Agnes Moorehead facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Agnes Moorehead
20th Century Fox publicity photograph, c. 1964
Born	Agnes Robertson Moorehead (1900-12-06)December 6, 1900 Clinton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	April 30, 1974(1974-04-30) (aged 73) Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting place	Dayton Memorial Park, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1933–1974
Spouse(s)	John Griffith Lee ​ ​ (m. 1930; div. 1952)​ Robert Gist ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1958)​

Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900 – April 30, 1974) was a talented American actress. She worked in radio, on stage, in movies, and on television for over 50 years! Agnes Moorehead won many awards, including an Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She was also nominated for four Academy Awards, which are very famous movie awards.

You might know her best as Endora, the funny and sometimes grumpy witch mother on the TV show Bewitched. She played this role from 1964 to 1972. She also had important roles in classic movies like Citizen Kane (1941) and Show Boat (1951).

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Agnes Moorehead's Early Life

Agnes Robertson Moorehead was born on December 6, 1900, in Clinton, Massachusetts. Her mother, Mary, was a singer, and her father, John Henderson Moorehead, was a church leader. Agnes loved acting from a very young age. She remembered performing for the first time when she was just three years old! She recited a prayer in her father's church.

Her family later moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Agnes's dream of becoming an actress grew stronger there. Her mother encouraged her imagination. Agnes and her younger sister, Peggy, often pretended to be different people, even imitating their father's church members at dinner!

Education and Early Acting

As a young woman, Agnes joined a theater group called "The Muny" in St. Louis. She also loved religion throughout her life. Later, other actors would remember her bringing her Bible to the set along with her script.

Agnes went to Muskingum College in Ohio and earned a degree in biology in 1923. She also acted in college plays. Later, she received an honorary degree from the college. She taught public school for five years in Wisconsin. Then, she earned a master's degree in English and public speaking from the University of Wisconsin. She continued her studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and graduated with honors in 1929.

Her Amazing Acting Career

Agnes Moorehead's early acting days were tough. She often couldn't find work, and she once went four days without food. This experience taught her how important money was. She eventually found work in radio and became very popular. She often worked on several radio shows in one day! Agnes believed that radio acting helped her develop her voice and create many different characters.

Joining the Mercury Theatre

Moorehead in the trailer for Citizen Kane (1940)

Harry Shannon, George Coulouris and Agnes Moorehead in Citizen Kane (1941)

Richard Bennett, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Don Dillaway, Agnes Moorehead, and Ray Collins in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

By 1937, Agnes Moorehead joined Orson Welles' famous Mercury Players. She was one of his main actors, along with Joseph Cotten. She performed in Welles' radio shows, like The Mercury Theatre on the Air. She also had a regular role as Margo Lane in the radio series The Shadow.

In 1939, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre moved to Hollywood. Agnes Moorehead made her movie debut in Welles' first film, Citizen Kane (1941). This movie is considered one of the best films ever made! Moorehead played the mother of the main character, Charles Foster Kane. She also appeared in Welles' second film, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). For this role, she won an award and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Movies and Radio Stardom

Agnes Moorehead received great reviews for her role in Mrs. Parkington (1944). She won a Golden Globe Award and another Academy Award nomination for it. She also appeared in The Big Street (1942) with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball.

By the mid-1940s, Moorehead signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a big movie studio. She was able to earn a good salary and still work on radio shows, which was unusual at the time. She played many different types of characters, including strict older women, nervous single ladies, and funny secretaries. She had supporting roles in movies like Dark Passage (1947) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. She also played Aggie McDonald in Johnny Belinda (1948). In 1951, she was in MGM's hit musical Show Boat.

Agnes Moorehead was very popular on radio, especially on the CBS show Suspense. She appeared in more episodes of Suspense than any other actor. She was often called the "first lady of Suspense." Her most famous radio performance was in a play called Sorry, Wrong Number (1943). In this play, she played a woman who accidentally overhears a murder plot on the phone and realizes she is the target! She performed this role many times.

Moorehead in The Bat (1959)

Later Films and Television

In the 1950s and 1960s, Moorehead continued to work in movies and on stage. She was in the big movie The Conqueror (1956) with John Wayne. She also starred in The Bat (1959) with Vincent Price. She played the very picky Mrs. Snow in Disney's popular film Pollyanna (1960). In 1964, she starred with Bette Davis in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. For this role, she was nominated for another Academy Award.

In 1959, Moorehead started appearing on many TV shows. She was in an episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Invaders" (1961). In this episode, she played a woman whose farm is attacked by mysterious creatures. She had almost no lines, but her acting was amazing! She also won an Emmy Award for her role in an episode of The Wild Wild West in 1967.

Moorehead with Bewitched castmates Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery

Moorehead as Endora in Bewitched

Starring in Bewitched

In 1964, Agnes Moorehead took on the role of Endora in the TV comedy Bewitched. Endora was Samantha's (Elizabeth Montgomery) magical mother who often didn't like humans. Moorehead didn't expect the show to be so popular, but it became a huge hit! She was able to negotiate her contract so she only had to appear in some episodes, which allowed her to work on other projects.

Bewitched was one of the top 10 TV shows for several years. This role made Agnes Moorehead very famous. She received six Emmy Award nominations for playing Endora. Even though she enjoyed the role, she sometimes felt it wasn't challenging enough. She stayed with Bewitched until it ended in 1972. She said she liked working with the show's star, Elizabeth Montgomery.

Later Years and Voice Acting

In the 1970s, Agnes Moorehead's health started to decline. She appeared in the horror film What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) and had a main role in Dear Dead Delilah (1972). This was her last starring role in a movie.

She also lent her voice to the friendly "Goose" in Hanna-Barbera's 1973 animated movie Charlotte's Web. This was based on the popular children's book. Her last acting roles were in two episodes of a radio show called CBS Radio Mystery Theater in January 1974, just a few months before she passed away.

Personal Life

Agnes Moorehead was married twice. In 1930, she married actor John Griffith Lee, but they later divorced in 1952. She then married actor Robert Gist in 1954, and they divorced in 1958.

She rarely talked about her political beliefs in public. However, she supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt and her close friend Ronald Reagan.

Death

Agnes Moorehead passed away from uterine cancer on April 30, 1974, in Rochester, Minnesota. She was 73 years old. Her mother, Mary, lived until 1990 and was 106 years old.

Agnes Moorehead is buried in a crypt at Dayton Memorial Park in Dayton, Ohio. In 1994, she was honored by being added to the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

She left money to Muskingum College for scholarships. She also gave half of her writings to Muskingum and the other half to the University of Wisconsin. Her family's farm in Ohio went to John Brown University.

Acting Credits

Filmography

Television

Theater

Radio

Awards and Nominations

See Also

In Spanish: Agnes Moorehead para niños