I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead (44 page)

In retrospect it worked to the
show’s advantage that Agnes didn’t
want to appear on a weekly
basis. This gave the writers the
opportunity to develop other
characters which kept the show
fresh. If Endora was the conflict
each week the show would begin
repeating itself and lose its originality. Instead, these other
characters — mainly relatives of
Samantha’s — could also test the
strength of the Stephens’ bond.
Among the most memorable
recurring role would be that of
Aunt Clara, played with dithering
brilliance by Marion Lorne.
Aunt Clara would become one
of the most beloved characters
on the show and the one relative
of Samantha’s who accepted
the union between witch and
mortal. So believable was Lorne’s portrayal that some people actually
believed that Lorne’s halting delivery was intentional to cover up for not
memorizing her lines. According to Kasey Rogers, who would play Louise
Tate, Lorne was a “very sophisticated and well-informed person.” She also
knew of the rumors that she didn’t know her lines and told her, “Dear, you
have to know the dialogue to play it that way.”

British stage actor Maurice Evans played Samantha’s father, Maurice,
with suave haminess. But Evans was not the first choice to play “Daddy” —
Montgomery very much wanted her own father, Robert, for the part, but
for reasons which are not really clear, Robert Montgomery turned this
down as well as an offer to narrate the first few episodes. Still, Evans, with
all of his theatricality, was the better choice. What was the status of the
Endora and Maurice marriage? Obviously very open.

In addition to the witches and warlocks in recurring roles was the part
of Darrin’s boss at the advertising firm of McMann and Tate, Larry Tate,
played with gusto by David White. White’s Tate is shallow, two-faced and
only out for one thing — landing the million dollar accounts. Yet he knew
he had gold with Darrin — despite firing him countless times over the next
eight years. Tate always ended up begging Darrin to return. White’s
characterization is one of the best supporting jobs by an actor on television
during the 60’s, and yet he was never nominated for an Emmy — a huge
oversight.

In addition to Tate, the other mortal recurring roles include that of the
Stephens’ neighbors from across the street, Abner and Gladys Kravitz.
Abner was recently retired and spent his days lying on a couch reading or
listening to a ball game. Gladys was a world-class snoop. But, as played by
film and stage comedienne Alice Pearce, Gladys was a snoop you
sympathized with. She saw all of these incredible things occurring across
the street and could never convince Abner — or even herself — of what she
saw. Abner invariably ended up giving her a swig of medicine to steady her
shaken nerves. As Abner, movie character veteran George Tobias was a fine
counterbalance for the hysterical and hilarious Pearce.

With casting complete and the show in production, the ABC and Screen
Gems publicity machine was at its full powers in the weeks before the
show’s premiere. Countless newspaper and magazine articles were written
and Agnes was a good sport, conducting endless interviews and press
junkets. When she committed to something, she felt it was an actor’s
responsibility to try and sell it. The show debuted on September 17, 1964 —
and was the highest-rated new program for the week. For the entire 64–65
season
Bewitched
would rank as the second most watched program, being
bested only by perennial favorite
Bonanza.
Ed Scherick of ABC sent Agnes
a telegram the evening the show premiered: T
ONIGHT SHOULD ONLY PROVE

WHAT WE HAVE FELT FROM THE START
. S
OLID SUCCESS
. A
N IMPORTANT PART
OF THAT
SUCCESS
IS
DUE TO THE
FINE
AND
UNIQUE TALENT YOU
HAVE
BROUGHT TO
B
EWITCHED
. M
Y BEST TO YOU ON THIS GALA NIGHT
.

The reviews were, on the whole, everything a new program would want.
Harriet Van Horne, critic of the
New York Telegram,
wrote, “The chief
charms of
Bewitched
are Elizabeth Montgomery, an authentic beauty with
a cool comic style, and Dick York, who plays with a boyish zest that could
slide into cuteness but doesn’t . . . In the comparatively small role of
Samantha’s mother, Agnes Moorehead managed to look regal, sinister, and
utterly glamorous.” Of Agnes, Kay Gardella of the
New York Daily News
wrote, “playing her mischief brewing mother who has no time for her
daughter’s journey into marriage is Agnes Moorehead — a case for sure of
perfect casting.”
TV Guide’s
Cleveland Amory wrote, “Between you and me
and Halloween, we are Bewitched by
Bewitched
.”

Bewitched
was a ratings and critical success and in December 1964
Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte
opened to strong box office for its limited
run in Los Angeles to qualify for the 1964 Academy Awards. Agnes was
with a winner on both television and in films, and finally something which
always eluded her had actually happened — she was no longer merely a
respected character actress. At age 64, Agnes Moorehead was a star.

