Friday, September 21, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Who Are You or Back to Body Language Basics
1. You see them in controlled situations portraying a character.
2. You see them in public situations portraying a character.
We have all come to "know" Agnes Moorehead as Endora. Have we ever seen Agnes Moorehead as Agnes Moorehead though? Yes we have but like so many things having to do with her we have had to learn to interpret what we are seeing. I've said before that the easiest way to know what she was really thinking was to look at her eyes. The eyes are, after all, the windows of the soul. Add to the windows the non verbal communication of the body and you may just have a reasonably clear picture of the woman.
From Head to Toe
Recently the picture above was posted to a blog I follow. The tag says 1972 but doesn't say where she was when this was taken or who she was talking to but the picture speaks volumes even without that information.
The first thing to look at is the position of her head. A sideways tilt of the head demonstrates interest and an engagement in playful conversation with someone that is well liked. A sideways tilt with a smile indicates interest, playfulness and perhaps even flirtation. Tilting can also indicate curiosity, uncertainty or query, particularly if the head is tilted forward as if the person were trying to look at the subject in a different way in hope of seeing something new. The greater the tilt, the greater the uncertainty or the intent to send the signal of uncertainty. Simple and straightforward right? No, not really, because of the position of her hand. The proximity of her hand to her mouth indicates that she wants to say something but feels restrained from saying it and needs to hide it. It also may indicate that she is uncertain about something. Hands at the mouth can also be used as a cover for the neck, where blushing, swallowing and tension may be seen. It is also used as a method for controlling the hands preventing them from giving other non verbal clues. The placement of the hand on her cheek intimates that she is thinking and evaluating the situation. Typically if the head is propped up by the hand it indicates either tiredness or an expectation of continued interest. Touching the chin can indicate that thinking is taking place involving decision making and judging of others.
Moving to the eyes there two things that stand out.
1. She's winking.
2. She is looking directly at someone.
Winking is a very deliberate gesture. We rarely do it without some thought behind it. The two things that are repeated over and over again about winking are that it is a sign of flirtation and is often conspiratorial, meaning "You and I both understand but others do not!" Follow that with a direct gaze with a semi smile and you have her speaking with someone she is very, very interested in. The eyes can rarely be camouflaged well by even the most experienced individual.
Then we move to body position and we are right back in Contradictionville. When your first glance at the picture you see what appears to be a casual posture. You would be wrong. The posture from the shoulders down is far from casual. Every vulnerable part of the body below the shoulders is covered and protected. The heart is covered with the arm supporting the chin. The pelvis is closed by crossed legs and an arm placed squarely across the lap. The stomach is covered by the arms and bent inward. All of these total up to a closed body position. But then you look at the trunk of her body and you see it leans forward and sideways. When you lean forward toward the person you are talking to you tend to increase the verbal output of that person, but, when you lean sideways it tends to indicate that you are interacting with someone you see as being a lower status individual. On the other hand you have a body orientation that turns the shoulders and legs directly toward the other person indicating a supportive climate. What this is called is the adoption of non congruent posture indicating attitudinal and perceptual differences or relationship distance.
The Body of Work
This process has prompted me to go back, yet again, through my pictures looking for patterns and similarities. Another eye opening couple of hours for me I must say. It never ceases to amaze me how much you can interpret a person by simply looking at photographs of them. Real photographs where they display their true selves unwittingly to those taking those pictures.
Take these photographs for example. They have something very important in common. Hand position.
Then we take a wild jump to the other side of the chessboard with the two pictures below!
The position of her hand here, near and over the chest or heart area, indicates a desire to be believed as well as being protected.
T
A common public combination for her is covering her upper body in a posture of defense and crossing her legs toward someone else while tilting her pelvis toward them. There are easily 20 years between these two photographs yet her body posture and non verbal displays are nearly identical. Non congruent displays can be found in many of her pictures demonstrating her duel nature.
Bottom line is that Agnes was a woman of contradictions. Contradictions that are there for those willing to look, willing to see past the strong characters she often played, willing to look at the woman behind the face.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Robert REALLY
There are a couple of moments in the movie Beetlejuice that always makes me think of Robert Gist, "Hey, these aren't my rules! Come to think of it, I don't have any rules!" and when Adam asks Beetlejuice his "qualifications", "Ah. Well...I attended Julliard...I'm a graduate of the Harvard Business school. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that. I've seen the Exorcist 167 times and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it. Not to mention the fact that you're talking to a dead guy! Now what do you think!? You think I'm qualified?" Why, you may well ask, do these remind me of Robert Gist? Because my friends Robert and Beetlejuice have two very important things in common;
I have suspected for a long time that Gist was basically a beard, a bigamist and a gigolo. Well today while running through my family trees and updating things with the 1940 census stuff I came across a little tidbit that left me gob smacked. It turns out that Robert Gist's never discussed and never seen again first wife Louise Van Dyke is on the 1940 census in Chicago. That isn't the gob smacked bit...don't want you to think I'm easily excitable. This is the gob smacking bit of information...Louise is listed as a single woman of twenty years of age and head of her two person household and her partner, yes it says that on the census lest we think it is invention of the modern age, was a private nurse named E Lucinda Graves. E Lucinda Graves has an occupation but Louise doesn't and Louise is the head of the household. It seems that E Lucinda Graves was the sole earner in the apartment and Louise sat home doing what??? This set me off on a tangent to find both of these gals and see what they were about.
