Agnes Moorehead(1900-1974)
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Agnes was born of Anglo-Irish ancestry near Boston, the daughter of
a Presbyterian minister (her mother was a mezzo-soprano) who encouraged
her to perform in church pageants. Aged three, she sang 'The Lord is my
Shepherd' on a public stage and seven years later joined the St. Louis
Municipal Opera as a dancer and singer for four years. In keeping with
her father's dictum of finishing her education first (then being permitted
to do whatever she wished with her career), Agnes attended Muskingum
College (Ohio), and, subsequently, the University of Wisconsin.
She graduated with an M.A. in English and public speaking and later added
a doctorate in literature from Bradley University to her resume. When
her family moved to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where her father had a
pastorate, Agnes taught public school English and drama for five years.
In between, she went to Paris to study pantomime with
Marcel Marceau.
In 1928, she began training at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts
and graduated with honors the following year. In order to supplement
her income , Agnes had turned to radio early on. She had her first job
in 1923 as a singer for a St. Louis radio station. Her love for that
medium remained with her all her life. From the 1930s to the
50s, she appeared on numerous serials, dramas and children's
programs. She was Min Gump in "The Gumps" (1934), the 'dragon lady' in
"Terry and the Pirates" (1937), Margot Lane of classic comic strip fame
in "The Shadow", Mrs.Danvers in "Rebecca" and the bed-ridden woman
about to meet her end in "Sorry, Wrong Number". Acting on the airwaves
was so important to her that she would insist on its continuation as a
precondition of a later contract with MGM. Significantly, through her
radio work on "The Shadow"and "March of Time" in 1937, she met and
befriended fellow actor Orson Welles.
Welles soon invited her to join him and
Joseph Cotten as charter members
of his Mercury Theatre on the Air. Agnes was involved in the famous
"War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 which attracted nationwide
attention and resulted in a lucrative $100,000 per picture deal with
RKO in Hollywood. The Mercury players (the other principals were
Ray Collins,
Everett Sloane,
Paul Stewart and
George Coulouris) packed up and went
west.
An ebullient and versatile character actress, Agnes was impossible to
typecast: she could play years older than her age, appear as heroine or
villainess, tragedienne or comedienne. In her first film, the iconic
Citizen Kane (1941), she played the
titular character's mother. She received her greatest critical acclaim
for her emotive second screen performance as Aunt Fanny Minafer in
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
In addition to being voted the year's best female performer by the New
York Film Critics she was also nominated for an Academy Award. Through
the years, Agnes would be nominated three more times: for her touching
portrayal of the jaded but sympathetic Baroness Conti in
Mrs. Parkington (1944); for her
role as the title character's Aunt Aggie in
Johnny Belinda (1948) and for
playing Velma, the hard-boiled, suspicious housekeeper of
Bette Davis in
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964),
co-starring her old friend Joseph Cotten. Other notable film
appearances included Jane Eyre (1943),
with Orson Welles,
The Woman in White (1948) as
Countess Fusco),
The Lost Moment (1947) (as a
105-year old woman) and
Dark Passage (1947), a classic film
noir in which she had third billing behind
Humphrey Bogart and
Lauren Bacall as the treacherous ,
malevolent Madge Rapf. She had a rare starring role in the campy horror
flick The Bat (1959), giving (according to
the New York Times of December 17) 'a good, snappy performance'.
On Broadway, she appeared in such acclaimed plays as "All the
King's Men" and "Candlelight". She enjoyed success with "Don Juan in
Hell", touring nationally: the first time (1951-2) with
Charles Laughton and
Cedric Hardwicke, the second time
(though receiving fewer critical plaudits) with
Ricardo Montalban and
Paul Henreid in 1973. She also starred with
Joseph Cotten in "Prescription Murder" (1962). While not a great
critical success, this was much liked by audiences and it introduced a famous
detective named Lieutenant Columbo. From 1954, she also toured the U.S.
and Europe with her own a one-woman show entitled "The Fabulous
Redhead". Agnes performed numerous times on television before landing
the role of Endora on
Bewitched (1964). One particularly
interesting part came her way through the director
Douglas Heyes who remembered her from
"Sorry, Wrong Number". He cast her in the starring - and indeed, only role in The Invaders (1961). As the lonely old woman confronted by tiny
alien invaders in her remote farmhouse, Agnes never utters a single
word and cleverly acts her scenes as a pantomime of unspoken terror.
Of course, the genial Agnes Moorehead has been immortalized as
Elizabeth Montgomery's
flamboyant witch-mother, Endora, although that was not a role the actress
wished to be remembered for (in spite of several Emmy Award
nominations). Indeed, she had thought this whole witchcraft theme to
be rather far-fetched and was somewhat taken aback by the show's huge
popularity. Agnes had a special clause inserted in her contract which
limited her appearances to eight out of twelve episodes which gave her the
opportunity to also work on other projects. Commenting on the acting
profession in one of her many interviews (New York Times, May 1, 1974),
she found the key to success in being " sincere in your work " and to
"just go right on whether audiences or critics are taking your scalp
off or not".
a Presbyterian minister (her mother was a mezzo-soprano) who encouraged
her to perform in church pageants. Aged three, she sang 'The Lord is my
Shepherd' on a public stage and seven years later joined the St. Louis
Municipal Opera as a dancer and singer for four years. In keeping with
her father's dictum of finishing her education first (then being permitted
to do whatever she wished with her career), Agnes attended Muskingum
College (Ohio), and, subsequently, the University of Wisconsin.
