I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead (71 page)

57.
The Abbott and Costello Show.
October 22, 1942. NBC.

Hosts: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Guest Star: Agnes Moorehead. Agnes appears in a sketch as
“Aunt Ruby.”
A portion of the sketch:
AM
:
(to A & C)
Ah, good evening boys. How are you tonight? Having the same old fun,

in the same old way, with the same old jokes?
Why you old —
Ah, Ah, Ah! Costello! I said to be nice.
After all, Mr. Costello, remember — I’m a woman of parts!
Well, go back to Lockheed, they forgot to assemble you.

58.
Hello Americans.
November 22, 1942. CBS.
“Pizarro: El Conquistador.” The story of the conquerors and liberators in South America. Orson Welles
(host), Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Hans Conried, Pedro De Cordoba.
59.
Uncle Sam Presents
. December 4, 1942.
Agnes appeared on this patriotic broadcast in support of the war effort.
60.
Hello Americans
. December 6, 1942. CBS.
“The Alphabet of the Islands.” Caribbean Islands, that is. Cast: Orson Welles (host), Agnes
Moorehead, Ray Collins, Miguelito Valdez, Ted Reid, Gerald Mohr. Part one of two.
61.
Hello Americans
. December 13, 1942. CBS.
“The Alphabet of the Islands.” Part two of Welles’ look at the Caribbean Islands. Cast: Orson Welles
(host), Agnes Moorehead, Hans Conried, Gerald Mohr, Lou Merrill.
62.
The Cavalcade of America.
December 14, 1942. NBC. “The Man Who Wouldn’t Be President.”
Edward Arnold plays Daniel Webster, with Agnes cast as his devoted wife.

63.
Suspense
(1942–1960) CBS. Agnes
Moorehead guest-starred so many times on
this suspense anthology series that she
became known as “The First Lady of
Suspense.” The introduction is still famous
today: “The CBS radio network brings you
tales well calculated to keep you in . . .
Suspense!”

“The Diary of Sophronia Winters”
4/27/43. Agnes makes her debut in
this episode about a woman who
marries a psychopath. Lucille Fletcher
wrote the script and Ray Collins costars as the husband.

“Sorry, Wrong Number” 5/25/43. This
radio play is one of the most famous
of all time. Agnes plays Mrs. Elbert
Stevenson, an invalid who overhears
a murder plot on a party line and

slowly discovers that it is she who is the intended victim. Lucille Fletcher wrote the script.

“Uncle Henry’s Rosebush” 6/29/43
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 8/21/43. The first rebroadcast of the famous play.
“The Sisters” 2/3/44
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 2/24/44
“The Diary of Sophronia Winters” 8/17/44
“To Find Help” 1/18/45. Frank Sinatra and Agnes in a play about a psychopath who terrorizes a

woman in her home. Based on the play,
The Man
, and made into the movie
Beware, My Lovely
.
“Sorry Wrong Number” 9/6/45
“Post Mortem” 4/4/46. A winning lottery ticket is buried with a dead man.
“The Thirteenth Sound” 2/13/47. Agnes plays a woman who murders her husband (played by

William Johnstone) and then begins to hear strange sounds.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” 7/29/48. Agnes plays a woman who begins to see strange pattens jumping
out at her on her wallpaper.
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 11/18/48
“The Screaming Woman” 11/25/48. Agnes was so well known for her scream that she was
employed to do just that in this story which starred Margaret O’Brien.
“The Trap” 6/16/49
“The Chain Letter” 4/27/50. Agnes as a woman who sends a chain letter, one which may have
caused the death of a woman.
“The Death Parade” 2/15/51
“The Evil of Adelaide Winters” 9/10/51
“The Fall River Tragedy” 1/14/52. Agnes plays Lizzie Borden.
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 9/15/52
“Death and Miss Turner” 11/17/52
“The Signalman” 3/23/53
“The Empty Chair” 9/21/53
“The Wreck of The Maid of Athens” 11/30/53. The story of a shipwreck.
“Weekend Special: Death” 5/24/54. Agnes as a woman trapped in a supermarket, hiding from
two killers.
“Death and Miss Turner” 5/19/57
“The Yellow Wallpaper” 6/30/57
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 10/20/57
“The Chain” 3/9/58
“The Whole Town’s Sleeping” 8/31/58. Ray Bradbury wrote this story about a serial killer on the loose.
“Don’t Call Me Mother” 1/4/59
“Sorry, Wrong Number” 1/14/60. It is fitting that Agnes’ last appearance on
Suspense
is appearing in
yet another airing of her most famous radio play.

64.
Hello Americans
. January 10, 1943. CBS.
A portrait of Cortez and Montezuma, Juarez, Zapata in old Mexico. Cast: Orson Welles (host), Hans
Conried, Lou Merrill, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins.

65.
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre
. May 31, 1943. CBS.
“Rebecca.” Cast: Joan Fontaine, Brian Aherne, Agnes Moorehead. Agnes takes on the role of Mrs.
Danvers once again, with Fontaine recreating her screen role as “I” and Fontaine’s then-husband

Aherne as Maxim De Winter.
66.
Hollywood Theatre of the Air.
August 2 & 5, 1943.
“Magnificent Ambersons.” Agnes starred in this two-part adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s bestseller
and recreation of her own acclaimed film performance as Fanny Minafer.

