Shaking the Champagne Bottle 1948
“Learn from your mistakes, but don't let them define you.”
Agnes Moorehead
Presently Tense
The beginning of 1948 was tense. I am happy with Jack, and Jack is disgusted by everyone. A former neighbor told a relative of mine that Jack remained unhappy for the rest of his life, and nobody around him made the mistake of going near him. However, he did get some screen time in 1948 with “Berlin Express,” “River Lady,” and “Roadhouse. While none of these were significant films, and all parts were uncredited, at least it was work, and I was as pleased as I could be given everything that had gone on between us. I had reduced his access to money because he just wasted it on alcohol. He had said to me many times I was just a meal ticket to him and that what he wanted was a drinking partner. I began the year doing “Little Foxes” for the Theatre Guild On the Air. I was still on with “Mayor of the Town,” I also did a record for Lew Ayres in his Bible Tales Series. I ended January with a performance of “Sorry Wrong Number.”
Sorry Wrong Everything
This year was a silent year for Agnes film-wise. I was at liberty all the time except for “Mayor of the Town” and the single performance of “Sorry Wrong Number.” With so much free time, I enquired about the Committee Unionizing Television. I was looking down the road, and television would be the future wave as far as I could see. I also went to Milwaukee in October for the women's rights centennial program. Jack finally landed a plum role in the stage play “Command Decision.” It was a show that took him out of town and out of my hair. I was so relieved when he left to go on the road. I was done being beaten, screamed at, and terrorized in my own home.
The Veiled Prophet’s Ball
Mother came to California in September with Grace for a long, Jack-free visit. In October, they went on from California with Uncle Jake and Aunt Bessiey for “The Veiled Prophets Ball.” I followed them. On October 5th, a newspaper article gives a preview of what I would be wearing for the Ball:
“A gown of lilac satin with a matching coat, sable collar, and cuffs. She will be wearing a star sapphire necklace and ring.”
Commanded Decision
Grandmother MCauley fell ill in October, and Mother went to her bedside. By November, Jack was in Buffalo with Command Decision. Although the role bolstered his nonexistent career, Jack came to regret landing it. He didn’t know it then, but a failure in my career path would hasten the end of our rollercoaster marriage. I had enough of all of it.
The Stratton Story Disaster
In November, I lost the bid to be cast in younger roles and ended up in the biopic “The Stratton Story.” During this film, I met the man who lit the fuse that blew up my marriage. His name was Robert Marion Gist. On December 19th, I rearranged my schedule to go to Chicago to see Jack in “Command Decision.” It was the last time I did anything like this.
** The Stratton Story was filmed from October 1948 to December 28, 1948.
November 13, 1948
The Vancouver Sun
Susan Fletcher
Favorite Actress
By noontime, dismissed for the day was the word, and so a wish came true–a chance to meet my favorite actress. Everyone in show business has a hero or a heroine whose greatness sets a pattern for ambition. Mine from the first time I saw her on the screen is Agnes Moorehead.
Miss Moorehead, although currently working at MGM on “The Monty Stratton Stor” with Jimmy Stewart, was over at Warner Brothers for the day in the tender care of the gentlemen in the international department. When I first saw her, she was talking via phone to a radio audience in Mexico, enjoying it thoroughly and getting as much animation into her formal talk as she does in her famous radio plays. To everyone, she is Miss Moorehead despite her friendliness. This is a tribute to her art and her intelligence. She is an actor’s actress and probably the greatest character actress on the American screen.
Facile Face
Miss Moorehead has dark red hair and very blue eyes with a sharp, handsome face that changes expression with every thought. We started the interview abruptly by having a picture taken together. Miss Moorehead seized a nearby script for a prop. “Look,” she said, glancing through it, “here’s a part for me–hardbitten, mysterious housekeeper, with anger and despair written on her face. Too bad they’ve made this picture already. And here’s a part for you, a maid called Susan.” After the flashbulb boys bowed out, she seized a handkerchief. “I’ve got a revolting cold; you might catch it,” she said. “I suppose it’s because a New Englander never adjusts to the California climate.”
Desert of Dirt 1949
“I don't want to live in a desert of dirt.”
Savaged by a drunken husband
I went out of my way to achieve good press. I accepted honorary degrees from her alma mater and donated time to help support the troops. I had created the vision of a perfect life. However, my life was flawed because I could not control the man I had married. A would-be actor whose career, unlike my own, went no place. We had started even on footing, but Jack could not keep pace with me, no matter how hard he tried. Jack was quite docile and happy as long as he was permitted to be the man of the family, but once I stepped into those shoes, he became a belligerent drunk with a nasty temper.
For the first four years, life was quiet on Monte Mar Terrace in the Lee household, but then August 25th, 1945 happened. The illusion was shattered, and the newspapers noticed. Within forty-eight hours, the papers were flooded with reports about the restraining order, Agnes’ fear for her life, and her world cracked open like a rotting melon. Agnes, a shining example of female strength and fortitude in her films, was savaged by a drunken husband. Many were shocked, and some were utterly unsurprised. Many women suddenly felt a kinship with her as she suffered what they were suffering, too. Jack was seen for what he was: an abusive drunk who couldn’t stand on his own two feet and hated his wife because she was successful. But that was 1945, and this was 1949. She had taken Jack back after a year of separation. The reason was likely her career or, more accurately, the studio executives.
