, friendship, and grief. A tribute to his sister, playwright Robert Harling depicts how connection and humor can get us through the most difficult of times.
Because Harling wrote this play to help him cope with the loss of his sister, the audience gets an intimate glimpse into Harling’s own life, as well as that of his late sister, Susan.
Ten fun facts about Harling and his work include:
- Harling wrote the play in just ten days and was an actor at the time living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
- Harling’s friend encouraged him to write the play to help him come to terms with the death of his sister, but he had another reason for writing the play––his nephew. Harling hoped it would give him a deeper understanding of his mother, as his nephew would now have to navigate life without her.
- Harling grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana (where he later set the story of Steel Magnolias) and was one of three children.
- Harling didn’t plan on being an actor. He obtained a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. However, he skipped the bar exam after graduating and moved to New York City to become an actor. At one point, he was a ticket seller for Broadway.
- While he was in law school, Harling was a singer for a band that played in New Orleans. He said it was “a great life.”
- Steel Magnolias was originally a short story, but Harling shifted it into play format. He also wrote the screenplay for the film starring Sally Field, which was produced in 1989. Harling even played a small role as a minister in the movie.
- Because of the humorous use of the armadillo groom’s cake in the story, The New York Times credited Harling for the revival of red velvet cake, which he said was “one of my great life achievements.”
- The writer and producer is also known for films Soapdish (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and The Evening Star (1996). The inspiration for Soapdish came to Harling during the filming of Steel Magnolias in his hometown.
- Harling’s seen his own play produced in multiple languages such as Japanese, Chinese, French, Swedish, Spanish, and Italian, proving to him that “the need for friendship and support knows no bounds.”
- In a 2013 interview with Garden and Gun magazine, Harling describes what the title of the play means to him.
“When I was a kid, a lady in the neighborhood had a large metal floral paperweight on her kitchen counter that served as a receptacle for change, keys…it weighed down the check for the milkman or the dry cleaner receipt. She called that thing on her counter ‘the steel magnolia.’ In her sweet drawl, she’d say, ‘Take a quarter from the steel magnolia and get us some ice cream.’ I found it interesting that the thing was neither steel nor a magnolia, but that’s what she called it. And the imagery stuck. Something beautiful made of very strong stuff.”
