A Tour-de-Force
March 11, 2024
Dog-1
Everyone remembers Agnes Moorehead as the cantankerous Endora in the long-running 1960s situation comedy "Bewitched". It made her a household name, of course, but Agnes Moorehead had been a top-shelf character actress for decades in Hollywood. It was unusual for a supporting actress to have the kind of name recognition that Agnes enjoyed, which speaks to the industry's respect for her talents. She had been an original member of Orson Welles' legendary Mercury Theatre and was, in fact, in the cast of that infamous 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast that allegedly panicked the nation. She was Welles' mother in "Citizen Kane" and was Oscar-nominated for her turn in Welles' follow-up, "The Magnificent Ambersons".
Aside from a very successful movie career (she was thrice Oscar-nominated), Agnes had a very robust and prolific radio and Emmy-winning television career. I'm told that she asked interviewers in her later years to avoid inquiring about "Bewitched" and I think I understand why. She understood the influence that the show's popularity afforded her, but she knew exactly what it was: a role. Just one role. And she was a kaleidoscopic actress with many dimensions. Her contract allowed her to make movies while playing Endora (to include a delicious Oscar-nominated role in "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" in 1964).
There have been rumors for decades about Agnes' possible Sapphic predispositions (lookin' you, Debbie Reynolds), but I don't think that has ever really been substantiated and, besides, if she preferred discretion in her lifetime then we should respect that in her memory. What I personally love knowing about Agnes is how deep her faith was. Her co-stars on "Bewitched" spoke often about her quiet time on-the-set spent with her bible.
Here's Agnes in the now-classic 1961 "Twilight Zone" episode entitled "The Invaders" — a true tour de force. Everybody remembers this one.
"THE TWILIGHT ZONE" (1959-1964)
[Season 2, Episode 15 — "The Invaders" (1961)]
DESCRIPTION: When a woman investigates a clamor in the attic of her rural house, she discovers a small UFO with little aliens emerging from it. Or so it seems.
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