Shocking Facts About Agnes Moorehead, God's Favorite Actress

A Bewitching Actress

Agnes Moorehead was a well-lauded actress, with four Academy nominations, an Emmy, and two Golden Globes to her name. But her early career was fraught with stints of unemployment and her personal life was strained during her two marriages. Not to mention the scandalous rumors that followed her for decades…

1. She Was Born To A Performer And A Religious Figure

Agnes was born as Agnes Robertson Moorehead on December 6, 1900. Her parents were Presbyterian clergyman John Henderson Moorehead and singer Mary Moorehead. Her mother was 17 when she was born, and being a former performer herself, she encouraged her children’s creativity and imagination. Her mother wouldn’t be the only one with a passion for the arts.

 RKO Pictures, Wikimedia Commons

2. She Was Enticed By The Spotlight Even As A Child

Even from a young age, the stage called to Agnes Moorehead. The first performance she ever did was at the age of three. Because of her family’s ties to the church, she spoke the Lord’s Prayer during her father’s sermon. This would only be the start of both her time on stage and her dedication to her spirituality—though each would have their own dark side.

 ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons

3. She Was Encouraged To Chase Her Dreams

When her family moved to St Louis, Missouri, Agnes’s passion for acting grew even stronger. Luckily, she had a supportive parent in her mother, who would ask her “Who are you today, Agnes?” She and her younger sister would often play-act together, even coming to the dinner table in character much to the amusement of their parents. Her older sister, Ruth, would be a huge supporter of Agnes.

Her father, on the other hand, was the disciplinarian—and some of his punishments were downright brutal.

 Wikimedia Commons, Picryl

4. She Was Forced To Study The Bible

Amusing her father with her play-acting doesn’t mean Agnes Moorehead was without punishment. Indeed, her father reprimanded her for her childhood shenanigans. When she had done something bad, her father would sit her on a stack of encyclopedias and force her to memorize a psalm. “There I sat until I could recite it. It was wonderful memory training. And it made me think twice before I’d do something wrong again”.

Thankfully, her restrictive household didn’t stop her from chasing everything she wanted.

 Wikimedia Commons, Picryl

5. She Was Well-Educated

Agnes Moorehead was dedicated to her education as much as she was to acting and performing. In 1923, she graduated from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. While attending classes for her biology major, she found time to act in college plays. Later, she earned a Masters degree in English and public speaking while teaching public school. Agnes was not short on professional ambition.

Unfortunately, luck still played a part in her artistic success, and she had to fight hard before it struck.

 Wikimedia Commons, Picryl

6. She Was Very Motivated Professionally

After graduating, she gave her acting and singing the old college try. Agnes auditioned and was cast as an understudy and company in a number of Broadway titles like Scarlet Pages, All The King’s Horses, and Soldiers And Women. But her career was struck by an early blow that would take everyone in the entertainment industry a long time to recover from.

 Wikimedia Commons, Picryl

7. She Was Persistent—Nothing Stopped Her

The Great Depression swept through the US like a plague, and for Agnes Moorehead, the consequences were brutal. Plays were almost entirely canceled for years. But this didn’t stop Agnes from finding work. At this point, she had developed quite a talent for imitating others. This earned her a rather surprising collection of roles.

 Wikimedia Commons, Picryl

8. She Was Known For Her Ability To Become Someone Else

Time Inc hired Agnes to imitate famous women for their newsreel series “A March Of Time”. Some of these characters included the Duchess of Windsor, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and Eleanor Roosevelt, among some other characters that wouldn’t be appropriate for her to voice in the modern day.

While she wasn’t landing any leading roles, her time on the radio would end up serving her well.

 Agnes Moorehead as Eleanor Roosevelt, ptourist

9. She Was Up Against Immense Odds

Agnes Moorehead acted infrequently in stage plays. Though she was living the stereotypical struggling artist’s life, poverty hit her particularly hard. At one point, she went four days without eating because she couldn't afford food. Her major break came when a radio station hired her.