She graduated with an M.A. in English and public speaking and later added
a doctorate in literature from Bradley University to her resume. When
her family moved to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where her father had a
pastorate, Agnes taught public school English and drama for five years.
In between, she went to Paris to study pantomime with
Marcel Marceau.
In 1928, she began training at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts
and graduated with honors the following year. In order to supplement
her income , Agnes had turned to radio early on. She had her first job
in 1923 as a singer for a St. Louis radio station. Her love for that
medium remained with her all her life. From the 1930s to the
50s, she appeared on numerous serials, dramas and children's
programs. She was Min Gump in "The Gumps" (1934), the 'dragon lady' in
"Terry and the Pirates" (1937), Margot Lane of classic comic strip fame
in "The Shadow", Mrs.Danvers in "Rebecca" and the bed-ridden woman
about to meet her end in "Sorry, Wrong Number". Acting on the airwaves
was so important to her that she would insist on its continuation as a
precondition of a later contract with MGM. Significantly, through her
radio work on "The Shadow"and "March of Time" in 1937, she met and
befriended fellow actor Orson Welles.
Welles soon invited her to join him and
Joseph Cotten as charter members
of his Mercury Theatre on the Air. Agnes was involved in the famous
"War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 which attracted nationwide
attention and resulted in a lucrative $100,000 per picture deal with
RKO in Hollywood. The Mercury players (the other principals were
Ray Collins,
Everett Sloane,
Paul Stewart and
George Coulouris) packed up and went
west.
An ebullient and versatile character actress, Agnes was impossible to
typecast: she could play years older than her age, appear as heroine or
villainess, tragedienne or comedienne. In her first film, the iconic
Citizen Kane (1941), she played the
titular character's mother. She received her greatest critical acclaim
for her emotive second screen performance as Aunt Fanny Minafer in
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
In addition to being voted the year's best female performer by the New
York Film Critics she was also nominated for an Academy Award. Through
the years, Agnes would be nominated three more times: for her touching
portrayal of the jaded but sympathetic Baroness Conti in
Mrs. Parkington (1944); for her
role as the title character's Aunt Aggie in
Johnny Belinda (1948) and for
playing Velma, the hard-boiled, suspicious housekeeper of
Bette Davis in
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964),
co-starring her old friend Joseph Cotten. Other notable film
appearances included Jane Eyre (1943),
with Orson Welles,
The Woman in White (1948) as
Countess Fusco),
The Lost Moment (1947) (as a
105-year old woman) and
Dark Passage (1947), a classic film
noir in which she had third billing behind
Humphrey Bogart and
Lauren Bacall as the treacherous ,
malevolent Madge Rapf. She had a rare starring role in the campy horror
flick The Bat (1959), giving (according to
the New York Times of December 17) 'a good, snappy performance'.
On Broadway, she appeared in such acclaimed plays as "All the
King's Men" and "Candlelight". She enjoyed success with "Don Juan in
Hell", touring nationally: the first time (1951-2) with
Charles Laughton and
Cedric Hardwicke, the second time
(though receiving fewer critical plaudits) with
Ricardo Montalban and
Paul Henreid in 1973. She also starred with
Joseph Cotten in "Prescription Murder" (1962). While not a great
critical success, this was much liked by audiences and it introduced a famous
detective named Lieutenant Columbo. From 1954, she also toured the U.S.
and Europe with her own a one-woman show entitled "The Fabulous
Redhead". Agnes performed numerous times on television before landing
the role of Endora on
Bewitched (1964). One particularly
interesting part came her way through the director
Douglas Heyes who remembered her from
"Sorry, Wrong Number". He cast her in the starring - and indeed, only role in The Invaders (1961). As the lonely old woman confronted by tiny
alien invaders in her remote farmhouse, Agnes never utters a single
word and cleverly acts her scenes as a pantomime of unspoken terror.
Of course, the genial Agnes Moorehead has been immortalized as
Elizabeth Montgomery's
flamboyant witch-mother, Endora, although that was not a role the actress
wished to be remembered for (in spite of several Emmy Award
nominations). Indeed, she had thought this whole witchcraft theme to
be rather far-fetched and was somewhat taken aback by the show's huge
popularity. Agnes had a special clause inserted in her contract which
limited her appearances to eight out of twelve episodes which gave her the
opportunity to also work on other projects. Commenting on the acting
profession in one of her many interviews (New York Times, May 1, 1974),
she found the key to success in being " sincere in your work " and to
"just go right on whether audiences or critics are taking your scalp
off or not".