I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead (41 page)

If television had a Grace Kelly, it would be Elizabeth Montgomery, for
she was certainly Hollywood royalty, growing up in a rich and glamorous
lifestyle. She had a regal beauty and a cool exterior much like the blonde
Princess of Monaco. She also possessed a sharp sense of humor which
drew people toward
her. Agnes’ friend Laurie
Main, who would
make guest appearances
on three episodes of
Bewitched,
would recall
Montgomery as “a lot
of fun, and her sense of
humor was delicious,
which made coming to
the set a real pleasure.”
Elizabeth, known to her
co-workers and friends
as Liz or Lizzie, was also
a very fine actress who
had demonstrated her
worth in many television
productions since she
had made her debut
some twelve years earlier
on her father’s popular
series
Robert Montgomery
Presents.

Robert Montgomery
was a creative force in the
early days of television.

He was one of the first major film stars to make the leap to television in an
age when film stars just didn’t appear in the medium. But Montgomery was
an innovator who recognized that his days as a romantic leading man were
over and understood that television could eventually reach and touch many
more millions who would never see him in a motion picture. He was also a
tough taskmaster. Young Elizabeth would not have been cast on his show if
she wasn’t talented enough to perform the part. Montgomery didn’t believe
in nepotism. In fact, Elizabeth would become kind of a stock player in his
company of actors on his show, but if she had not succeeded in that first
program she would not have been asked to return. The work she did on her
father’s series led to other appearances on such “Golden Age of Television”
series as
Studio One, The Twilight Zone, General Electric Theatre
and
Alfred

Hitchcock Presents.
She would be nominated for an Emmy for a guest
appearance opposite Robert Stack in an episode of
The Untouchables,
the
first of nine times with no wins! In the years leading up to
Bewitched
she
would mix episodic TV work with occasional roles in motion pictures such
as
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
(with Gary Cooper),
Who’s Been
Sleeping in My Bed?
(with Dean Martin) and as a gangster’s moll in the cult
film
Johnny Cool,
which was directed by the man who eventually became
her third husband, William Asher.

Equally important would be the role of the harassed yet loving mortal
husband. The part called for an actor who could hold his own within the
framework of the supernatural tomfoolery. He also had to have the right
chemistry with Elizabeth Montgomery. The show was balanced as one-third
situation comedy, one-third supernatural comedy and one-third romantic
comedy. Indeed, the early episodes, which established the characters, would
emphasize the romantic nature of the relationship between witch and mortal
and would be critical in defining the series. The actors had to make the love
story believable for it to work. Enter 34-year-old actor Dick York.

York came to Hollywood from a humble background. Growing up in
near poverty in Chicago, he sought work in radio as a teenager to help
support his family. It didn’t take long before he began getting steady work
in Chicago as a radio juvenile, his big break being
Jack Armstrong – The All
American Boy.
It was while working in radio as a teenager that he met the
young woman who would later become his wife, Joan Alt; he was 15 and
she was 12, “an infant,” recalled York. Three years later they met again and
this time it was love at first sight — “you would be very surprised at what
strides a girl can make between 12 and 15.”

Dick and Joan (known as Joey) later married and moved to New York
City where Dick found work on radio and in the theatre appearing in such
shows as
Tea and Sympathy,
directed by Elia Kazan. Kazan’s good friend,
Karl Malden, who helped Kazan cast this show, later recalled of York, “He
was from Chicago and was in New York maybe a year or two and he read
for me. I put him down as a definite possibility. It finally came down
between him and another actor. He got the part. He was a wonderful actor
and a very nice man.” Another Broadway show he would appear in was
Bus
Stop,
opposite stage legend Kim Stanley. Hollywood soon summoned York
and he appeared in a series of films between 1955 and 1960 which
demonstrated his versatility, including the musical-comedy
My Sister Eileen,
the slapstick antics of
Operation Mad Ball,
and the western
Cowboy
— all
three with another young actor by the name of Jack Lemmon. The highpoint of York’s film career was in the well-regarded courtroom drama,
Inherit the Wind,
where York was fourth-billed after screen titans Spencer
Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly.

But one film would have far-reaching consequences for York,
professionally and personally. In 1959, he went to Mexico to film the
action-adventure,
They Came to Cordura,
starring Gary Cooper. While he
and several other actors were performing a scene in the picture, using a
railroad handcar, an accident occurred, causing York to tear the muscles
along the right side of his back, resulting in intense pain that would
increase with frequency as the years went by. The pain would come and go
early on, go for a stretch without any problems, and then suddenly be taken
down by a fierce flair-up. It could be excruciating, but he had to work
through it because he had a
family (which would eventually grow to five children) to
support. During the early 60’s
York continued to work
constantly on television in
such series as
Alfred Hitchcock
Presents, The Twilight Zone
and
Rawhide.
During the
1962–63 season, York was
cast opposite Gene Kelly in
the TV series,
Going My Way
(based on the 1944 Bing
Crosby film). The series lasted
only one season but it was a
happy one for Dick according
to Joan York. He and Kelly
had an easy rapport. One day
Joan York arrived on the set
and Kelly, with that Irish
twinkle in his eye, said,
“Dick, she isn’t as ugly as
you said she was.” To which
the quick-witted Mrs. York
replied, “Well, thank you,
Mr. Astaire.” Sadly, the series wasn’t renewed for a second year and so Dick
was out looking for his next job when his agent, luckily, got wind of the
pilot of
Bewitched,
as
The Witch of Westport
was retitled.