67.
The Adventures of Leonides Witherall.
September 7, 1943. CBS. Leonides Witherall, a British criminology
professor at the Meredith School for Boys in the town of Dalton, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Mollet, who
also heads a ladies’ literary group, team up together to solve mysteries. This was the one-hour pilot to a
short-lived mystery series, but Agnes, who plays Mrs. Mollet only participated in this initial episode.

68.
Ceiling Unlimited.
December 19, 1943. CBS.
This series was, in the words of radio historian John Dunning, “aggressively patriotic.” The theme of
the week is Christmas. Joseph Cotten writes “a letter to an unborn son.” Cast: Joseph Cotten, Agnes
Moorehead, Pedro De Cordoba, Lou Merrill, Hans Conried.

69.
The Jack Carson Show
. January 19, 1944–September 27, 1944. NBC.
Host: Jack Carson. Agnes had a recurring role as “Mrs. Freddy Martin,” wife of Carson’s bandleader,
who thinks that Freddy is the real talent and Jack is a nothing.

Typical sketch:
AM
: (
to Freddy Martin
): Oh, hello, Frederick dear.
JC
:
Oh, Mrs. Martin! Well, let’s not beat around the bush — what d’ya know that’s nasty!
AM
:
Mr. Carson, you shouldn’t talk to me like that after I just came from seeing one of your

pictures —
The Hard Way!
And when you finished that big death scene, I cried, and
cried, and cried!
JC
:
Really?
AM
:
Yes — but they wouldn’t give me my money back!

70.
Orson Welles Almanac.
January 26, 1944–July 19, 1944. CBS. Host: Orson Welles. Regulars: Agnes
Moorehead, Hans Conried, Ray Collins. Welles and many of his Mercury players appeared on this variety
show which featured songs, skits and dramatic interludes such as dramatizations of short stories. Agnes
had a recurring character as the head of the “Orson Welles Fan Club” and referred to the host as
“Wellesy.” Due to a running dispute with sponsor Mobil Oil, the show was short-lived.

71.
Ceiling Zero
. April 5, 1944. CBS.
The theme of the week is Easter. Cast: Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Constance Moore.
72.
Fifth War Loan Drive.
June 12, 1944. CBS. Agnes, Orson Welles, Keenan Wynn, Walter Huston and
President Roosevelt participate in this war bond drive, sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Dept.
73.
Goodyear Theatre.
July 9, 1944.
“Thief is an Ugly Word.” Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Agnes Moorehead.
74.
This is My Best.
April 10, 1945. CBS.
“The Master of Ballantrae.” Cast: Orson Welles, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, Alan Napier. An
adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, produced and directed by Orson Welles.
75.
Cavalcade of America
. June 18, 1945. NBC. “Party Line”
76.
Cavalcade of America.
September 17, 1945. NBC.
“Nellie Was a Lady.” Agnes was cast as that cunning female reporter of the 19th century,
Nellie Bly.
77.
This is My Best.
September 17, 1945. CBS.
“Colonel Paxton and the Haunted Horse.” Agnes guest stars in this Orson Welles-produced and
-directed program.

78.
Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show
.
October 14, 1945. NBC.
Agnes guest-starred on this short-lived situation comedy
as Dema Parker, Charlotte's secretary and friend.
Conrad Binyon also had a part in this episode.

79.
Calamity Jane
. March 1946. CBS.
Agnes starred in this short-lived (three episodes) drama,
not based on the Western heroine, but on a contemporary
female reporter who works to expose racketeers and
other bad guys. Dan Wolfe plays her grandfather, also
the publisher of the newspaper she works at. Also starring
William Johnstone and Cathy Lewis.

80.
Radio Hall of Fame.
March 24, 1946. ABC.
Agnes does a portion of her famous “Sorry, Wrong Number” on this program.

81.
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre.
April 1, 1946. CBS.
“On Borrowed Time.” Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price. Barrymore and
Agnes work together outside of the popular
Mayor of the Town
in this story about a man (Barrymore)
who stalls death (Price). Agnes plays Demetria.

82.
Philco Radio Hall of Fame
. March 24, 1946.
Agnes again performs a portion of “Sorry, Wrong Number.”
84.
Amazing Mrs. Danbury.
April 2, 1946–June 16, 1946. CBS.
Agnes begins another short-lived series, this time a comedy about Mrs. Jonathan Danbury (Agnes), a
sharp-tongued old woman and owner of the Danbury Department Store, and her domestic life with
her daughter (Cathy Lewis) and son (Dan Wolfe).

83.
Cavalcade of America.
March 25, 1946. NBC. “The General’s Wife.”
85.
The Mercury Summer Theatre.
September 13, 1946. CBS.
“King Lear.” Cast: Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Edgar Barrier, Elliott Reid, Lurene Tuttle,
Norman Field. A 30-minute adaptation of the Shakespeare classic.

86.
Stars in the Afternoon.
September 29, 1946. CBS.
Ozzie and Harriet host this preview of the new CBS 1946–47 radio season. Agnes and Lionel
Barrymore preview the fifth season of
The Mayor of the Town
.

87.
Cavalcade of America.
October 14, 1946. NBC.
“The Hickory Tree.” Agnes plays the role of Andrew Jackson’s wife, Elizabeth.

88.
Armstrong Theatre of Today.
October 19, 1946. CBS.
“The Great Burden.” Agnes plays Helen Seaton in a story of a woman who helps her husband find a
new life. Two years earlier, Ralph Seaton had been convicted of bank theft, a crime he didn’t commit,
and was sent to prison. New evidence clears him but he must readjust to the outside world.