Edith Lucinda Graves was born in Iowa in 1916 and died in Texas in 1985. She never married, ever. Louise Van Dyke was born in Iowa around 1920. I have yet to find an exact birth date because apparently once Louise married Robert Gist on August the 18th 1943 she vanished off of the face of the earth. I found her on the 1930 census living in Chariton, Iowa with her parents and several sisters. Doesn't it just make you scratch your head? Aren't you just dying to know what ever became of Louise? Don't you wonder why in the world she married Robert when she was so comfortably settled with Lucinda? Me too!
I will tell you this much that in 1943, just as it is today, the military pays you more if you're married and supporting a spouse. We know from enlistment records that Robert joined the military on January 28, 1941 and that he had four years of college, was single and an actor. We assume that Robert was a gunnery officer during the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II, at least he says so in an article in the Hayward Review of 1944 as he went to New York to join the cast of Harvey, and that he came down with malaria forcing his discharge due to ill health. The battle at Guadalcanal ended February 8th, 1943. We also know that Agnes referred to Robert as the "Malaria Kid" in a communication with Paul Gregory which means either Robert did contract malaria or he was the consummate liar...take your pick and you'll likely be right either way. While wasting away from malaria Robert married Louise 6 months after the end of the battle of Guadalcanal. Robert allegedly survived 3 major engagements at Guadalcanal without a scratch and was felled by the common mosquito. Three engagements at Guadalcanal?? Really Robert, three and you're sticking to that are you? Kids, Guadalcanal lasted 6 months and basically was one long, very long engagement. The incubation time for malaria is 8 to 25 days. Six months is 180 days, give or take, and if he contracted malaria it would have most likely been toward the end of the battle. Which means he would have been hospitalized for recuperation and then discharged. Robert claims that he went from a weight of 175 to a weight of 128 while battling malaria and yet 6 months after the battle he marries Louise Van Dyke. What a guy, what a miraculous recovery, what a load of horse manure. I'm not saying he didn't contract the disease but do the math it just doesn't add up. By November first of 1944 Robert was on his way to Broadway and his lovely wife, well she just isn't there any more, no mention, not one little blurb, nothing. What inquiring minds want to know is whatever happened to Louise Van Dyke Gist?? HMMMM??
There is no evidence of a divorce, yet, and there is no documentation of a death. Louise just vanishes into air, into thin air. Robert wanders off in or around 1948 to 1949 and begins his courtship of Agnes. Hey know what I think? I think Robert never divorced Louise and I think Louise went on living with Lucinda and I think that Robert had stuff on Agnes and Agnes had stuff on him....explain away the five to six years it took for Agnes to divorce Robert if, as it was claimed during the proceedings, Robert urged Agnes to go to Mexico and obtain a quick divorce. Never happened..did it because in no book anywhere is five to six years of back and forth arguing about property, money, and everything else quick!!! It was scripted courtroom drama designed to distract the reader from the real question. Robert was a consummate professional who went into the relationship knowing it would never be a long lasting one and believe that having had one questionable marriage under his ever broadening belt that Robert documented everything. Agnes, on the other hand, was a little too trusting with this man and she got burned financially because of it but only because there was a whole lot more to her than anyone knew and Robert, gunnery officer at Guadalcanal, literally used it as a loaded weapon to hold her hostage until he got exactly what he wanted. None of it slowed him down one bit. Two "wives" and three children happened while he was still legally married to Agnes...not bad for a guy with malaria, huh?
- They're both ass hats.
- They both have no soul or conscience what so ever.
I have suspected for a long time that Gist was basically a beard, a bigamist and a gigolo. Well today while running through my family trees and updating things with the 1940 census stuff I came across a little tidbit that left me gob smacked. It turns out that Robert Gist's never discussed and never seen again first wife Louise Van Dyke is on the 1940 census in Chicago. That isn't the gob smacked bit...don't want you to think I'm easily excitable. This is the gob smacking bit of information...Louise is listed as a single woman of twenty years of age and head of her two person household and her partner, yes it says that on the census lest we think it is invention of the modern age, was a private nurse named E Lucinda Graves. E Lucinda Graves has an occupation but Louise doesn't and Louise is the head of the household. It seems that E Lucinda Graves was the sole earner in the apartment and Louise sat home doing what??? This set me off on a tangent to find both of these gals and see what they were about.
Edith Lucinda Graves was born in Iowa in 1916 and died in Texas in 1985. She never married, ever. Louise Van Dyke was born in Iowa around 1920. I have yet to find an exact birth date because apparently once Louise married Robert Gist on August the 18th 1943 she vanished off of the face of the earth. I found her on the 1930 census living in Chariton, Iowa with her parents and several sisters. Doesn't it just make you scratch your head? Aren't you just dying to know what ever became of Louise? Don't you wonder why in the world she married Robert when she was so comfortably settled with Lucinda? Me too!
