Embracing My Flaws 1944
“I have a love of life that allows me to embrace my flaws and celebrate my strengths.”
Agnes Moorehead
Six Thousand Samolians A Week
On January 11, 1944, I signed a contract with MGM. Just before that, on January 1, I was in Holiday 194X on the radio. The show was about the post-war future in which a family journeys to a Berlin cemetery where their son is buried—heavy stuff for the airwaves. O January 14, I appeared in an article detailing my work with the “Hollywood Free World Association. Rad o was hot for me right now. I d d “The Sisters” with Ida Lupino and joined the cast of “Jack Carson.” I continued with “Mayor of the Town” and performed “Sorry Wrong Number” again. On ebruary 29, after pleading, begging, and crying, I was officially signed to the cast of “Mrs. Parkington.” I had lobbied for the part successfully, proving that I could sell myself when I had a mind. Fe uary also sent us back to Jack's to Aunt Mary’s home in northern California. I was not happy about it, but I endured it. The year drug on with not much more than radio for work. I ended up at home with Jack, who'd become a walking liquor bottle. He continued with the slapping and the drinking. I l cked him out of my bedroom and told him he could sleep in his room since he snored like a freight train engine. One evening, I neglected to notice one evening that Jack was carrying a gun and ended up with it pushed into the side of my head, threatening to shoot me if I didn't let him into my room. I d d, and I'll spare you the lurid details, but I never made that mistake again. Given the flurry of the entire event, I had to miss work and was asking for the excuse that I was ill. I wasn't, but I was black and blue.
By The Way, Mom Almost Died
As winter turned into spring, my phone rang with unwelcome news. Moter and Grace had both been hospitalized with extreme food poisoning after having a chocolate eclair from a Reedsburg Bakery. Moter's condition was good, but Grace's condition was listed as fair. I was unable to travel because I was filming, and Jack had already seen to it that I had to use personal time for the multiple bruises, etc, that I had to recover from. Moter recuperated alone with Grace. Mam's friends helped out, and I was so thankful for that. Lif that Jack was really stretching me to the limit.
Author's Observation: Orson, Always Orson
Agnes and Orson Orson and Agnes
The continuation of the linking of Agnes’ stellar career to Orson goes on in the newspapers. It l ms Agnes had sidestepped Hollywood until Orson convinced her to come out. This is simply not accurate. In the 1930s, in New York, Helen Hayes arranged for Agnes to be tested by motion picture scouts. The scout was unforgivingly cruel, summing up Agnes’ faults and telling her she was not pretty enough to be in films. Agn was sent home and, according to her, cried for days. So here, we have another revamping of facts to ease the pain of rejection. Agn s continued to be newspaper fodder for fashion. The article claims her whole wardrobe is made up of suits, probably more like suits and evening gowns, but who is looking?
All the balls in the air
On June 2, Agnes joined the cast of “Forever” with Joan Fontaine. She also turns on “ The American School of the Air.” Agnes juggled three pictures at once, filming “The Seventh Cross,” Dragon Seed,” and “Since You Went Away.” All of these things speak to her driven nature. She was doing everything she could get her hands on. I was never content to rest on my laurels. If I had worked constantly, I wouldn't have dealt with Jack and his antics daily, which would have suited me just fine!
On March 28, 1944, I finally returned to the set of "Mrs. Parkington." I had been off for several days, courtesy of Jack. I was bruised all over from this one. If I had any she had, I would have left him then, but Mother kept urging me to stay put because divorce would be so scandalous! Walking into your place of business with a black eye and stitches is done daily. I was worried it would also make the papers, so if I'm honest, I'm being a little hypocritical of Mother. So, back to work, I went well made up, so nothing showed.
2720 Monte Mar Terrace, the mystery
War Bond Drive with Franklin D Roosevelt. Orson staged the show with a skit called “Invasion.” By the end of June, Agnes was listed in the news as one of Hollywood’s most stellar talents. This month, 2720 Monte Mar Terrace will go on the market for immediate possession, with an asking price of $27,500.00. Eventually, I bought the home, but just not yet. Monte Mar Terrace is confounding. We have all seen the photographs of the home and Aggie at the house, but when did she actually "buy" it.
