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Agnes Moorehead (1900-74) was unique among twentieth-century American actresses in making a major career for herself in all four entertainment media after the age of 40. As the title indicates, Agnes Moorehead on Radio, Stage and TV focuses on Moorehead’s career in radio, on the stage, and in television. A representative selection of 25 of her most interesting and representative performances in these media are discussed in separate profiles ranging in length from 1,500 to 7,500 words, with the longest chapters devoted to Mayor of the Town, Suspense, Moorehead’s one-woman show, Bewitched and Gigi. Naturally, the book also covers Moorehead’s celebrated appearance on The Twilight Zone, both her productions of Don Juan in Hell, and her Emmy-winning appearance on The Wild Wild West. Many less well-known performances have never been analyzed in detail before. These include fascinating and entertaining portrayals on TV series such as Wagon Train, Adventures in Paradise, Rawhide and Burke’s Law.
The profiles are organized in chronological order. Thus, from The Shadow to Gigi, the book can be read as a continuous, chronological narrative of Moorehead’s unfolding acting career through more than three decades; or the individual chapters may be read as self-contained accounts of individual shows and performances. Each profile concentrates on Moorehead’s contribution to the show or episode. In addition to analyzing the nature and function of Moorehead’s role and how she performs it, the author variously discusses the place of the performance in her career development as a whole; her relationship with directors, producers, and/or fellow actors: comparisons and contrasts with similar types of roles in the same or other media; and curious, little known facts about the production. Nissen also discusses salient events in Moorehead’s personal life at the time.