Bewitched
became a ratings phenomenon in its first season. The show
captured the imagination of audiences and they loved the weekly romantic
chemistry between Liz Montgomery and Dick York. The actors were
swamped by fan mail, including one which was passed on to Agnes, Liz and
Dick by the sponsor as representative of the type of mail they were receiving:
“I have just finished watching the TV show you sponsor,
Bewitched
, and it
is so enjoyable that it prompted me to write my first fan letter. Elizabeth
Montgomery . . . always appears as a warm, charming, level-headed girl who
gave up all the magic in the world just to be with the man she loved. I guess
I like her because I’m a happy wife and mother and no enchantments of any
kind could entice me away from my husband . . . I like Dick York, too,
because he is so adept at comedy he can make this difficult role seem real.
It would be so easy to make this part deteriorate into a bumbling boob
routine . . . And Endora is superbly done by Agnes Moorehead. She was
the perfect choice for what’s-his-names’s mother-in-law. I like her touch of
cynicism that lets the air out of a lot of our inflated ideas about ourselves . . .”
But not all of Agnes’ mail was as supportive. One Canadian acquaintance
wrote, “Oh yes I have been watching
Bewitched
faithfully each Monday
evening, but to be quite honest, the series is proving to be very tiresome
now, having not improved at all since the initial episode. The fault
obviously lies with the writers . . . Elizabeth Montgomery is most appealing,
Dick York is quite suitable, and you are quite the most exciting scenestealer . . . and yet the show is most certainly dull!! . . . you simply must do
something other than Endora!” But this opinion was the exception rather
than the rule.

as a well-known actress
in her own right, was
contributing to the high
ratings the show had
attained. A letter to Georgia
Johnstone on October 19,
1964 summed up her
exhaustion and bruised
ego. “I am so tired, I can’t
tell you — they can take
these series and go some
place far away. I know it’s
remunerative and I thank
God for that —
but
the
hours and the strain and
pressure is unbelievable.
Up every morning at 4:45!!
And into make up chair at
6am — then we work until
almost 8pm — it’s a battle
every day and Elizabeth
married to the director
gives me no free agent to
appeal to . . . They can’t

understand why the viewing audience is so big! Some goon comes up to me
the other day and said — ‘Isn’t this wonderful for you — taking you out of
the character class and making you a
star.
’ I said, ‘I’ve starred since I was 15
years old — my co-stars in
Don Juan
were certainly a different caliber than
this show and what’s more, I would never do a part without characterization!’
I get tired of battling them — but when I come home at night, I fall into
a stupor and barely lift my hand to eat, let alone write . . . Have my fans
and their friends write in — I don’t believe they think I have viewers at all
— they think Elizabeth and Dick bring the ratings up so high . . .”

York later told Herbie J Pilato that Agnes’ “big debate on the set” was
“when do we get to act? She was trained in the theater, so the fast pace of
television acting would get to her at times.” Said director R. Robert
Rosenbaum, “She took direction better than anyone. She took two to three
hours in makeup every morning, and was never, never late. She was always
ready on the set, and she always knew her lines. She was very prepared and
did not respect someone else who didn’t come as well prepared as she. The
show survived due to her talents, and due to the chemistry between her and
Elizabeth.”

While the hours working in television certainly were long, the show did
establish a routine which tried to be accommodating to the actors’ desire
for enough time away from the set. Kasey Rogers, who joined the cast in
the third season, called
Bewitched
a “luxury shoot,” with the cast assembling
each Monday around a conference table to read the script, time it, and then
do some wardrobe tests. On Tuesdays through Thursdays they would shoot
— this is what Rogers meant by “luxury,” having three days to shoot a halfhour sitcom “was almost unheard of.” If they didn’t finish, they would work
Fridays — otherwise they were off Friday to Sunday, but the cast was given
the next script to begin memorizing.

The show worked on several levels. It most certainly worked as a love
story. Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York made the Samantha/Darrin
relationship very passionate. It is hard to imagine another show from that
era in which the lead characters — even the married ones — were as romantic
and tender together. You got the feeling that they not only loved each other
passionately but liked one another as individuals. Dick York said that
Elizabeth reminded him of his wife, Joey, which made it very easy for him
to both like and love Samantha. Kasey Rogers sums up the chemistry
between the leads well when she says that Elizabeth was “every man’s idea
of the ideal wife. The ideal mother. The ideal friend. She was beautiful,
perky, cute . . . Her personality and talent fit the part.” York, Rogers
maintains, “was a hell of a comedian and his rubber face and reactions were
off the wall and very funny.”

The show also worked as a standard situation comedy. Bill Asher, the
principal director, had enormous experience working with Lucille Ball and
Danny Thomas, among others, on their sitcoms and often
Bewitched
devised standard situation comedy plots with the twist of adding magic. For
instance, Samantha wants to please Darrin by acting as a “normal mortal
housewife,” and many of the early shows dealt with her trying to clean the
house, cook dinner and attempt to bake Darrin’s favorite cake — with less
than stellar results. Another perennial situation comedy device is the less
than approving mother-in-law, as epitomized by Endora. She scoffs at her
daughter’s attempts to clean, cook, or even fix a drink “the mortal way” and
holds Darrin responsible for the domesticization of her formerly worldly

child. She usually gets even
with “what’s his name” (an
early and lasting script device is
that Endora acts as if she cannot remember her son-in-law’s
name, usually referring to him
as Darwin, Dagwood, Dennis
or something other than his
given name) by attempting to
expose Samantha to what she
perceives as the contradictory
nature of mortals — exposing
their weaknesses such as vanity,
greed, stinginess, egomania,
etc. — usually at Darrin’s
expense. The Endora/Darrin
relationship is perhaps summed
up in the fourth episode, where
Endora and Darrin meet for
the first time (Endora uncharacteristically arriving by ringing
the doorbell rather than simply