Agnes Moorehead

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agnes Robertson Moorehead (born December 6, 1900 in Clinton , Massachusetts , † April 30, 1974 in Rochester , Minnesota ) was an American actress . She has appeared in over 70 films, mostly in supporting roles, and has been nominated for an Oscar four times .

Life

Agnes Robertson Moorehead grew up in St. Louis . At the age of three she was seen for the first time in a play, as a child she was a ballet dancer and appeared in the choir of the St. Louis Opera . She studied literature and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts . In the late 1920s she was seen in several plays on Broadway . Moorehead became known, however, through radio broadcasts such as March of Time and Cavalcade of America . In 1940 she joined star director Orson Welles' legendary Mercury Theater . Moorehead made her film debut a year later in Citizen Kane, also directed by Welles . In the film, which is considered to be one of the best films of all time, she embodied the seemingly emotionally cold mother of the main character Kane. In 1942 she again played the depressed Aunt Fanny in Amberson House under the direction of Welles , which earned her a first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She was later nominated three more times for an Oscar for her portrayals in Diary of a Woman (1944) and Schweiges Lips (1948) as well as that of the quirky housekeeper Velma Cruther in Lullaby for a Corpse (1964), but never won the award. She was awarded a Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her role in Lullaby for a Corpse . She also received an Emmy in the early 1950s for her portrayal of "Emma Valentine" in Night of the Vicious Valentine . Moorehead tended to play sour or neurotic women, but overall she embodied a wide range of different characters. She achieved great fame in the 1960s as Endora in the television series In Love with a Witch . She was last seen in the musical Gigi on Broadway.

Moorehead died of cancer in April 1974. The cause of the disease could have been the shooting of the film The Conqueror . The film was shot near the Nevada Test Site nuclear weapons test site in the city of St. George , Utah . The atomic bomb Harry had been detonated there three years earlier, which had led to the worst radioactive fallout of an atomic bomb test on the American continent. In addition, several tons of shining sand from the area were negligently used for decoration in the studio. 30 years later, 91 members of the 220-strong film team had cancer. One of her best friends was the American actress and singer Debbie Reynolds .

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Agnes Moorehead  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Allmovie Agnes Moorehead
  2. ↑ Agnes Moorehead at Allmovie
  3. ↑ See also John Wayne died in the atomic bomb. ( Memento from October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: Netzeitung.de May 26, 2007 (accessed on August 4, 2011)
  4. ↑ Article in People Magazine
personal data
SURNAME Moorehead, Agnes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moorehead, Agnes Robertson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Clinton , Massachusetts , United States
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1974
Place of death Rochester , Minnesota , United States