Agnes Moorehead on Radio, Stage and Television

In a career spanning six decades, Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974) was perhaps unique among 20th-century American actresses in making her name in four entertainment media—radio, theater, film and television—after age 40. Focusing on 25 of her most representative performances, this retrospective analyzes her work on radio serials like Mayor of the Town (1942–1949) and Suspense (1942–1962), her stage productions of Don Juan in Hell and Gigi, her television appearances on Bewitched and The Twilight Zone and her Emmy-winning appearance on The Wild Wild West.
The author presents Moorehead’s roles in the context of her personal life, discusses her relationship with directors, producers and other performers and provides little known facts about the productions.

Axel Nissen is a professor of American literature in the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages at the University of Oslo in Norway.

Axel Nissen
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 217
Bibliographic Info: 22 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6758-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3035-9
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Introduction 1
1. The Shadow (Radio, 1937–39) 7
2. Mayor of the Town (Radio, 1942–49) 11
3. Suspense (Radio, 1943–60) 21
4. Don Juan in Hell (Stage, 1951–52) 34
5. The Revlon Mirror Theatre: “Lullaby” (TV, 1953) 41
6. That Fabulous Redhead (Stage, 1954–73) 44
7. Schlitz Playhouse: “The Life You Save” (TV, 1957) 54
8. The Rivalry (Stage, 1957–58) 58
9. Wagon Train: “The Mary Halstead Story” (TV, 1957) 63
10. Shirley Temple’s Storybook: “Rapunzel” (TV, 1958) and The Shirley Temple Show: “The Land of Oz” (TV, 1960) 67
11. The Pink Jungle (Stage, 1959) 71
12. The Millionaire: “Millionaire Katherine Boland” (TV, 1960) 78
13. Adventures in Paradise: “The Krismen” (TV, 1960) 81
14. Rawhide: “Incident at Poco Tiempo” (TV, 1960) 85
15. The Twilight Zone: “The Invaders” (TV, 1961) 89
16. Prescription: Murder (Stage, 1962) 94
17. Lord Pengo (Stage, 1962–63) 99
18. Burke’s Law (TV, 1963–65) 107
19. Channing: “Freedom Is a Lovesome Thing, God Wot!” (TV, 1964) 111
20. Bewitched (TV, 1964–72) 114
21. Alice Through the Looking Glass (TV, 1966) 124
22. The Wild Wild West: “The Night of the Vicious Valentine” (TV, 1967) 128
23. Custer: “Spirit Woman” (TV, 1967) 132
24. Don Juan in Hell (Stage, 1972–73) 136
25. Gigi (Stage, 1973–74) 142
Appendix: Moorehead’s Appearances on Bewitched 155
Chapter Notes 189
Bibliography 205
Index 207