Chicago to Hollywood
On January 2nd, I Agnes returned from Chicago, where she witnessed Jack's performance in “Command Decision” and delivered a speech at the Drama Department of the University of Chicago. This marked a pivotal moment in her career and personal life. During the filming of “The Stratton Story” the previous year, Agnes met a man 17 years her junior who had a part in the movie. His name was Robert Gist. He was an actor from Chicago who had been on Broadway in “Harvey.” He had made his way to Hollywood after briefly appearing in “Miracle on 34th Street. Agnes was forty-eight years old to his thirty-one years. She was everything he needed at that moment. She was a star. She knew everybody in Hollywood. She was wealthy, and most importantly, she was in a miserable marriage to a man who used her as a punching bag and meal ticket. Robert was nothing if not opportunistic, and this was one he could not pass up.
Throwing caution to the wind
1949 arrived with little fanfare. I continued her stint on “Mayor of the Town,” filmed “The Great Sinner,” and Mother and Grace for an entire month in Hollywood. It was lovely having them there. The newspapers were always interested in me. There were articles spinning yarns about how I used flowers year-round to complete my table settings and chit-chatted about the parties I was attending at Valerie Nelson’s or Don Loper’s. Valerie Nelson’s party was exciting because Jack attended it with me, and when he was in the mix, something outrageous would happen, and I would have to look at friends pitying me. We had been poised for four years to spot any chink in the armor of our marriage. Nothing screamed at us yet. But it would shortly be undeniable.
Mother Lee dies
I was in demand as well. I was to be cast in “Twilight,” Orson wanted me for his “Othello,” and the Hakim Brothers wanted me for a European project. But on February 28th, I slammed on the brakes with all of these because Jack’s mother, Susan Slater Lee, died in San Francisco, and despite our ongoing issues, I lent my support to Jack. Jack gave his mother a lavish funeral, and I paid for it. Looking back on it, this was the beginning of the end for our marriage, and I thought that given Jack’s fragile state of mind, this death may have been the thing that sent him to the bottom of the barrel. If he did that, he would drink, and if he drank, I was going to get slapped around. Jack was a man very aware that his marriage to me was unstable, and now the woman who had raised him was gone. What exactly did he have to lose? The answer is nothing but everything he had. I held my breath. In the back of my mind, I had already moved on well over a year before, and I finally felt as if I was getting my life back. I had met someone who intrigued me.
Parties, Premieres, and Long Flights
I considered writing a screenplay called “The Golden Land.” The script was meant to be a reminiscence about my time as a teacher in Wisconsin, and Warner Brothers was said to be interested. On March 7th, I boarded a plane and flew to Paris to speak with Orson about appearing in “Othello.” Neither of these two things ever came to fruition.
I attended a party at Nat Willis's home when I returned to Hollywood. My newly found confidence allowed me to make it abundantly clear that I wanted the role of the warden in the film, which would eventually be called “Caged.” Meanwhile, Jack Segastura is dangling a carrot to get me to play the lead role in “Thread of Scarlet.” In March, Uncle Mark died, and my control of my father's family farm became absolute. In April, I attended a party in honor of Lottie Lehman at the home of Gene Raymond, and on the 23rd, I was nominated for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a place on the board of governors. I did the “Phillip Morris Playhouse” on the Air.” Two days later, I attended the premiere of “Flamingo Road.” This premiere is like chum for the press because I was there solo, and Jack was in town.
On May 1st, the news broke that I wanted to return to Summer Stock after a seven-year absence, and the press was salivating. Then, the earthquake started.
Misadventure at the Ice capades
On the same day, May 1, the same article about my return to Summer Stock also mentioned a rumored spilled from Jack because of an appearance at the Ice capades with a man rumored to be her agent. It wasn’t. Who was it? Robert Gist. I met him during the filming of "The Stratton Story." I wouldn't call him handsome, but he was sweet, attentive, flattering, and amusing. I hadn't laughed in the intimate company of a man since 1929, and twenty years is a very long dry spell when you have no reason to laugh genuinely.
Author's Observation: Do Not Stand In Front Of The Fan
It hits the fan, and Agnes is covered in it.
The crap has hit the fan, and Agnes is covered in it. The argument is so extreme that Agnes and Jack separate but reconcile after a trial separation of four days. Considering the first time it went south, they were separated for a year, and two months and four days seem pretty tame. Trust me, it was anything but tame.
Get on your brooms and go home.
In May, on the 18th, I suffered a head injury in a three-car wreck. The injury was minor. Marion had been driving the car, but the accident was deemed someone else's fault, and Marion was charged with nothing. I had a headache for a week, and the month didn't improve. Ten days later, on the set of “Without Honor,” my costar Dane Clark stopped at a table where I sat with female friends and told us, “Get on your brooms and go home.” To say I was angry would be insulting the word angry, but I was professional and offered no response, only my one eyebrow-up look of intense disdain. It has a withering look, and I actually practice doing it. It kept the stragglers out of your business.
