Author Description

Agnes Moorehead, “The Fabulous Redhead,” is remembered for her key roles in the 1960s television series, Bewitched, and the classic 1941 film, Citizen Kane. This talented and hardworking actress portrayed notable characters and provided memorable moments in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and stage in her remarkable career spanning five decades. Dr. Warren Sherk presents this remarkable woman as her friends and members of her profession knew her—a warm, good-humored, and private person. Her one-woman show, The Fabulous Redhead, and subsequent versions, Come Closer—I’ll Give You an Earful (Moorehead herself once quipped, “Don’t come too close.”) and An Evening with Agnes Moorehead are legendary, bringing her chilling reading of Sorry, Wrong Number, originally made famous on radio to live theater audiences. The book includes interviews with actors Polly Bergen and Joseph Cotten, producer Paul Gregory, two longtime housekeepers in her Beverly Hills home, and the live-in caretakers of her farm in Ohio. Agnes A Very Private Person, published in 1976, is organized into three parts. Part One acknowledges the indispensable aid Agnes received from her longtime household staff, Freddie Jones and Polly Garland, and covers her later years, with anecdotes from Jones and Paul Gregory. Part Two touches on the actress’s awards, craft, early training, her audition report from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, favorite things, films, home in Beverly Hills, radio and television days, road tours and readings, and social invitations. “My Favorite Script,” written by Agnes Moorehead in 1965 is included in its entirety. Part Three begins with a brief interlude followed by “The Farm,” a reverent insider’s view of Moorehead’s beloved retreat in Ohio, and concludes with “A Dear and Valued Friend,” which touches on her religious faith, a subject that imbues the entire work, including her notes on Bible Study. The closing words were w