Sometimes, she appeared on multiple programs in a day, which she says was great vocal training. It wasn’t an easy time for her, but it laid the groundwork for her future success.

 Lester Cowan Productions, Tomorrow, the World! (1944)

10. She Was Private About Her Important Relationships

In 1930, Agnes made a connection she couldn’t shake. She married a fellow actor, John Griffith Lee on June 5. They kept the details of their relationship quiet, often staying out of the public eye together.

Yet the information that did come out was shocking, to say the least.

 RKO, Citizen Kane (1941)

11. She Was The Breadwinner—And Her Husband Knew It

John wasn’t as successful an actor as Agnes, which meant he sought other ways to make a living. During their marriage, John registered to fight in WWII. Their relationship was wrought with tension around Agnes’s success, and John found it hard to fight his resentment. As a result, he dealt her a shocking insult. John once reductively referred to her as his “meal ticket”.

This wasn’t the only time that her career would influence her personal relationships.

 Mercury Productions, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

12. She Was A Mother—Or At Least, She Tried To Be One

Despite their problems, the pair lasted for two decades before divorcing on June 11, 1952. Agnes’s work kept her away from her husband for a lot of their relationship, but there were reports that she was always keen to get back to him and their family farm. They had fostered a young boy, Sean Lee, a year before they split. As we’ll see, Agnes had other things on her mind than being a mother to a child.

 Loew's, The Seventh Cross (1944)

13. She Was Kind Of An Absent Parent

Over the years, Sean would make attempts to get his foster mother’s attention. But Agnes Moorehead was too stifled by being a parent. Not only that, but Sean was growing up to be someone who went against a lot of what Agnes believed. She thought she was raising this young man to be deeply religious and conservative. But things didn’t pan out how she wanted.

14. She Was A Harsh Critic To Those Closest To Her

According to Geoffrey Mark, Sean struggled to fill the shoes Agnes set out for him. As a teen, Sean grew rebellious in a way that most teens become rebellious: he grew out his hair and wore clothing his foster mother didn’t approve of. This strain would proliferate as the young man grew up and as his mother saw more and more of him that she didn’t like.

 Lester Cowan Productions, Tomorrow, the World! (1944)

15. She Wanted To Mold Him In Her And God’s Image

After years of tension, Agnes’s issues with Sean finally came to a heartbreaking head. She kicked him out for some time. Agnes said he could only live in her house so long as he followed her rules to the T. When he didn’t agree, she forced him out of her home. Agnes said she would only take him back if he cut his hair, and seeing as that was his only option, Sean agreed.

This wasn’t the end of their disagreements.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

16. She Was Harsh In Her Punishment For His Independence

He couldn’t be what Agnes wanted, and in the end, their relationship fell apart because of their differences. She “disowned him” despite all her dedication to God, whose word says to love those around you regardless of your differences. Her biographer even made a comment about how this reflected her character.

 Lester Cowan Productions, Tomorrow, the World! (1944)

17. She Was A Little Hypocritical

Despite her dedication to the church and the word of Jesus and God, Agnes’s biographer described her as “a total professional on set, but that situation with Sean shows a side of her that informs her spirituality and how tight her heart was on some things”. Even though Sean was her son, she had no room in her life for someone who couldn’t match her level of spirituality.

Little did either of them know, this would greatly affect their ability to have a parent-child relationship.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

18. She Was Friends With A Prodigal Artist At The Time

In the 1920s, a chance meeting with a young boy with change Agnes’s life forever. She first met Orson Welles when he was just seven years old, and over a decade later, in 1937, she became an early contributor to his independent theater company, Mercury Players. This would be a major boon in her favor, as her relationship with Orson continued throughout her career.

His work on his first major film, Citizen Kane (1941), brought Agnes success by his side.

 RKO, Citizen Kane (1941)

19. She Was Brought Further Into The Spotlight After Starring This Famous Film

Citizen Kane brought Agnes’s name into the film realm and showed her abilities as a performer. She was ecstatic to be able to star in Orson’s second film, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which earned her a New York Film Critics Award and an Oscar nomination. And this was just the start of her screen appearances.

 Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

20. She Was Lucky Enough To Find Love Again—Supposedly

In 1954, two years after divorcing John Griffith Lee, Agnes married actor Robert Gist—but there was a scandalous twist to their love story. Robert was 17 years younger than her, and rumors about his unfaithful behavior were common in Hollywood. Inevitably, this matchup didn’t last very long. They stayed together for only four years until they divorced in 1958.

Agnes didn’t have another important long-term relationship after this—something that was potentially related to the questions surrounding her sexuality.

 Warner Bros., Dark Passage (1947)

21. She Was Excellent At Collecting Acting Credits

Agnes’s career continued growing and gaining more and more traction thanks to her immense work ethic. She starred in several different productions and played side characters in others, and through the 50s and 60s, she made many film appearances. One of the films she was in was called The Conqueror (1956)—and being on set would have dire consequences for everyone present.

 RKO, The Conqueror (1956)

22. She Was Put In Danger While Filming

Filming took place in Utah in a location surrounded by covert government nuclear test sites. The consequences were devastating. 220 cast and crew participated in the filming of The Conqueror, and almost half of them were diagnosed with a form of cancer during their lifetime. Agnes’s mother believed that working on this film is what destroyed Agnes in the end—but more on that later.

 RKO, The Conqueror (1956)

23. She Initially Said No To Her Most Famous Role

Agnes Moorehead got her major TV break in 1964, with the beloved series Bewitched (1964-1972). But her road to the role was on the unconventional side. Initially, she rejected the role of Endora, the main character’s loathsome mother who hated non-magical humans. But one surprising event changed her mind.

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

24. She Was Coaxed To Join By A Surprising Person

After rejecting the role of Endora, Agnes thought that was the end of the story regarding Bewitched. But a chance encounter with the lead Elizabeth Montgomery brought doubt to her mind. They ran into each other at a department store, and Elizabeth asked Agnes in person if she would join the cast.

Even if Agnes might have lived to regret it, who could say no to that sort of personalized invitation?

 Screen Gems, Wikimedia Commons

25. She Was Not Expecting The Show To Become So Popular

Agnes signed up for what she expected to be a short-lived project and assumed that the series wouldn’t last longer than one season. Well, she was in for a surprise. The series was on the air for almost a decade. Her character Endora was what launched her fully into the mainstream, with her name and face appearing in eight of every 12 episodes. But she had some surprising thoughts on the series.

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

26. She Was Displeased By Playing This Character

Agnes Moorehead thought very little of Bewitched. She didn’t like playing a witch, and she thought the writing was trite, calling the scripts “hack”. Not only that, but she felt the success of the show entangled her irreparably with the role of Endora. Once she had said yes to the role, there was no more backing out after the first episode aired.

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

27. She Was Incredibly Successful Despite Her Distaste In The Series

Even after being awarded six Emmys, Agnes wasn’t content with her career being reduced to one breakout role. Especially since people started to recognize her as a witch. “I’ve been in movies and played theatre from coast to coast, so I was quite well known before Bewitched, and I don’t want to be identified as the witch”. Her stance on the series wouldn’t change until her last moments.

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

28. She Was A Divisive Person To Work With

Her relationship with the other lead actors in the series were polar opposites. With Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Endora’s daughter, the relationship was lovely and Agnes even said she was fond of her. But with Dick York, who played Endora’s son-in-law, there was obvious tension. He even went so far as to call Agnes “a tough old bird”. And that wasn’t the only contentious part of her professional conduct.

 ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons

29. She Was Rumored To Not Like Men, Despite Two Marriages

One part of Agnes’s life that was heavily commented on in her career was her sexuality. The studios she worked for maintained a pristine image of her, depicting her as an ideal mother and wife. But despite this, there was still a lot of curiosity about her preferences. Rumors eventually spread that she was a lesbian, and they didn’t stop there.