I will tell you this much that in 1943, just as it is today, the military pays you more if you're married and supporting a spouse. We know from enlistment records that Robert joined the military on January 28, 1941 and that he had four years of college, was single and an actor. We assume that Robert was a gunnery officer during the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II, at least he says so in an article in the Hayward Review of 1944 as he went to New York to join the cast of Harvey, and that he came down with malaria forcing his discharge due to ill health. The battle at Guadalcanal ended February 8th, 1943. We also know that Agnes referred to Robert as the "Malaria Kid" in a communication with Paul Gregory which means either Robert did contract malaria or he was the consummate liar...take your pick and you'll likely be right either way. While wasting away from malaria Robert married Louise 6 months after the end of the battle of Guadalcanal. Robert allegedly survived 3 major engagements at Guadalcanal without a scratch and was felled by the common mosquito. Three engagements at Guadalcanal?? Really Robert, three and you're sticking to that are you? Kids, Guadalcanal lasted 6 months and basically was one long, very long engagement. The incubation time for malaria is 8 to 25 days. Six months is 180 days, give or take, and if he contracted malaria it would have most likely been toward the end of the battle. Which means he would have been hospitalized for recuperation and then discharged. Robert claims that he went from a weight of 175 to a weight of 128 while battling malaria and yet 6 months after the battle he marries Louise Van Dyke. What a guy, what a miraculous recovery, what a load of horse manure. I'm not saying he didn't contract the disease but do the math it just doesn't add up. By November first of 1944 Robert was on his way to Broadway and his lovely wife, well she just isn't there any more, no mention, not one little blurb, nothing. What inquiring minds want to know is whatever happened to Louise Van Dyke Gist?? HMMMM??
There is no evidence of a divorce, yet, and there is no documentation of a death. Louise just vanishes into air, into thin air. Robert wanders off in or around 1948 to 1949 and begins his courtship of Agnes. Hey know what I think? I think Robert never divorced Louise and I think Louise went on living with Lucinda and I think that Robert had stuff on Agnes and Agnes had stuff on him....explain away the five to six years it took for Agnes to divorce Robert if, as it was claimed during the proceedings, Robert urged Agnes to go to Mexico and obtain a quick divorce. Never happened..did it because in no book anywhere is five to six years of back and forth arguing about property, money, and everything else quick!!! It was scripted courtroom drama designed to distract the reader from the real question. Robert was a consummate professional who went into the relationship knowing it would never be a long lasting one and believe that having had one questionable marriage under his ever broadening belt that Robert documented everything. Agnes, on the other hand, was a little too trusting with this man and she got burned financially because of it but only because there was a whole lot more to her than anyone knew and Robert, gunnery officer at Guadalcanal, literally used it as a loaded weapon to hold her hostage until he got exactly what he wanted. None of it slowed him down one bit. Two "wives" and three children happened while he was still legally married to Agnes...not bad for a guy with malaria, huh?
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Love Is An Illusion
The last documented conversation, if you can call it that, between Agnes and her sister Peggy ended with a verbal bucket of cold water in Agnes' face as Peggy told her "you have never loved a man like I have." The more I learn of the relationship between these two unusual women the more I am amazed. Just recently I learned that Peggy was an ardent fan of Isadora Duncan. We all have idols but given the alleged, I say that because of the new light in which I have begun to view these two. Today I read the following quote by Isadora Duncan it says; "Love is an illusion; it is the world's greatest mistake. I ought to know for I've been loved as no other woman of my time has been loved." It's so telling. Peggy idolized a woman who believed that love was an illusion and yet scolded her sister for having never loved a man like she had. It shows that Peggy too was as conflicted an individual as her sister. It strikes me as odd that these two lived in such a dream world while grounded firmly in the world of the Presbyterian church. Perhaps it was the world of the church that drove them both to be so outside the box.
Isadora Duncan was no typical woman. She was flamboyant, immune to scandal. She completely rejected Christianity for classical and Neitzchian philosophy. She was wrapped up in the idea of neopaganism and read tarot cards for her friends, complete strangers and herself. Took lovers like most people take showers and had female lovers as well as male. Not the least of whom was Eleanora Duse, Agnes' idol. How exactly does the daughter of a Presbyterian minister become enamored of a woman who believes that everything her father the preacher stands for is tantamount to wearing braces on the brain but feel constrained enough by her upbringing to scold her elder sister for her romantic choices and then proceed to dance nude in the outdoors. It leaves me boggled honestly. I would give my eye teeth to read a journal written by this woman.