The peculiarity of what exactly happened with 2720 Monte Mar Terrace rears its head in 1944 with a newspaper article. On August 6, an article revealed that Jack had played at Ogunquit. Also, “ ggie is young, in her thirties, tall, slight, with dark auburn hair. She dresses smartly in suits, of which she has dozens. Her manner is crisp, definite, and charming…Recently, the Lees have bought a new house and have been having trouble furnishing it due to the shortage of materials. Miss Mo redheaded and remade all the curtains from her old apartment. She says she might call it a Victorian-Baroque style of interior decoration. Bob Por erfield of the Barter Theatre in Virginia told her it was “a smiling house,” which is a delightful description.”They did not own a California home because the house they claimed to have purchased remained up for sale until October 1945. It left me scratching my head, mainly because of the circumstances surrounding Jack and Agnes that would hit the papers like a Mack Truck in August of 1945.
Entertaining Family With “Her Husband”
As the year moved into Fall, Jack and I played host to Jack’s Aunt Mary Barnhart. I took Jack to a Welcome Home party in Novmber at Zasu Pitts' home. Jack was drunk as a Lord but kept his hands to himself and positioned himself in a corner. Barely anybody spoke to him. When you are with people, and they see you showing up with bruises, et cetera, the one issuing the bruises becomes a pariah at a party. An article about the party simply referred to Jack as my husband. They didn’t even bother to identify Jack by his name. I made sure to save it so it went to the scrapbook!
I said that actors do their best work on full stomachs during an interview for the newspaper. It was a nod to my time in New York before the “Seth Parker” tour when we were living on a small amount of money. I nearly starved and lived a whole month off of oatmeal after a payphone dropped a wad of change after I used my last nickel to call my agent. On December 22Decemberto performed the radio adaptation of “Scrooge” with Lionel. What a fantastic show it was! I loved L one and enjoyed working with the sly old devil. 1944 Motr and Grace returned to Hollywood for Christmas, leaving Reedsburg on December 21. Mother wasn't in the mood to listen to Jack, so Merry Christmas, Jack, and here’s a slap in the face; enjoy it. The only articles referring to us as Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lee were from Visalia, California, where Jack's family was from. Jack is persona non grata.
Author's Observation: Farm Fool Can You Say It
The year would only be complete with more mention of the farm and how the family came by it. Notice how Agnes 'grandparents suddenly come from England? This is pure Agnes. She took the truth and twisted it into an alternative fact. Agnes’s grandparents were both born in Ohio to parents who had moved there from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Her maternal grandfather was English and had immigrated from England in the late 19th century, but he had never owned a farm in Ohio or anywhere else. To make it enjoyable, she blended her grandparents into one set of people, altering the facts to suit her wants or needs.
May 21, 1944
The Journal Herald
Sunday
Dayton, Ohio
An article says Agnes’ primary concern is her 320-acre farm, which was granted to her great-grandparents when they came from England. Monroe signed one grant, and Tyler signed another. The year ended, but nobody knew that Agnes’s personal life would be displayed to everyone.
Regret 1945
“Don't waste time regretting things you cannot change. Focus on what you can do now.”
Agnes Moorehead
Back to Aunt Mary’s
1945 would begin quietly enough with a visit to Jack’s Aunt Mary Barnhart. My stint with “Mayor of the Town was ongoing as well. I did a quick blurb for the paper, which set Jack off. I mentioned Orson, and Jack went berserk. He was insanely jealous of Orson. For heaven's sake, I'm old enough to be his big sister!!! Orson was still a kid to me. I'll admit I did find him attractive when I was younger, but that is the extent of it. Jack just hated the man.
“Miss Moorehead, in private life, Mrs. Jack G. Lee of Beverly Hills, has been working in pictures for the past five years, coming to Hollywood from New York, where she was on the legitimate and concert stage, at the request of Orson Welles.”
Author's Observation: Mr. and Mrs. Jack G. Lee
In January, Agnes was identified as Mrs. Jack G. Lee of Beverly Hills in the article above. Not so much. They were M . and Mrs. Jack G. Lee of Cheviot Hills. This article came out years before Agnes transplanted herself to Beverly Hills. Creative re-construction on her part, along with her reference to what she was doing in New York. By her admission, she spent precious little time on the legitimate stage and never once appeared on the concert stage in New York. Agnes was h heavily into revamping her history, unaware that some of what she was removing would become the thing that kept her memory alive after she passed away. It was almost as if she was ashamed of her work on the radio during the 1930s. Remember that she was Margo Lane's original voice in “The Shadow.” She didn’t hide her current work on the radio but often left out her past involvement. We will never know what caused her to do this, but do it she did.