York recalls that he came to read for the part of Darrin Stephens before
both Harry Ackerman and Bill Asher. As he was waiting to be seen, he
caught sight of a beautiful and leggy Elizabeth Montgomery who was going
to read with him (she had the part, of course, which apparently Dick didn’t
know at the time). The reading went well and Asher was immediately
impressed by the gangly and expressive York. “He was just too perfect for
the part. Once that reading was done we knew we had found Darrin.”
Impulsively, after the reading, Dick jumped into Montgomery’s lap telling
all those observing that they looked “cute together.” Dick later explained
that it was the way he got all of his acting jobs — taking chances.

Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York were now in place, but there was
one other part which needed to be filled, and it was pivotal that they find
an actress of authority — the role of Samantha’s (as Cassandra was eventually
renamed) mother, who strongly opposes her daughter marrying a mortal.

How did Agnes Moorehead get the part which would transform her from
respected character actress to cultural icon? Bill Asher says it was fate. He
and Elizabeth were shopping in Bloomingdales one day when Elizabeth
went off to another department. She caught sight of Agnes and approached
her. They exchanged pleasantries. Agnes certainly knew who Elizabeth was
and had met her before through Robert Montgomery. Elizabeth suddenly
thought of the part of “Mother” and impulsively asked Agnes, “Have you
ever thought of doing a television series?,” to which Agnes coyly replied,
“Maybe, maybe not” (of course she had many times). Elizabeth explained
the
Bewitched
premise and arranged to have the script sent to Agnes.
Elizabeth then, excitedly, located Asher and told him, “I found ‘Mother’!!”
This is the story as Bill Asher explained to this author and largely as it
appears in Herbie J Pilato’s essential biography,
Bewitched Forever.

Agnes’ friend and theatrical producer Paul Gregory, has a somewhat
different spin on it. He says that he was the one “instrumental” in getting
Bewitched
for Agnes. According to Paul, he talked Asher into using Agnes
on the show, but that the producers were skeptical because Agnes would be
more expensive than they had originally budgeted for the part, not expecting

that the part would be filled by an actress of Agnes’ renown. They finally
saw the advantage of having Agnes in the part, along with the ratings value
of an actress of Agnes’ caliber appearing in the pilot.

This is an interesting theory and I have no doubt that Paul did speak
with Asher about Agnes, but it is highly doubtful that Asher would need
much persuading since he was well aware of her work and had worked with
her several years earlier in the episode of
The Shirley Temple Playhouse
where
Agnes had played a witch. But Paul does make a good point that Agnes
would be more expensive than another less illustrious actress in the same
part. In the end, the network, sponsors and the Ashers made the correct
decision in casting Agnes.

Bill Dozier sent the pilot script to Agnes and in a letter, dated October
24, 1963, to Georgia Johnstone, Agnes reveals a certain fear about accepting
the part. “The script sent to me from Dozier was titled,
Bewitched
and they
want me to play a witch in a series! You know this is murder for then all my
work and what little talent I have would only be used by others around
Halloween. They have so little minds out here, and I would only be
thought of as a witch from now on! So I told them I would only guest star
and on a certain number. They seem amenable to it — but we shall see.”
But Agnes couldn’t afford to balk too much. The offer was good; if the
show became a series she would be paid an estimated $3,000 per episode
and even if she appeared in a limited number, like 26 out of 39 episodes,
that would accumulate to some very serious money. But in the end she
agreed to do the pilot for another reason — she really didn’t believe it
would sell. “I thought people would rather watch an operation or
something.” (Medical shows such as
Dr. Kildare
and
Ben Casey
were the
rage at the time.)

Agnes insisted that the witch she would play not be considered wicked.
She imagined “Mother” (still no name chosen for the character, though
Matilda was toyed around with, but it wasn’t to Agnes’ liking) as only
wanting what was best for her daughter. “I’m not at all wicked. I’m quite a
sophisticated gal . . . the humans in the script do plenty of things and she
loves to show up their foolishness.” William Asher said he wanted the
character to be “the ultimate Mother-in-law,” and that she would be the
show’s “conflict,” to which Agnes was in perfect agreement. “Every time she
shows up you know something will happen.”