 RKO, Citizen Kane (1941)

30. She Was Confronted With Wild Claims By A Co-Star

Paul Lynde, a fellow actor on Bewitched, seemed to know a lot about Agnes’s relationships—and he made an utterly shocking claim. He said that Agnes and Debbie Reynolds were in a romantic relationship, which Debbie would later deny. But there was an interesting turn of events that led to even more suspicion around Agnes and Debbie’s relationship.

 Screen Gems, Wikimedia Commons

31. She Was Backed Up By Her Friend—But It Was Undermined By Something Surprising

Debbie’s ex-husband Eddie Fisher said he was going to write about her and Agnes’s friendship in the autobiography he was working on. The argument stands that if the women’s relationship was merely platonic, there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. But Debbie pressured him with legal action should he expose the details of their relationship. That wasn’t the only evidence for Agnes’s supposed lesbianism.

 Loew's, The Seventh Cross (1944)

32. She Was Friendly With Other Women

According to Paul, Agnes Moorehead had many “intimate lady friends” in her early career, before she became “a bit puritanical” in how she behaved. Supposedly, it was a well-kept secret by the industry. Not only that, but Paul alleges that she made a very surprising claim during a fight with one of her husbands.

 ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons

33. She Was Infuriated And Lashed Out

Apparently, after catching her husband cheating on her, Agnes yelled at him and said if he could mingle with women outside of their relationship, she could too. Rumors from Paul are difficult to substantiate, though, as he was known to spread gossip and unfounded rumors.

Strangely, many of his comments hold a lot of water.

 Lester Cowan Productions, Tomorrow, the World! (1944)

34. She Was Evasive About Establishing The Truth

When writer Boze Hadleigh questioned Agnes about her sexuality in 1973, she was very coy and evasive in her answer. Boze grouped her alongside many other actors who had participated in non-heterosexual relationships, and her response was, “Yes, you’d love to put me in their excellent company! Even if I don’t belong in the same category”.

In some cases, denying or evading the truth can be even more telling than a confession.

 Mercury Productions, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

35. She Wasn’t Going To Be Taken Down By A Rumor-Monger—Until His Statements Were Backed Up

Despite Paul’s claims being a little on the dubious side, there was another person who spoke in favor of his declarations. Elsa Lanchester, who was married to gay actor Charles Laughton, who himself had starred in a film with Agnes, stated that there were many “romantic relationships” that involved Agnes Moorehead and other women.

And what she revealed about Agnes’s behavior was quite surprising.

 Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

36. She Was Drawn To A Co-Star On Her Most Dangerous Film Set

Elsa stated that Agnes was beyond private and secretive about these relations. But while working on The Conqueror, Agnes’s inclinations made a bit of a stir. Fellow actor Lee Van Cleef noticed her feelings for a co-star, Susan Hayward, were more than mere friendly affection. Susan was over a decade younger than Agnes, so she was able to pass her affections off as motherly rather than romantic.

But that doesn’t mean they weren’t noticeable to others.

 Universal Pictures, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

37. She Was Faced With More Conflict With Her Foster Son

Partway through filming for Bewitched, Agnes’s foster son Sean finished high school. After graduating, Agnes expected him to go to university like she did, for him to continue learning and get a good job. Well, he had other plans in mind for his future, and none of them included schooling.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

38. She Was No Longer Forced To Balance Work And Parenting

Sean left home as soon as he graduated. His goal was to experience life out of his foster mother’s smothering embrace and away from her restrictive rules. There was so much of the world for him to see and so many ways of life he could explore. Unfortunately, none of them included Agnes Moorehead. And his decision had a chilling finality to it. 

When he left, that was the last time she ever saw her foster son, even during one of the most important moments of her life.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

39. She Was Inundated With Health Issues

By the time Bewitched wrapped, Agnes’s health was worsening. But that didn’t stop her from working hard putting out several films and going on a Broadway tour. She even took a stab at voice acting and voiced Goose in Charlotte’s Web (1973). Little did she know, these would be some of her final years in the acting scene.