You can't have a conversation about Peggy without addressing Agnes' complete worship of Eleanora Duse. Agnes wrote to Duse as a young girl and received a reply which she treasures her whole life. She even went so far as to name one of her beloved dogs Duse. Eleanora was an actress of great stature. She was considered one of the first ladies of the stage and like Isadora was eccentric, outrageous and way outside the box. She was married. Her husband died. Eleanora went on to have series of lovers male and female. In 1909 Eleanora began a relationship with a young feminist named Lina Poletti. Lina dressed as a man in public as well as in private. La Duse also had the relationship with Isadora that I had mentioned in a previous blog. She mentored several young actresses. One of them was Emma Gramatica who became totally devoted to Duse. Then there was Yvette Gilbert with whom La Duse maintained a very long lasting intimate friendship. Oddly enough Eleanora held the church in very high regard and often lamented that her life as an actress had subsumed her role as wife and mother. I see some very, very interesting coincidences here between Agnes and her idol.
I often ask myself if Agnes believed that love was even possible for her. She once said in an interview, a very telling interview, that "I don't know why I shut it out, she confesses, I don't know why. I haven't sought it, it would have to come to me. I can't go out and get involved in some scandalous affair..I owe something to the public that has kept me going. And, I'm not really alone. I have many pets, three dogs and three birds. And then there are the two who work for me. One has been with me for 20 years and the other 14. They look after me and take good care of me. As for personal loves you can't always depend on a human being, you know. Then again, I seem to need a certain amount of solitude. It renews me. Solitude enriches ones being..... " When I read this I read pain between the lines. "I don't know why I shut it out," it says volumes with her choice of the words "shut it out." Yet she remembers her past loves fondly in her interview with Boze Hadleigh intimating that she would not allow something to be ruined that was "beautiful and even spiritual." I read into the choice of shutting things out that she was confined by her sexuality and unable to openly express how she felt about any given lover because it could get you black listed, institutionalized and utterly shatter your existence like a brick through a window.
The interviewer that got the whole shutting out phrase out of her also said of Agnes, "She is gracious, professional, sincere, interested, and impersonal. Lacking the terrible hardness of many other long established celebrities, her flexibility of manner is something like that of a good fencing foil, which can be bent into a circle without breaking yet is made of finely tempered steel. For openers, she skates around for a long while on the edge of things." Bendable, flexible, adaptable she was all of these things and more. A chameleon who changed her personality to suit whatever was being thrown at her. Molly quipped " I don't know why Agnes twists the truth." I do. Would you look at your fundamentalist mother and talk about your personal life which involved being either bisexual or lesbian...don't think so...nope I sure don't think so. You'd learn the pronoun dance, as I like to call it, changing she to he, girlfriend to boyfriend and you'd learn to cover your tracks any way you had to because the wrath of a fundamentalist is not a pretty picture. Even though Agnes herself claimed to be fundamentalist she was merely, in my opinion, a convenient bible thumper. I don't question her faith one bit but she was open and accepting of things that fundamentalists will expound to you will earn you eternal damnation.
Perhaps it was Peter Opp Jr. that really gives us the true road map to Agnes. He said after she had passed away that, "A pretzel has less twists than our departed friend possessed." Most of the commonly told stories about Agnes are most likely fiction of some sort. Most of her life was made up in one way or another. She lived in her head and did it more successfully than anyone I have ever known, however, it appears that now she has not competition but a companion in the guise of her sister Peggy. I hope, pray, beg that the universe graces me with some more information on Peggy. Being a fellow free spirit with demons like her sister goes a long way toward explaining why Peggy's death hit her sister so very hard. Two pearls they are and with age, like pearls, they are growing a lustrous appearance that so many of us enjoyably envy!
Isadora Duncan was no typical woman. She was flamboyant, immune to scandal. She completely rejected Christianity for classical and Neitzchian philosophy. She was wrapped up in the idea of neopaganism and read tarot cards for her friends, complete strangers and herself. Took lovers like most people take showers and had female lovers as well as male. Not the least of whom was Eleanora Duse, Agnes' idol. How exactly does the daughter of a Presbyterian minister become enamored of a woman who believes that everything her father the preacher stands for is tantamount to wearing braces on the brain but feel constrained enough by her upbringing to scold her elder sister for her romantic choices and then proceed to dance nude in the outdoors. It leaves me boggled honestly. I would give my eye teeth to read a journal written by this woman.
You can't have a conversation about Peggy without addressing Agnes' complete worship of Eleanora Duse. Agnes wrote to Duse as a young girl and received a reply which she treasures her whole life. She even went so far as to name one of her beloved dogs Duse. Eleanora was an actress of great stature. She was considered one of the first ladies of the stage and like Isadora was eccentric, outrageous and way outside the box. She was married. Her husband died. Eleanora went on to have series of lovers male and female. In 1909 Eleanora began a relationship with a young feminist named Lina Poletti. Lina dressed as a man in public as well as in private. La Duse also had the relationship with Isadora that I had mentioned in a previous blog. She mentored several young actresses. One of them was Emma Gramatica who became totally devoted to Duse. Then there was Yvette Gilbert with whom La Duse maintained a very long lasting intimate friendship. Oddly enough Eleanora held the church in very high regard and often lamented that her life as an actress had subsumed her role as wife and mother. I see some very, very interesting coincidences here between Agnes and her idol.
