Lady Elaine Fairchilde

“I Want to Win” (1971)
“I Want to Win” (1971)
“Lady E and Lady A” (1982)
“Museum Wares” (1995)

Lady Elaine lives in the Museum-Go-Round. She’s opinionated, eccentric and often stirs up trouble, but she is also the one who stands up to King Friday XIII’s unreasonable demands. She sometimes worries that she isn’t lovable, and needs to be reassured that people like her just the way she is.  

 

Her Museum-Go-Round, is a Merry-Go-Round kind of place where she is the curator of all kinds of things, real and magical – “from dinosaurs and bones to antique telephones.” Lady Elaine can also perform magic of her own – after all, this is the Neighborhood of Make-Believe! She waves her magic boomerang, calling out “Boomerang-Toomerang-Soomerang,” and creates havoc by literally turning things upside-down. Her neighbors help her turn things right-side-up again by letting her know she is important to the Neighborhood, lovable in her own way, and that there are other ways to handle conflicts.

King Friday XIII: Niece Aberlin and Lady Elaine Fairchilde, I presume?
Lady Aberlin: Correct as usual, Uncle Friday.
Lady Elaine Fairchilde: Correct, but not always, Friday.

Adventurer extraordinaire

An adventurer extraordinaire, she becomes an astronaut and discovers Planet Purple. As if she isn’t busy enough taking care of the Museum-Go-Round and being an astronaut, she decides to create her own television studio, M-G-R TV where she invites neighbors to share their talents – from the regulars like Mr. McFeely to famous guests like Tony Bennett!   

 

Did you know?

Rumor has it that Lady Elaine was named after Fred’s sister “Lainey.” “My sister was adopted when she was six months old and I was eleven years old. And her name is Elaine. We tease her because she thinks that I must have named Lady Elaine Fairchilde for her.”

Well, she’s the mischief-maker of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. She keeps King Friday honest. She keeps most of them honest because she’s so honest herself.
Fred Rogers