January would see her on the air with heartthrob Frank Sinatra and in contention to play Gregory Peck’s wife in “The Yearling.” She continued her work on the air with “Mayor of the Town” and “This Is My Best.” By February, she was to be added to the cast in the film “The Green Years.” Agnes also made the papers when she taught herself to ride a motorcycle. Initially, it had been purchased for Jack as a gift, but he couldn’t be bothered, so she decided to learn for herself. She certainly had much more fun with it than he did. April brought Orson Welles back to her with one of the performances for “This Is My Best.”
The Technicolor Bedroom
In April, a reporter visited the house to do a fluff piece on my home. You must understand that the one thing I love more than anything else is COLOR! "You must see my bedroom," I exclaimed! People don't believe it."
I opened the door, and the reporter's mouth dropped open. On the floor was a gorgeous blue string rug to match the blue walls. I added violet drapes, I just adore the shade, an orange bedcover and yellow chairs. Then I showed him the dressing room. I thought he might faint when he looked at it. You see, it's shocking pink, five-alarm fire pink, and tons of mirrors. I adore color. Jack told the reporter the painter nearly committed suicide, but then Jack always was a bit of a drama hound. I've had friends ask me how I can sleep in a room that loud, and I have a straightforward answer; my eyes are closed. Men just don't understand color.
Jack, Mexico, and the Explosion Heard Round The World
At 2720, Monte Mar Terrace, my life had become a complicated disaster. Jack had a four-alarm drinking habit that nobody outside of the house knew about. I did my best not to let that get into the news cycle. I had an article about her that mentioned the farm and how I could only manage a few weeks, not allowing her adequate time to plant her garden. I did photo shoots for pantsuits, gowns, furs, and jewelry. Sweet little articles such as this one from June 22 when I was tapped for an autograph by a woman at a theatre.” The woman asks where she got that beautiful coronet braid she was wearing; Agnes says, “I grew it.” I had become a lead on “Cavalcade of America.” I also did a War Bond show. Finally, I managed to carve out time for a vacation in Monterrey, Mexico, with Jack. This was the vacation from absolute Hades!
A Mean Drunk
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, I walked on eggshells, wondering how Jack would come at me on this day or that day. I had hoped our trip to Monterrey would be a balm for us both. It ended up being a bomb for us both.
Jack had lost control of himself completely, and the following was typical of Jack’s brutality. Jack forced me to sleep in his room despite fearing he might kill me and did so at gunpoint. Jack regularly fired pistols from his firearms collection in and outside the house whenever a whim struck him. He was drunk the whole vacation. He browbeat me daily. It was so bad at home that he hid bottles in the grandfather clock and bushes outside the house. Suffice it to say the vacation wasn't relaxing or peaceful. Jack had beat me for years. Mind you, he learned to stay away from my face because I couldn't work with damage to my face, and he needed my paycheck to survive. He put me in the hospital in New York, so why should Mexico be any different other than the fact I didn't end up in a hospital.
Author's Observation: She's A Punching Bag With An Attorney
All in all, it is very odd behavior for a woman so outwardly strong. Her self-esteem must have been so low to allow anyone to do this to her for 19 years. She states that Lee began drinking heavily around 1933. Which means she endured a mean, battering drunk for 16 of their 19 years of marriage. I think, from Agnes' admittance, that she was not pretty, that she was told she wasn't the pretty one and that she would have to deal with whatever she had to because she wasn't the "pretty one."
All of this eventually became public knowledge when she began her divorce proceedings against Jack in 1949, but it was not at the time. It appears that her Easter that year was horrific in so many ways. Here is her testimony and that of Marion McGuire, her driver, documented by the newspapers during the divorce trial from Jack Lee:
“Miss Moorehead’s attorney, Edward R Brand, then guided her testimony to Easter Sunday 1945 she returned home from church to prepare her husband's dinner but found him intoxicated in his room.” Agnes says, “ At first, he would not come down, but later, he appeared at the kitchen door. He poured himself a glass of beer and just stood there looking at me. Then he threw the glass at me. It broke on the wall. He upset a ta le and started hitting me with his fists.” “He told me I’d better duck, or he’d throw a glass of beer at me. She didn’t duck; he threw the glass of beer, and it hit her. He then picked up a heavy flower pot and chased me out of the house with it.” Her houseman Marion McGuire testified that since 1945, Lee’s drinking got so bad he hid bottles in bushes and grandfather clocks. McGuire also testified that Jack called Agnes dirty names, routinely fired pistols from his collection, and was continuously drunk.”