I often ask myself if Agnes believed that love was even possible for her. She once said in an interview, a very telling interview, that "I don't know why I shut it out, she confesses, I don't know why. I haven't sought it, it would have to come to me. I can't go out and get involved in some scandalous affair..I owe something to the public that has kept me going. And, I'm not really alone. I have many pets, three dogs and three birds. And then there are the two who work for me. One has been with me for 20 years and the other 14. They look after me and take good care of me. As for personal loves you can't always depend on a human being, you know. Then again, I seem to need a certain amount of solitude. It renews me. Solitude enriches ones being..... " When I read this I read pain between the lines. "I don't know why I shut it out," it says volumes with her choice of the words "shut it out." Yet she remembers her past loves fondly in her interview with Boze Hadleigh intimating that she would not allow something to be ruined that was "beautiful and even spiritual." I read into the choice of shutting things out that she was confined by her sexuality and unable to openly express how she felt about any given lover because it could get you black listed, institutionalized and utterly shatter your existence like a brick through a window.
The interviewer that got the whole shutting out phrase out of her also said of Agnes, "She is gracious, professional, sincere, interested, and impersonal. Lacking the terrible hardness of many other long established celebrities, her flexibility of manner is something like that of a good fencing foil, which can be bent into a circle without breaking yet is made of finely tempered steel. For openers, she skates around for a long while on the edge of things." Bendable, flexible, adaptable she was all of these things and more. A chameleon who changed her personality to suit whatever was being thrown at her. Molly quipped " I don't know why Agnes twists the truth." I do. Would you look at your fundamentalist mother and talk about your personal life which involved being either bisexual or lesbian...don't think so...nope I sure don't think so. You'd learn the pronoun dance, as I like to call it, changing she to he, girlfriend to boyfriend and you'd learn to cover your tracks any way you had to because the wrath of a fundamentalist is not a pretty picture. Even though Agnes herself claimed to be fundamentalist she was merely, in my opinion, a convenient bible thumper. I don't question her faith one bit but she was open and accepting of things that fundamentalists will expound to you will earn you eternal damnation.
Perhaps it was Peter Opp Jr. that really gives us the true road map to Agnes. He said after she had passed away that, "A pretzel has less twists than our departed friend possessed." Most of the commonly told stories about Agnes are most likely fiction of some sort. Most of her life was made up in one way or another. She lived in her head and did it more successfully than anyone I have ever known, however, it appears that now she has not competition but a companion in the guise of her sister Peggy. I hope, pray, beg that the universe graces me with some more information on Peggy. Being a fellow free spirit with demons like her sister goes a long way toward explaining why Peggy's death hit her sister so very hard. Two pearls they are and with age, like pearls, they are growing a lustrous appearance that so many of us enjoyably envy!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Warning Free Spirit In Full Flight
The Urban Dictionary defines a free spirit as someone who is not restrained, as by convention or obligation; a nonconformist. Dictionary.com defines it as a person with a highly individual or unique attitude, lifestyle, or imagination; nonconformist. In every definition you read the word nonconformist comes up again and again. What has this got to do with anything, I can see your eyebrows knitting together from here, well a great deal more than you might ever imagine. What would you say if I told you that someone who has often been portrayed as quiet and unassuming was really a nonconformist "free spirit" in disguise? It's a story with much to tell which makes some very important pieces of a puzzle fall into place further clarifying something that has been and doubtless will continue to be a mystery with all the twists and turns of an amusement park ride.
Any Pretty Thing That Came Into Her Head
The story begins with Isadora Duncan. For those of you who don't know, I doubt there are many who don't, Isadora Duncan was a dancer, a teacher of dance, a philosopher, an artist and a bohemian. She began teaching dance at the age of six using a method of incorporating fantasy into movement and teach "any pretty thing that came into her head." Isadora went to Chicago where she auditioned for and was picked up by Template:Augustin Daly's Company. With this company she traveled to New York where her ideas of dance clashed rather dramatically with the accepted norms of the time. Ultimately she left the company moving to London in 1898. She performed in drawing rooms taking her inspiration from scenes she found on Greek urns. She was able to save enough to rent a studio which allowed her to expand her vision to a larger stage. She went from London to Paris creating productions drawing her inspiration from the Louvre and the Great Exhibition of 1900. In 1902 she was visited by Loie Fuller and Fuller invited Duncan to tour Europe with her. She did exactly that creating new works using her innovative dance technique. Her style consisted of a focus on natural movement instead of the rigid controlled technique of ballet. She danced bare footed and in a white Greek chiton. Chitons are made of very sheer fabric and she was for all intents and purposes nude because she wore no foundation garments underneath as this would have inhibited her freedom of movement.
