Ludwig Lauerhass, Jr. and Betty’s thimbles
The journey began on 28 March 2013 at the home of Betty’s son, Ludwig Lauerhass, Jr., Professor Emeritus at UCLA.
Photographs of his mother taken by Arnold Genthe, graced one of the walls in his Brentwood home, along with a set of paintings done by a well-known artist. An unknown actress at the time of the film’s casting, seventeen-year-old Betty campaigned for the role coveted by such stars as Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. Ludwig told me that J.M. Barrie personally chose his mother to play the role of Peter.
Gloria Swanson’s audition photo for the role of Peter Pan in its film version.
Although he had donated most of his mother’s memorabilia (including her scrapbook) to UCLA’s film and television archives, he kept a few treasured memories to leave to his daughter, Theresa Lauerhass-Wiegmann.
One treasured memory, a copy of Peter and Wendy, signed by J.M. Barrie to Betty, was like a little time capsule with hidden treasures pressed between the pages of its marbleized covers: a bright red feather (from the cap of Peter Pan perhaps?); newspaper clippings about Bronson’s films; an invitation to a screening of Peter Pan; a gift tag from a friend... Ludwig had never opened the book and was delighted as I leafed through the pages and handed him each preserved memory.
Another treasured memory was a collection of letters from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Betty’s first boyfriend. One letter in particular, sweet and romantic, recounts the first time Fairbanks saw Betty at Paramount and the way her eyes made him feel. He also describes the costume he was wearing at that memorable moment, and he illustrated and labeled each detail of his costume down to the fake fingernails he had to wear. And when he describes their first kiss, I admit I sighed. I read that part aloud to Ludwig and his wife Frances, and I thanked them for allowing me to hold a piece of cinematic history in my hands.
At the time of my visit, Ludwig was in the process of transferring his mother’s Peter Pan costume from the UCLA archives to LACMA’s costume museum, and he gave me the contact info of the woman in charge of that department.
Over the years, a variety of people had contacted him as a source for their work, so Ludwig kindly pointed me to online resources, books and the people who wrote them, and university libraries that collected information related to his mother’s work and/or Peter Pan-related information.
Sadly, Ludwig passed away on December 29, 2019, so his daughter Theresa is stepping in for the family’s provenance. Betty had a tradition of including a thimble, a symbolic kiss in Peter Pan, in select letters to cherished friends and loved ones, and I cherish the thimble Ludwig and Frances gave to me, a tradition I will carry on.