 Mercury Productions, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

40. She Was Forced To Quit Working

It was 1973 when Agnes’s health took a turn for the worse. At the time, she was working on the Broadway adaptation of Gigi, in which she played Aunt Alicia. Acting in musicals is physically demanding, and she participated in several musical numbers. Then, she became very sick, to the point where they had to replace her in the production.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

41. She Wasn’t Going To Beat This Illness

Agnes tried hard to work through the illness. But this sickness wasn’t something she could easily recover from, regardless of how hard she tried to fend it off. That’s when she got a devastating diagnosis. Agnes was suffering from uterine cancer that had spread to her lungs. This added her case to the rapidly increasing statistics of The Conqueror’s cast and crew who faced cancer diagnoses.

According to her friend, Debbie Reynolds, Agnes said she would survive and that she left her fate “in God’s hands”.

 Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

42. She Was Outlived By A Surprisingly Important Person In Her Life

After fighting the disease in the privacy of the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester Minnesota, Agnes Moorehead succumbed to her cancer on April 30, 1974, at the age of 73. Tragically, her mother outlived her, and Agnes bequeathed all her jewelry and clothing to her. But the matters of her will went even further than that.

 Walter Wanger Productions, The Lost Moment (1947)

43. She Was Selectively Generous With Her Belongings

Agnes willed $25,000 to Muskingum College, along with requests to fund at least one scholarship in her name. Half her manuscripts went to this college, and she left the other half to the University of Wisconsin. She left her family’s farm and her comprehensive collection of Bibles and biblical materials to John Brown University. Despite all these posthumous appointments, one name was conspicuously left out of her will. 

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

44. She Was Not Going To Forgive And Forget This Conflict

Agnes Moorehead hadn’t seen her foster son since he left after high school. When Agnes’s friend Debbie Reynolds asked if she should look for Sean as Agnes was struggling with her cancer, Agnes said no. She claimed anything to do with Sean would only upset her. Because of this, he wasn’t at the hospital when her cancer took her.

 Warner Bros., Dark Passage (1947)

45. She Wasn’t Going To Reward What She Saw As Bad Behavior

Not only that, but she left him nothing in her will. She claimed she didn’t have any children nor a spouse, alive or passed. With this, Sean’s name passed into obscurity alongside his role in Agnes’s life. Everything she left went to the few people around her and the previously mentioned organizations.

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

46. She Was Well-Loved Despite Her Flaws

Agnes’s friends had many kind things to say about the actress, though some acknowledged her occasionally difficult nature. Regarding her relationship with Sean, Lucille Ball said, “She tried to be a good mother to her adopted son, but she could be too stifling as a parent”. Despite this, Agnes continued to express a sort of mentorship role to those around her.

 John Springer Collection, Getty Images

47. She Was Devout In Her Teaching

Agnes’s early life followed her throughout her career. One of these things was her love of teaching, particularly regarding helping young actors hone their craft. According to her friend, producer Paul Gregory, “She ran a school for many years out of her home teaching drama. Once a teacher always a teacher”. And that wasn't the only thing that greatly shaped her life.

 Liberty Pictures (IV), The Bat (1959)

48. She Was Equally Devout To Her Spirituality

Agnes’s dedication to religion and spirituality was a focal point in her life. As evidenced by the bequeathing of her religious materials, her connection to the Lord was near and dear to her heart. It could have affected Agnes’s enjoyment of life, but Charles Tranberg, who authored one of her biographies, stated that she often indulged in vices to a reasonable degree.

 Agnes Moorehead as Eleanor Roosevelt, ptourist

49. She Was A Legend, And She Always Will Be

Professionally, Agnes was a contentious but well-loved character in many ways. She will forever be known as Endora from the beloved series Bewitched, regardless of how she felt about being known as a witch. The role has immortalized her entire filmography and brought her name to new generations of audiences. Though she has been lost, she has not been forgotten.

You May Also Like

Enchanted Facts About Billie Burke, The Real Good Witch Of The North

Surprising Facts About Ann B Davis, America’s Favorite Housekeeper

Spooky Facts About Hocus Pocus

Surprisingly Sweet Facts About Margaret Hamilton, The Wicked Witch Of The West

 Screen Gems Television, Bewitched (1964-72)

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11