Way Outside The Box
Isadora Duncan was a revolutionary individual in so many different ways. In both her professional and private lives, Duncan flouted traditional mores and morality. She was openly bisexual. She believed in free love. She had two children out of wedlock. Her daughter Dierdre was fathered by theatre designer Gordon Craig and was born September 24 1906 and her son Patrick was fathered by Paris Singer and was born on May 1, 1910. Both children died in an accident on the Seine River April 19, 1913. After avoiding a collision with another vehicle the car had stalled. The driver neglected to put on the parking brake and the car rolled across the Boulevard Bourdon down an embankment and into the Seine. The two children as well as their nanny drowned. During her recuperation she spent a great deal of time with Elenora Duse at the Viareggio seaside resort. The fact that Duse was just out of a relationship with the rebellious young lesbian feminist Lina Poletti added fuel to speculation that there was a relationship between Duncan and Duse. In fact the father's of both of her children can be tied to prominent lesbians of the era. Gordon Craig's sister Edy lived in a menage a trois with Christabel Marshall and Clare "Tony" Atwood. They were referred to by Radcliffe Hall and her lover Una Troubridge as "the boys." And Isaac Singer was the brother of Wineretta Singer who left a string of broken hearts across several continents. Suffice it to say stories have placed Isadora in the bed of both Duse and Singer. She lived so far outside the box of accepted Victorian normality that it was truly revolutionary.
Another Free Spirit is Born
Those of you who have read my blog for awhile know that my blog is generally about Agnes Moorehead. Well darlings this one is no different and this is why. We have all labored under the apparent misconception that Agnes was the family rebel with her acting and emoting and generally being the square peg in the round hole, not so much my sweets, not so much. Charles Tranberg has made the statement that Agnes was an extrovert like her mother and Peggy was shy and retiring like her father. It has made me scratch my head with wonder for years quite honestly because the whole idea of Peggy not living with her parents, spending the majority of her free time with her sister, and the apparent uproar that occurred before her death, at least with her mother, does not fit that shy or retiring pattern. Lo and behold it seems that our Peggy was not the timid little quiet wallflower that we had been lead to believe she was. Peggy had an idol. An idol whose hose ideas and philosophies she apparently took quite seriously. Her idol was non other than the grand mistress of modern dance Isadora Duncan. So taken with Isadora's philosophy of dance was Peggy that she, allegedly, danced out side in the nude. Now this comes from a reliable source to me and the source was told by someone who knew Mollie, Agnes, and obviously Peggy. As far as I can tell Dr. George Perry the teller of the story lived in their neighborhood as a young man. Since the girls spent time with their parents in the summer, a time that would lend itself to nude dancing in Wisconsin, he most likely witnessed it. BOOOOMMMMM that is the sound of lots of illusions being shattered into a bazillion pieces. We know that Agnes was a great fan of La Duse. She named her dog after Eleanora. It is obvious that both sisters were artistic in different ways. And so many things make soooo much more sense if Peggy's free thinking nature is taken into consideration. Isadora did not believe in marriage and if Peggy was attempting to incorporate Isadora's ideals into her life it is possible that she may have been living with the mystery man Frank. What's more she may have potentially been pregnant. It would explain the suicide. It would explain Mollies self described crass behavior. It seems that neither Moorehead girl was a paragon of virtue. Agnes herself even said that years later. I must add that this source knew Peggy had killed herself some forty years ago from the lips of the man, who by the way became a doctor, that had known them when they were younger.
This is, I hope, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. One that will shed light on this woman we all adore by shedding light on her life. Neither of these ladies had any sense of fear. They believed what they believed and did what they thought had to be done. It makes me love Agnes all the more and so proud to share a genetic heritage with both of them. Here's to you Peggy and your Free Spirited self ! Here's to you Agnes and your talent, determination and strength! In the words of those of us who tread the boards of the theatre HUZZAH!!!
Any Pretty Thing That Came Into Her Head
The story begins with Isadora Duncan. For those of you who don't know, I doubt there are many who don't, Isadora Duncan was a dancer, a teacher of dance, a philosopher, an artist and a bohemian. She began teaching dance at the age of six using a method of incorporating fantasy into movement and teach "any pretty thing that came into her head." Isadora went to Chicago where she auditioned for and was picked up by Template:Augustin Daly's Company. With this company she traveled to New York where her ideas of dance clashed rather dramatically with the accepted norms of the time. Ultimately she left the company moving to London in 1898. She performed in drawing rooms taking her inspiration from scenes she found on Greek urns. She was able to save enough to rent a studio which allowed her to expand her vision to a larger stage. She went from London to Paris creating productions drawing her inspiration from the Louvre and the Great Exhibition of 1900. In 1902 she was visited by Loie Fuller and Fuller invited Duncan to tour Europe with her. She did exactly that creating new works using her innovative dance technique. Her style consisted of a focus on natural movement instead of the rigid controlled technique of ballet. She danced bare footed and in a white Greek chiton. Chitons are made of very sheer fabric and she was for all intents and purposes nude because she wore no foundation garments underneath as this would have inhibited her freedom of movement.
