Agnes Mured is an American actress, four Oscar nominees, winner of two Golden Globe and Emmy awards. She became famous for her roles in the brilliant films of Orson Welles.
To most viewers, Agnes Moorehead is known as the extravagant witch of Endor in My Wife Bewitched Me. The actress was called "Hollywood's lavender lady": it was she who made this color fashionable.
The hard way to a dream
Agnes Moorehead was born on December 6, 1900 in Clinton in the family of singer Mildred McCauley and priest John Henderson. From an early age, the girl with a beautiful voice sang.
The premiere took place at the age of three in the church. After the family moved to St. Louis, the baby sang in the opera choir of the city theater. When the grown-up daughter announced her decision to become an actress, the father did not oppose.
He demanded that Agnes also receive a profession that could feed her in case of failure in her artistic career. Moorehead chose the Ohio University Department of Biology.
She completed her education in 1923. During her studies, the girl played in the student theater. After fulfilling the word given to John Moorhead, Agnes entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts.
In 1929 she finished it among the best. However, the career of the performer did not work out. It was too late to debut at almost thirty years old.
The actress was often unemployed. Fasting for several days made her learn to value every cent.
Failures and successes
Agnes managed to get a job on the radio with great difficulty. Radio shows with her participation quickly gained popularity. The actress's day was half a day.
At the same time, an acquaintance with the great film star and famous theatrical prima Helen Hayes took place. The ladies quickly turned into girlfriends. Hayes set to work punching for a film debut friend.
However, the film studio decided that this type was no longer relevant. Over time, rumors spread that the actresses were not just friends. They have a more intimate relationship.
The press began looking for evidence of the connection. The journalists were not embarrassed that both were married by that time. Moorehead defiantly ignored the rumors about gay, and Helen was afraid of the collapse of her career and the friendship ended.
In 1937, the aging performer came to the attention of aspiring stage director Orson Welles. He invited the actress to his theater "Mercury".
Daring innovative solutions of the young director interested Hollywood tycoons. In 1939 the whole troupe came to the cinema after the director signed a contract with the RKO studio.
Confession
Forty-year-old Agnes first got on the set. The springboard to the Olympus of Hollywood for Moorehead was the debut role of the protagonist's mother in the 1941 film Citizen Kane.
Everyone noticed a remarkable talent. The performer was able to portray any emotion. She perfectly played fear, jealousy, despair, fun and love.
For her work in The Magnificent Emersons in 1942, the second tape, Agnes was nominated for an Oscar. Critics have called the actress the most charismatic performer in Hollywood.
Forty-two-year-old Moorehead was recognized by Vogue magazine as one of the most beautiful and stylish women in the world. It was with the light hand of a celebrity that purple came into fashion.
Agnes herself adored him and often wore lavender-colored outfits. From 1943 to 1951, Moorehead starred in Journey into Fear, Jane Eyre, Miss Parkington, Since You Left, Johnny Belinda, The Woman in White, The Floating Theater.
The films brought her two Oscar nominations. The iconic roles brought the actress a Golden Globe and a double Oscar nomination. Now her name has entered the cinema history forever.
Personal life
By playing supporting roles, the famous artist effortlessly managed to outshine Lucille Ball, Olivia de Haviland, Joan Fontaine, Shirley Temple, and the stars of the first magnitude.
After being approved as a Hollywood actress, Moorehead did not leave the radio. On the air of America, she remained the most demanded performer. After performing in the play Don Giovanni in Hell, the artist conquered Broadway as well.
In the forties, journalists again began to highlight Agnes's personal life. More and more time, in their opinion, the actress spent in the company of young beauties, and not her own spouse.
To stop the rumors in 1949, the celebrity and her husband, actor John Griffith Lee, adopted a boy named Sean. However, the end of the marriage was put by the connection between Agnes and the rising film star Debbie Reynolds, which began soon after.
Moorehead's second marriage in 1954 turned out to be unsuccessful. The four-year family life with Robert Gist ended in divorce. But the relationship with Reynolds lasted until her death, despite the more than thirty-year age difference.
Since the fifties, the actress was increasingly forced to play the typical characters of gossips, old bitches and witches imposed on her. Exceptions were the heroines in The Left Hand of God, Everything Heaven Permits, The Swan, Raintree County, The Bat, Polyanna, How the West Was Conquered.
Last years
For her 1964 work in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte", where Agnes was able to outplay Bette Davis, she was awarded the fourth Oscar nomination and another Golden Globe.
Television also turned out to be subdued. Moorehead was nominated for an Emmy six times for her television work. She received this award in 1967 for Wild, Wild West.
The role of Endora in the serial “My wife bewitched me”, which ran in 1964-1972, turned into the actress's calling card. At this time, she herself was going through difficult times.
The relationship with my son has always been difficult. Sean always clashed with his mother, accused that she had dishonored herself and him with her connections.
As a result, the guy got in touch with bad company. Agnes accidentally found a gun in Sean's closet. The mother asked directly where the weapon came from. Instead of answering, the son simply left home. Moorehead never saw him again.
The performer also began to have health problems. In 1955, she filmed Conquerors in Utah. The work played a fatal role in the life of all those present on the site.
It was only after many years that it became known that nuclear weapons were being tested not far from the filming location. All participants in the picture were exposed to radiation and died of cancer.
Agnes suffered the same fate. Until the last days, the actress struggled with a terrible diagnosis. However, at the end of April 1974, the disease prevailed. In 1994, Moorehead had a star of her own on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
