Anna Reisa Wellington
(1920-1983)

Photo of Anna taken in 1962-63 memorable for an argument in which son Michael Vincent was getting chewed out pretty good.

Anna's notoriety wasnt welcomed amongst everyone in the Wellington circle, her mischievious ways were criticized by some in the timber company who felt the "hearsay" brought on a bad image for the company. Company CEO Richard Cottington would quickly point out that the timber company profits and sales growth would suggest that Anna's escapades were irrelevant to the timber business.
Anna's conduct was also the subject of disdain from time to time from Jim Corey; who at times was part of the mischief and other times was a critic of it. Mr. Corey and Anna had an intesified relationship several years after Liam's death; Anna had known Corey since high school and even dated him briefly during those years, she was close to Corey yet she couldnt ever settle down with him or anyone. Mr. Corey wanted a more permanent and monogamous relationship with Anna but she wouldn't allow it, thus his frustrations commenced in what became an on/off relationship over many years.
Anna's third and most serious critic was her children, primarily her son Michael Vincent. Anna and Michael always had a distant relationship, even prior to Liam's death, and after that Michael became more withdrawn and more distanced from his mother. Michael seemed to lose respect for his mother in the years that followed Liams accident, Michael used his mothers behavior as a benchmark for his own bad behavior, this would fester into bigger problems in the years ahead for Anna and the future of the estate.
We'll indulge further into Anna's children in our following segments, but for now we point out that for all of Anna's fun and frivolity there were consequences that lie ahead as a result.

Here's classic Anna ala buff at the theater in a reprise of a role she did some 5 years before.

Here's Anna at the estate talkin business in her favorite pink summer dress.

Here's Anna at the theater in 1967, in the background are some familiar names to keep in mind. To the far left is Pauline Nash, blocked behind Anna is Mary Strat, and Stella is in the purple dress on the right hand side.

Another bubbly theater role for Anna in 1968 playing crowd favorite "Misty Witt."

This was taken backstage at the theater in 1969, Mary Strat is to the back of the photo and the theater skit had something to do with airline stewardesses.

Anna had been the "queen of fun" from the late 50's all the way through the 1960's with the huge success of the theater, her lavish estate gatherings, and annual provacative pool parties.
The 1970's would become more challenging for Anna on a number of fronts. Anna would continue to struggle in her relationship with both of her children, Michael Vincent was increasingly difficult and daughter Alexa had several relationship problems along with Stella who also was having struggles in her personal life. Anna also witnessed what the "wild life" gone too far could do to people as the theater lost 2 of its former cast members between 1973-75.
Anna's lifestyle combined with stress from many fronts also contributed to her own health problems as she struggled with high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and other related issues.
Anna stopped performing at the theater in the early 1970's due to anxiety attacks that seemed to come on particularly when she was under alot of stress.
Despite some of the struggles, Anna maintained her lavish and provacative ways to the extent she had become somewhat of a legend for the wild escapades she put together, she kept her reputation in tact during the 1970's particularly maintaining her wild holdiay pool parties each year.
Anna developed a solid work ethic when it came to the theater, its commonly known that Anna made most of the money decisions and knew the dollars and costs of the theater in great detail. Anna hired and fired personnel and was usually the one who dealt with inspectors, the bank or anything else money related while her partner Vivian ran all the theater events, scripts and anything of that nature.

This is Anna at the estate in 1973, no telling what she was up to but this was a pretty normal Anna-like environment around the house.

Classic Anna at the estate in 1979. Anna had some health issues not long before this photo, she had made a committment to get in better shape and live healthier and was eager to show off her progress.

Anna made an effort to slow down in the late 1970's and did a good job of it for awhile but within a year or so she was back to her typical ways. Anna had spent the past 20 years surrounding herself with young, attractive, talented people and she found it difficult to remove herself from the limelight of it all.
Anna was not getting any younger as the years rolled on, it was now 1980 and she soon would be turning 60 years old. Anna's health problems became an issue again particularly around 1981 and would persist for the next 2 years that followed.
Anna continued to be stressed over situations involving the estate and both of her children and these problems were a burden on her health and would become more of a crisis in a very short period of time.

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