Way Outside The Box
Isadora Duncan was a revolutionary individual in so many different ways. In both her professional and private lives, Duncan flouted traditional mores and morality. She was openly bisexual. She believed in free love. She had two children out of wedlock. Her daughter Dierdre was fathered by theatre designer Gordon Craig and was born September 24 1906 and her son Patrick was fathered by Paris Singer and was born on May 1, 1910. Both children died in an accident on the Seine River April 19, 1913. After avoiding a collision with another vehicle the car had stalled. The driver neglected to put on the parking brake and the car rolled across the Boulevard Bourdon down an embankment and into the Seine. The two children as well as their nanny drowned. During her recuperation she spent a great deal of time with Elenora Duse at the Viareggio seaside resort. The fact that Duse was just out of a relationship with the rebellious young lesbian feminist Lina Poletti added fuel to speculation that there was a relationship between Duncan and Duse. In fact the father's of both of her children can be tied to prominent lesbians of the era. Gordon Craig's sister Edy lived in a menage a trois with Christabel Marshall and Clare "Tony" Atwood. They were referred to by Radcliffe Hall and her lover Una Troubridge as "the boys." And Isaac Singer was the brother of Wineretta Singer who left a string of broken hearts across several continents. Suffice it to say stories have placed Isadora in the bed of both Duse and Singer. She lived so far outside the box of accepted Victorian normality that it was truly revolutionary.
Another Free Spirit is Born
Those of you who have read my blog for awhile know that my blog is generally about Agnes Moorehead. Well darlings this one is no different and this is why. We have all labored under the apparent misconception that Agnes was the family rebel with her acting and emoting and generally being the square peg in the round hole, not so much my sweets, not so much. Charles Tranberg has made the statement that Agnes was an extrovert like her mother and Peggy was shy and retiring like her father. It has made me scratch my head with wonder for years quite honestly because the whole idea of Peggy not living with her parents, spending the majority of her free time with her sister, and the apparent uproar that occurred before her death, at least with her mother, does not fit that shy or retiring pattern. Lo and behold it seems that our Peggy was not the timid little quiet wallflower that we had been lead to believe she was. Peggy had an idol. An idol whose hose ideas and philosophies she apparently took quite seriously. Her idol was non other than the grand mistress of modern dance Isadora Duncan. So taken with Isadora's philosophy of dance was Peggy that she, allegedly, danced out side in the nude. Now this comes from a reliable source to me and the source was told by someone who knew Mollie, Agnes, and obviously Peggy. As far as I can tell Dr. George Perry the teller of the story lived in their neighborhood as a young man. Since the girls spent time with their parents in the summer, a time that would lend itself to nude dancing in Wisconsin, he most likely witnessed it. BOOOOMMMMM that is the sound of lots of illusions being shattered into a bazillion pieces. We know that Agnes was a great fan of La Duse. She named her dog after Eleanora. It is obvious that both sisters were artistic in different ways. And so many things make soooo much more sense if Peggy's free thinking nature is taken into consideration. Isadora did not believe in marriage and if Peggy was attempting to incorporate Isadora's ideals into her life it is possible that she may have been living with the mystery man Frank. What's more she may have potentially been pregnant. It would explain the suicide. It would explain Mollies self described crass behavior. It seems that neither Moorehead girl was a paragon of virtue. Agnes herself even said that years later. I must add that this source knew Peggy had killed herself some forty years ago from the lips of the man, who by the way became a doctor, that had known them when they were younger.
This is, I hope, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. One that will shed light on this woman we all adore by shedding light on her life. Neither of these ladies had any sense of fear. They believed what they believed and did what they thought had to be done. It makes me love Agnes all the more and so proud to share a genetic heritage with both of them. Here's to you Peggy and your Free Spirited self ! Here's to you Agnes and your talent, determination and strength! In the words of those of us who tread the boards of the theatre HUZZAH!!!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Stephen I Think We Need to Talk
Contact me at tamela271@gmail.com. I would be fascinated to have you input and information. I am attempting to organize this flag waving, neon sign over the door, hey does any body but me get this writing into as close to an accurate book of her life that I can. I think you could give me some insight if you're interested
Let me know! Tamela
Let me know! Tamela
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
In The Spirit of Debate
Thank you anonymous for your well made points. But you know I wouldn't be myself if I didn't challenge one or two things. I do so love a good debate!
First during the filiming of Showboat in 1950 Agnes did not have flaming red tresses.
Anything to the contrary is colorized. The first big screen debut of the flaming red tresses in color was Magnificent Obsession filmed in 1953 and released in 1954.
Big difference in color, yes? The newspaper article to which I referred is indeed fluff but relatively correct fluff that is dated July 29, 1952. The date is squarely between the two images above. This speaks for itself I think so no need to belabor it.
