Aggie Calling Orson, Come In Orson

It's All In The Timing
So, here I am back again to take a new run at adding to this blog. My prompt was a meet and greet situation that I found myself at. It was while introducing myself in my normal forward manner to an Australian actress whose stage presence I find akin to what would have happened if suddenly Aggie and Orson found themselves the parents of a daughter. It prompted me to yet again take a run at the seemingly lifelong task of sheltering my talented cousin's memory and trying to find a good way to let everyone see beneath the veil of who Aggie was.

While looking over my notes I was struck by the section that I had copied down ages ago about the interview that Agnes did with Dick Cavett in 1973. It was during this interview that Aggie claimed to have met Orson in 1922 in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria when Orson was a mere 7 years old. She makes no mention of meeting either his father nor his mother just him. There are a couple of reasons this is problematic:

1. Agnes was in college in 1922 in Muskingum Ohio and there are no records to "prove" that she was in New York in 1922. Keep in mind that traveling was an occasion documented by newspapers.
2. There are also no records indicating that Orson was in New York in 1922. See above.

Orson Orson Orson
To call George Orson Welles a gypsy would essentially be an insult to gypsies. He was on the move from the age of 12 or 13 onward. He was all over Europe, Ireland, Canada, and the list goes on. Orson's mother passed away in 1924 and his father in 1930. His father was a wealthy man who, oddly enough, made his money in car headlights and bicycle lamps, see "Magnificent Amberson's" for extremely strange coincidence. In January of 1931, a guardian named Dr. Maurice A Berstein is appointed for Orson and since Orson's brother Richard was 10 years older than Orson no guardian was required for him. By November of 1931, Orson was on his way to Ireland to begin his meteoric rise in the entertainment industry. By 1933 he was touring with Katherine Cornell and by November of 1934 was a married man.  In 1935 Orson began experimenting with radio and this had repercussions that followed him until the day he died. Welles cofounded "Mercury Theatre On The Air" with John Housman and together they created a series of radio plays from classic sources such as Bram Stoker's Dracula but the most memorable of these for most people was H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. Welle's radio show created a panic the likes of which had not been seen before. People thought it was real. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In 1937 Orson took on the role of LaMont Cranston in the radio production of "The Shadow." LaMont had a gorgeous faithful assistant named Margo Lane and she was voiced by none other than Agnes Moorehead. Welle's recognized his costar's skill level and subsequently, Agnes along with the likes of Joseph Cotten, Ray Collins, and others were drawn into the "Mercury Theatre" fold.

So while I cannot prove that Agnes did not, in fact, meet George Orson Welles at the tender age of 7 I can say with confidence that it likely did not happen.

Svengali
What is undeniable is that Orson was a sort of Svengali for Agnes. For eons, people have spoken of their relationship in terms of an affair but I really think that is a non-starter as an argument. Agnes cared for Orson yes but I think that her affection for Orson was akin to the same affection she felt for her sister. Orson took her to Hollywood. He frequently told her that she undersold herself and that she was worth a much larger salary. Agnes worked with him on his Mobile Gas Almanac productions in 1944 and in those shows, she plays his straight man. In an uncharacteristic burst of humor on one particular Alamanac broadcast March 8, 1944, Agnes let loose a long loud laugh that brings the show to a momentary standstill. The banter between the two is priceless and shows how well they actually worked together. Welles also took Agnes along on his Mercury Wonder Show as well. For her first 7 or 8 years in Hollywood Orson helped Agnes find her way around the maze of Hollywood as she established herself as a Hollywood icon.

We likely would not have one without the other and for that, I'm very, very grateful!

To The Gist of the Matter An Article About Dave Gist Son of Robert Gist

"This is the kind of person I like. When strangers or clerks (or both) ask me how I am -- and they really don't care -- I answer in somewhat the same way, but without so much mini-shout. So I had to get to know this guy.

Everything that came out of Dave Gist's mouth drew me deeper into a world of fascination and admiration. He'd done a lot of outdoor work, he told me, and finally decided he was tired of it. He ended up becoming a screenwriter. He's written 46 films so far -- sold about half of them. They're mostly horror flicks. That was interesting to me. How he got there, though, was a hoot.

"I was in jail and working in the kitchen," he said, without wanting to reveal the offense that landed him there, "and got sick. So they put me in an office had given me a lot of typing to do.
I couldn't type and I told them so."

"'Well, you can now,' they told me," he said with a smile. "So I started hunt-and-pecking with my two index fingers and, by the time I got out, I was a fast typist. I still type with just these two fingers."

When he got out, his new typing skills -- and his disdain for laboring in the hot sun -- opened the gates into the world of screenwriting. It didn't completely come out of nowhere, however. His father was a well-known director who had also played parts in a slew of films and TV shows. Robert Gist's first role was that of the department store window dresser in "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1947. It seems he appeared in just about every television series I enjoyed as a kid -- from "Sea Hunt" and "Hennessey" to "Gunsmoke" and "Have Gun Will Travel." Dave's dad also appeared in episodes of "Death Valley Days" and "Perry Mason."

"Agnes Moorehead was my stepmother," Dave told me.

I checked it out on IMDB.com (Dave is listed there also) and, if the gossip magazines of the day were true, the six-year relationship and short-lived marriage drew a lot of attention. Her first role had been in "Citizen Kane" in 1941, but most people remember her from her role of Endora in "Bewitched."

She was 24 years older than Robert Gist. Even today, that would make for good tabloid fodder.

But back to his son, Dave. His hunting and pecking produces stories that tend to be more about stalking and then packing the bodies away. I love some of the titles: "Merry Axmas," "In Cold Storage" (you guessed it -- it's about hiding the remains of victims at the local U-Store-It) and "Serial Killing 4 Dummies."

Now wonder he's so darned friendly -- I think he takes out his aggression on fictional characters. Sounds healthy to me!

Some Sad News and Other Musings

Life being what it is I've been very remiss in updating this blog. Need to make the time more than I realized. So here is an update.

Tanya Hills passed away on March 22 of this year. She died in a nursing home facility and I have been lucky enough to have been contacted by somebody who was helping to care for her. I'm glad that she is at peace and I hope she's moved on to a much happier place.  Before anybody asks why didn't I straight up ask her the nature of her relationship with Agnes, I did have that chance, I made the decision not to do so for several reasons:

1. She was suffering from Alzheimer's and I did not wish to stress her out.
2. It is 100 percent, not my business.
3. I really did not need to do so. I have my family information on the subject of Agnes' sexuality so it would have served no purpose except to put a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence.

Just know that we know what we know and there comes a point when knowing more just has no relevance. It is down to every person to make up their own mind with the facts as presented and whatever you decide to think is your right. I know what I know and I don't worry about what I don't know.

I've said this before but I'll try to put more out there than the zero that I've managed for the last 12 months.

Be excellent to each other!