The Girls part 3 Alice Cecelia MacKenzie

 Alice MacKenzie

Alice was a stand-in for Agnes in the 1940s. She also had small parts in Johnny Belinda and Summer Holiday, filmed in 1947. In June 1947, Alice accompanied Agnes and Jack to Muskingum, Ohio, and the Moorehead farm. The three drove from California and were welcomed as guests in the home of Dr. Robert Montgomery, President of Muskingum College. The reason for the drive was an honorary Doctorate from the school presented at the graduation of the class of 1947. No big deal, right? No, the whole trip was a big deal because of Alice’s presence. I have always believed that Agnes took Alice along so she didn’t have to be alone with Jack, given his violent drunken outburst in 1945. I honestly can’t blame Agnes. What we don’t have with Alice is any kind of correspondence whatsoever. I find the absence of letters odd since Alice had a part in two movies starring Agnes and traveled to Ohio with her.

Clearly, Alice understood why she was there. Who accepts an offer to drive from California to Ohio without understanding why they were invited? Alice had to have known at least that Jack was violent, which Agnes must have told her, but again, there are no letters. You do not invite a total stranger to do something like this, leaving me on the doorstep of the house of missing letters. Back in the day, putting anything emotional on paper was not a good idea, and if these two women had an intimate emotional relationship, the letters, if ever there were any, were quite probably burned. It was the only safe thing to do.

Alice Cecelia MacKenzie was born July 16, 1917, in Hennepin, Minnesota. Her parents were Robert and Mary Mackenzie. Alice lived in Minnesota until she attended college in Seattle in 1938. From Seattle, Alice and he mother moved to Long Beach, California. Both Alice and her mother lived with Robert, Alice’s brother. Her sister Helen and her brother George both lived there as well. By 1950, Alice worked as a clerk at the Navy Receiving Station. Alice never married and died in Los Angeles on the 9th of August 1981. She is the only woman who was friends with or worked with Agnes and has never married. Again, I reiterate that they traveled together with Jack to Ohio in 1947. Not a stranger to Agnes in any way, but there is no evidence of communication, not even a Christmas Card. There is only one other person with this complete lack of communication, Peg LaCentra, who lived with Agnes and Jack.. Let that marinate.

Alice was never an actress except for the two films mentioned above. She never appeared on the screen again. She worked as a secretary in Los Angeles and Long Beach until she retired. Alice never lived more than 28 miles away from Agnes, yet there is no documentation that they ever communicated. The same is true of Peg LaCentra. Neither of them has a single birthday, Easter, or Christmas card. They may have had a falling out, or maybe Robert Gist happened. Speculation is all one can do about it all. But it does give us something to think about, doesn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I have never pestered or bothered sending cards when my relationships have ended. What is over is over.