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Meet The Fam To understand my journey, we must look back to the years before my birth. In the small village of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, si...
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Chapter 1: The Mirror of Life I 've repeatedly said that the end makes the best beginning, so that is where we will start with Agnes ...
Aw thank you, these are wonderful. Who is the orange card with the silly drawings (unhatched paragon of virtue, electric wrist-watch) from, it's delightful?
ReplyDeleteAnd Kathy Ellis calling her a sister is also endearing. I can't figure out how long they knew each other, but it does seem she was her closest friend during the Hollywood years?
That card is from her Uncle Jacob Lashley. They called him Uncle Jack.
DeleteThanks!
DeleteI'm enjoying the letters so much. So many interesting details adding up to a fuller picture of who she was to whom in various phases of her life.
She signed her telegram as 'Bobbe', so cute. And she really really wanted Jack to succeed in his career judging by all the good luck telegrams she kept. It's kind of sad in retrospect.
Oh, and I love those two weirdo letters. I assumed they were written by Agnes as a joke (?) - the one to Paul Gregory introducing herself as an exotic dancer with small props and another one written on a flowery card in green ink about supposedly sending someone money for a bus fare to come to a blind date (whatever is that one about, lol?)
It is ironic because all that survived of Robert was a rent receipt for his parents and a bill of sale for shoes. Speaks volumes. The blind date one was written by Kathy Ellis for Agnes. It was found in a West Hollywood apartment when a long time tenant was moving. So it is real but I have yet to "find" Mr. Trent but I'm narrowing the field for sure.
DeleteCan't say I'm surprised as her second marriage makes zero sense to me. I mean, i get the relationship - she needed some kind of support to finally get out of the first marriage that had become impossible to stay in and Gist was the kind of person who easily recognized and used such weaknesses. And I imagine he must have had some kind of charm since so many women took a liking to him even though he wasn't much to look at. But why on earth Agnes married him is beyond my comprehension, she was an intelligent person and had enough time to figure out who he was. So I guess she must have been really angry and frustrated with herself for committing such a stupid mistake and didn't want anything to remind her of it. On the other hand, the whole thing with Jack seems just so ill-fated and overall sad - as disgusted as I am by what he eventually turned into.
DeleteAh, I see about the letter. I actually read it as an invitation for lunch or something to a friend but written in a humorous way. Did you find out what had become of Kathy Ellis? I assume she must have passed away long before Tranberg started writing his book, she would have probably been the best source of information on Agnes.
Sorry for another long rant, I'm just so excited about all this wonderful material you're posting.
I'm pretty sure Agnes felt that way after everything fell apart as well. When "The Caine Mutiny" closed in Los Angeles Paul Gregory threw a party and he invited Agnes who showed up with Patrick Waltz. She spent the evening dancing with Waltz right in front of Robert. Aggie basically rubbed it right into Roberts face. Kathy Ellis died in Washington state in around 2008 I believe. I'd have to look to be sure. Kathy did marry and Agnes hosted the reception at her home. I think Agnes married him because Jack was drunk all the time and used her as a punching bag. Robert was young and Agnes was in some ways very naive about men. Robert flattered her and he made her feel special right up to the point where he cheated on Agnes and got caught.
DeleteI stand corrected Kathy ( Kathleen) Margaret Ellis in February 1993. Her married name was Wilkinson. She appears to have married at least 3 times.
DeleteThanks, I figured Kathy must have been dead by the time Tranberg started writing his book or he'd have contacted her.
DeleteYou are right, Agnes definitely seemed both childish and childlike in certain ways, as intelligent and perceptive as she was. Also, I've always been under the impression that she was always somewhat eccentric and had certain issues you've describe so well, but her behaviour seemed to become more irrational, erratic, impulsive and - in Sean's case - downright insane after the first divorce - marrying Gist, adopting a child she never really intended to parent in any remotely normal way and sounding increasingly ''on'' in her interviews. Her 40s interviews are full of fabrications too, but in them, she sounds like a fun and essentially grounded kind of eccentric. From 50s onward, she starts to take on a Norma Desmond-ish persona in her interviews and kind of loses control of her fantasy.
And yet, so many of these letters are so lovely and it seems that the authors had a genuine fondness for her - I especially love this British 'D' pen-pal who discussed films with her. You identified him as the film critic Derek Malcolm, but I doubt it was him as he was born in 1932 and would have been too young for these letters in early 50s. I'll try to investigate.
Also, love Jane Wyman's crazy letter. I have an excerpt from a R.Regan's biography where the author cites notes from a Screen Actors' Guild (iirc) meeting attended by him, JW and Agnes and it's equally hilarious because it's a litany of increasingly tipsy nonsense. I can send it to you if you'd like.
Another excerpt I've saved (I've been going through my Agnes folder while reading your blog) is from the autobiography of one of the actors who did Don Juan with Aggie in 1972 and where he mentions the rumour that Charles Laughton cast Agnes because he was in love with her and that they had some kind of a strange platonic romance going on. Hah.
Great detective work on Peg LaCentra, it does seem she was still living with Agnes and Jack in 1937, which is a really long time. It makes the subsequent lack of contact between her and Agnes even stranger, especially as she married Paul Stewart in 1939, Aggie's pal from Orson's Mercury Theatre.
Thank you for posting about Aggie!! She is my most favourite Actress of all time!! Aggie was a beautiful person, inside and out from everything I've ever read. BTW you look so much like her, you could pass for her daughter! 💜 and miss you Aggie!! 🌹 🌞
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome and more will be coming. Thank you for the compliment. I always thought she was beautiful so you've made my day!
ReplyDelete