The Documentation of a Beating?
While working on this picture, I noticed something I’m sure nobody except those who were present and edited the picture was aware of: stitches.
You can see them in the black-and-white version. The picture looked very unusual anyway. Her eyes are swollen. She’s wearing next to no makeup. Her right eye is swollen to look smaller, substantially smaller, than the left. At the end of her left eyebrow, right at the edge of her nose, sit three, maybe four tiny white stitches. The photo was taken May 24, 1945, almost 3 months before she filed for her first separation and divorce from Jack Lee. She had a restraining order issued against him because she was in fear for her life and that he might try to burn down their home. Three months before this event, she shows up for a photo shoot with stitches in her face. So they did what they always do in Hollywood: they made it work. They threw a light from the left side and had her turn her head to the left, a position she was rarely photographed in, to hide the damage. From a photographic standpoint, it almost works until you look into the eyes…I know that look…..I have had that look: fear, pain, anguish, panic…... It seems that Quint Benedetti had some very accurate information about Jack beating Agnes….pity…to see such sadness in such beautiful eyes.
PS: You may wonder why they threw all the light at the side where she has the stitches. In stage, film, or photo lighting, if you are dealing with an injury you don't want people to see, like a bruise or stitches, you throw lots of light at it to wash it out. You can't cover stitches with makeup because of the risk of infection. This explains the lack of everyday makeup in the picture. If you allow bruises or cuts to sit in the shadows, they look twice as bad since they are already dark. They look darker than the normal skin tone around them. When looking at the picture above, remember that she has a ton of light on the left side of her face; no nose shadow indicates that from the front and the side. Yet her left eye and the area where the stitches appear are much darker than the surrounding skin. Hence, she had a bruised eye, a cut that required stitches, and what may be a slight area of bruising above the center of the left brow. Whatever happened to Aggie, she was beaten by something or someone. Her physician deliberately used white silk to stitch the cut, so he'd been around Hollywood for a while since they used white silk on the face to hide facial cuts during filming or photographing. Her willingness to go on with her scheduled event and trust in the people around her to conceal the damage speaks volumes about her intense strength.
So, we have an actor who doesn’t act but lives off his family's wealth and his wife’s ability to earn a steady paycheck. He used her as a punching bag. By the end of her marriage to Jack Lee, Agnes had been criticized, beaten, had furniture thrown at her, had beer thrown in her face, and got a restraining order keeping Jack away from her because she was afraid of what he would do to her. She had left Lee once in 1945 and did so again in 1949. Jack was not just a mean. He had zero t offer. Agnes filed a maintenance suit in August asking for only one dollar and stating she was able to support herself and Jack; well, Jack, in one fell swoop, proved what Agnes eventually said in court in 1949 when she stated he told her she was his “meal ticket.”
August 25, 1945
Saturday
The Buffalo News
Page 32
Santa Monica, California (AP)
Agnes Moorehead, screen and radio actress, said he feared bodily harm from her actor husband Jack G. Lee, Friday filtrate maintenance suit with Superior Court Judge Clarence M. Hanson. The actress on Friday. The actress asked for a month, stating that she was able to support herself in maintenance.
Running Home To Mother
After the nightmare of getting beaten and having to get a restraining order, I went to Wisconsin and stayed with her mother for several days. I wanted to be away from Jack, and I didn’t want anybody to see me suffering because I never wanted to be pitied. Mother was my comfort and my undoing. Mother was a religious woman, and I think you’ve reached the same conclusion. Mother calmed me down and used the bible as a weapon to beat me back into the arms of my husband. Mother and he desire to look socially acceptable. Fortunately for me, I was not emotionally weak nor damaged so severely that I would not survive it.