Point two:
I have never debated Agnes' preferring the female gender. It is obvious she was far more comfortable with women and gay men than she ever was with straight men. She flirted outrageously with both sexes. What I have debated and will debate vigourisly is that there is no more proof that she was purely lesbian than there is proof that she was purely heterosexual. Everyone seems to be devided into the two camps and insisting that she fit into one or the other. My point is, always has been, that there is more to sexuality than column one or column two. There is a column three and that is bisexual. I don't debate that Jack Lee was a lousy husband and did far more damage than we will ever know. I don't debate that Robert Gist was a prick and basically blackmailed Agnes. Nobody has ever used that word but let's call it what it was, blackmail. Gist made out like a bandit when they divorced and I think the length of the divorce proceedings speaks to the level of information that he had about her and she had about him. I think, my opinion of course, that Agnes fell between lesbian and bisexual actually. Most actresses like Janet Gaynor had beards. They were readily available in Hollywood because there was a market for them. More than likely all the men surrounding these women categorized as "boyfriend" or even "spouse" were most likely gay themselves and simply were constant escorts. What I doubt and will always doubt is that Robert Gist was amoung them. He was a gigolo pure and simple. He sold himself to further his career. The whole genre of "beards" served many purposes and benefitted all who partook. My point with all of my flag waving, neon sign above the obvious, hello does anybody get this but me, writing has been and always will be that Agnes was a sexual enigma. Everything seems obvious but there is so much more to her than what appears on the surface regardless of how you interpret the surface. She was, indeed, mistress of misdirection. I know that because I wrote an entire blog piece about her pretzel like interpretation of reality called Miss Direction. You are right my pieces do lead one to conclude that she had a strong preference for the female sex. What I ask for with her, though, is what I ask for with myself, don't rush to judgement because there is no simple answer. I have straddled the same fence for years. I've had long term, 20 plus years, relationships with women and then I fell in love with a man. I ask for people to be open to the idea that there is no box one way or the other. That people can go through life loving someone "who is this or that, male or female", as Agnes said in the Boze Hadleigh interview. That gender is a suitcase and you can pack one as well as the other. That humans fall on every point along the line of sexuality from straight to gay and back again. That we formulate ideas and think about her sexuality without the urge to cram her into one box or another. That we accept that what made her the idol of millions of women over her career, she was attracted to women and they were attracted to her. Sexuality is fluid in nature as are human beings.
I appreciate the chance for debate. I relish it. I think debate is essential in drawing a clear picture of who or what someone was, is or might be. Continue questioning. Always look to the obvious and then beyond it. As I said before there is no simple answer to any of it but knowing that there are people who look at my work and get the point is gratifying. To all of you who do I applaude your willingness to think outside the box and challenge your own point of view!
First during the filiming of Showboat in 1950 Agnes did not have flaming red tresses.
Point two:
I have never debated Agnes' preferring the female gender. It is obvious she was far more comfortable with women and gay men than she ever was with straight men. She flirted outrageously with both sexes. What I have debated and will debate vigourisly is that there is no more proof that she was purely lesbian than there is proof that she was purely heterosexual. Everyone seems to be devided into the two camps and insisting that she fit into one or the other. My point is, always has been, that there is more to sexuality than column one or column two. There is a column three and that is bisexual. I don't debate that Jack Lee was a lousy husband and did far more damage than we will ever know. I don't debate that Robert Gist was a prick and basically blackmailed Agnes. Nobody has ever used that word but let's call it what it was, blackmail. Gist made out like a bandit when they divorced and I think the length of the divorce proceedings speaks to the level of information that he had about her and she had about him. I think, my opinion of course, that Agnes fell between lesbian and bisexual actually. Most actresses like Janet Gaynor had beards. They were readily available in Hollywood because there was a market for them. More than likely all the men surrounding these women categorized as "boyfriend" or even "spouse" were most likely gay themselves and simply were constant escorts. What I doubt and will always doubt is that Robert Gist was amoung them. He was a gigolo pure and simple. He sold himself to further his career. The whole genre of "beards" served many purposes and benefitted all who partook. My point with all of my flag waving, neon sign above the obvious, hello does anybody get this but me, writing has been and always will be that Agnes was a sexual enigma. Everything seems obvious but there is so much more to her than what appears on the surface regardless of how you interpret the surface. She was, indeed, mistress of misdirection. I know that because I wrote an entire blog piece about her pretzel like interpretation of reality called Miss Direction. You are right my pieces do lead one to conclude that she had a strong preference for the female sex. What I ask for with her, though, is what I ask for with myself, don't rush to judgement because there is no simple answer. I have straddled the same fence for years. I've had long term, 20 plus years, relationships with women and then I fell in love with a man. I ask for people to be open to the idea that there is no box one way or the other. That people can go through life loving someone "who is this or that, male or female", as Agnes said in the Boze Hadleigh interview. That gender is a suitcase and you can pack one as well as the other. That humans fall on every point along the line of sexuality from straight to gay and back again. That we formulate ideas and think about her sexuality without the urge to cram her into one box or another. That we accept that what made her the idol of millions of women over her career, she was attracted to women and they were attracted to her. Sexuality is fluid in nature as are human beings.
I appreciate the chance for debate. I relish it. I think debate is essential in drawing a clear picture of who or what someone was, is or might be. Continue questioning. Always look to the obvious and then beyond it. As I said before there is no simple answer to any of it but knowing that there are people who look at my work and get the point is gratifying. To all of you who do I applaude your willingness to think outside the box and challenge your own point of view!