On again, off again, Jack and Agnes
By June, the news again reported that Jack and I had separated. Huge surprise. The next day, they followed up with my attendance at Don Loper’s biannual shindig and said I would return to Warner Brothers for “Caged.” Jack and I separated again on June 15th. I gussied myself up and threw myself into premieres and parties with “Fountainhead,” two parties at the home of Pickman & Ferry, and then three days later, a blowout at the Cocoanut Grove. No way was I going to just act like my life was over. I consider it surviving my marriage to Jack, and while my new flirtation was interesting, I stood back for a few months until I could get my feet under me. Jack and I went around over money, the house, the apartment building, the cars, the jewelry, and everything else he could think of to demand. He wanted every bit of it. I lost all sympathy for the man at this point. I would see that he never got his hands on that house or any money before the settlement was duked out. It was a knockdown drag-out fight, and it would only get worse.
Hauling ass to the Queen Mary
In July, I began teaching acting lessons to Margaret Whiting. We had worked together many times, and I promised to help her tighten her skills. Jack departed the stage to perform a featured role in “On the Town” with Gene Kelly. Finally, on August 15th, I was seen publicly for the first time with “Robert Gist.” Sixteen days later, I wrapped up filming for “Caged” and am preparing to leave for Majorca. The film I did in Majorca was “Captain Blackjack.” Before my departure, she squeezed in a birthday party for Don Loper and a wedding reception for Nancy Ahearn. On September 15th, I boarded the Queen Mary and left for Spain.
Meet my parents. Meet My Girlfriend.
I was back by November 3rd when I hosted Robert and his parents. His mother and father were lovely people, and I was happy to have them. Robert stayed as well. On November 7th, Jack was seen publicly with another woman named Joanna Robinson at a bar, watching a drag performance where the impersonator portrayed me. I guarantee you he didn't look a smidgen as good in a gown as I did, and his was a knock off so much for taste. I'll bet Jack thought it was a laugh-a-minute.
On November fourteenth, I was elected to the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors. I felt so honored, knowing my Papa was looking down on me, smiling at my achievement. Mother said she thought it was alright. I left for Europe in December, and Robert jumped on the Queen Mary to follow me. He was reeling me in rapidly.
Open season on Monte Mar Terrace
There was no Christmas in Hollywood in 1949 for Mother and Grace; instead, they spent six days in Chicago, returning on the twenty-fourth and celebrating Christmas in Reedsburg. I must admit I was smitten; Robert is the smiter, and Jack is Goliath getting pelted with rocks. It is open season at Monte Mar Terrace.
April 14, 1949
The Times Recorder
Zanesville Ohio
Mark Moorehead Illness Fatal
Mark Moorehead, 78, a life resident of Rix Mills, died Monday afternoon at 8:15 at the Hesket Rest Home, Cambridge, after two weeks of illness.
He was born December 18, 1870, the son of Robert and Hannah Moorehead, and was a Mills United Presbyterian Church member.
Surviving are a brother, Howard A. Moorehead of Denver, and a niece, Mrs. Agnes Moorehead Lee, a well-known Hollywood actress. A brother and a sister are deceased. The body is at Speck Funeral Home, New Concord.
Jack Hooks Up
November 15, 1949
Walla Walla Bulletin
Walla Walla, Washington
Hollywood
(NEA)
Jo Ann Robinson, a blond cutie, is helping Jack Lee forget Agnes Moorehead. They were watching Arthur Blake impersonate Agnes at the Bar of Music.
Author's Observation
Naughty Christmas
On the 17th of December, Robert boarded the Queen Mary in New York. His point of debarkation was Cherbourg, France. According to the boarding roster of Queen Mary Robert, he would remain in Europe for two months. Five days, five hours, and thirteen days later, Robert left the Queen Mary and set foot on French soil. Robert is sailing to meet Agnes for the holidays and arrives on Christmas Eve. What needs to be remembered is that Agnes is legally married to Jack Lee. She filed for divorce on May 16, 1950. In the January 5th edition of the Los Angeles Mirror, on page 22, under the byline of Edith Gwin, there is an announcement that Robert went to Europe to spend Christmas with Agnes. What is the name of the heavens going on here? Well, we know what is going on, but there is no correspondent named in the countersuit filed by Jack against Agnes the following year. I cannot, for my life, understand if Jack had a lawyer filing countersuits. How is infidelity not on there? In any case, Agnes had herself a naughty little Christmas, a naughty little January, and a naughty little February in France. Not only does she have it in France, but she also flies home with Gist beside her to Idlewild in New York. She does not attempt to conceal anything. She was mad as hell, and she wasn’t going to take it anymore. She practically handed Jack a correspondent on a platter, yet we see nothing regarding any of it in the divorce. 1949 was an excellent year for Agnes.
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