The family had suffered divorces, so why was Mother so determined to have me stay put? My Aunt Agnes, after whom I had been named, was divorced, so it doesn’t make sense that she would counsel me to stay in a marriage where I was my husband’s punching bag. I’ll tell you exactly why this happened. Aunt Agnes didn’t care what Mother thought; before her divorce, Agnes McCauley had gone to Hamilton, Ohio, to visit her sister. They remained very close. But I was highly recognizable, and Mother feared what people would think if her daughter divorced. Never mind that I got the crap kicked out of me. The beating being in the paper wasn’t an issue for Mother because women were meant to endure to stay silent and put. I was sick and tired of enduring!
The Mystery of Monte Mar
In September of 1945, Monte Mar Terrace went back on the market. The discord of April had stirred up a great deal of anger and resentment. Enough to want to get out from under the house, at the very least. It needs to be noted that we cannot prove that Agnes owned the house at this point, but Jack believed she did, I’m sure. The return to the market for 2720 Monte Mar leaves more unanswered questions. Did she buy it, or did she rent it? Monte Mar Terrace stays on the market until October 4, when it is abruptly withdrawn. I think it speaks volumes all by itself. Why would you try valiantly to sell the place unless you needed to?
This discord hit a fever pitch in August when Agnes and Jack journeyed to Monterrey, Mexico. They departed on August 1 and returned on August 18. Seven days later, on August 25, Agnes has Jack evicted from the house and gets a restraining order claiming.
1945 August 1
Los Angeles Evening Citizen News
Page 10
This week, Agnes Moorehead is taking her first vacation in four years. She will fly to Mexico City for a brief stay.
Twenty-four days later, once they get back, Agnes kicks Jack out and files for a restraining order. She begins divorce proceedings. It is withdrawn, and Agnes will continue for another four years before finally filing for divorce.
1945 August 4 Jack departs El Paso with Agnes.
1945 18, August Jack arrives in El Paso, Texas, from Mexico with Agnes.
August 25, 1945, A restraining order is issued against Jack after assaulting Agnes.
1945 August 25 Agnes files for maintenance and has Jack removed from the home, claiming she fears for her safety, stating that Jack had threatened to burn the house down with her in it. By September 2, the h use is on the market. The newspaper confirms that Agnes and Jack will remain separated on September 6. On the 6th, Agnes performs “Sorry Wrong Number.” Agnes packs up on September 11 and heads to her mother's home in Reedsburg for three days. On the fourteenth, she returns to Hollywood and the next day is “Mayor of the Town.” She does what she always has done by getting down to work. On September 17, Agnes performed in “Cavalcade of America.” The newspapers are reeling with the news of their less-than-friendly separation, but remember that they had no idea what happened in April. On September 20, the newspapers announced that Agnes and Jack had decided to end their marriage. Then again, on the 27th, they both saw lawyers. A hint of good news happens for Agnes on September 24 when she is elected to the Board of Directors for the Screen Actors Guild.
At this point, everything has stayed the same for Jack and Agnes. However, on October 4, a very odd thing appeared in the new paper concerning 2720 Monte Mar Terrace. Remember when I asked if she owned it or not? Well, she didn’t. An advertisement for the sale of the property named the owner. His name is Guy J. Banta, and he wants $55,000.00.
Dating your husband
On October 22, Jack and Agnes try a date by going to the movies, but according to the article, they are still separated. It doesn’t seem that they have patched anything up by this point. They are living separately here at home and on the beach. Nor does it appear they will get back together. I don’t understand how in the world you can decide to stick with a man who brutalized her the way Jack had. Agnes had her reasons, but they remain unknown and undocumented. She continues with her radio work on “Request Performance,” “This Is My Best,” “Colonel Paxton and the Haunted House,” and “Mayor of the Town.” Another article that grabs attention says Agnes does such an excellent job that she can’t get one. It laments the studio system's complexity and highlights how it hampers people from working with other studios and directors. She was a slave to MGM, and they were not going to let her go anywhere. Agnes continued doing radio work and appeared in Radio Life magazine. She does advertisements for fur coats and wraps. By December 14, Agnes is ready to sign for the movie “Eight Cousins,” and she has begun to discuss doing “Showboat” with Judy Garland. It appears neither movie moved forward in 1945. Agnes’ marital problems were not considered good publicity. On December 22, Agnes and Lionel perform together in “A Christmas Carol.”
A year that had begun with so much promise has become a catastrophic nightmare for Agnes. Getting the crap kicked out of you at Easter will dampen anybody's year. But the question that vexes me is, why take him back? Her career. It was always about her career.
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