1925
1923
1924
1921
Cleveland High School Ukulele Club
Friday, May 24, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Let Me Be Frank
Here is my logic. I know there is such a thing as public transportation and I know that in the late 1920's that it was commonly used, however, unless you were a social butterfly with a big income you just didn't go wandering out of your neighborhood looking for love. Typically romances begin when you have contact with somebody during your everyday life. We know that Peggy was a nurse in Saint Louis at the Jewish Hospital. We know that she came to Dayton in the fall of 1928. We know that Peggy would be familiar with the substance she used to take her life and we also know that it was not readily available to the public but was something that a nurse would come into contact with often.
I put it to you that Peggy continued her nursing career once she relocated to Dayton. Her parents lived less than a mile from the Miami Valley Hospital. This hospital has been in operation in the same location since the turn of the 20th century so the building that is there now has always been this hospital. It has grown and changed but it is the same place. Daily, if you worked there, you might travel that distance with a walk to work. If you did you would pass the same people at the same time every single day. On this route are two notable things that lead me to my conclusion. The first is the hospital itself and its location. The second is an address that happens to belong to Frank G Belanich. Between 1002 and 1010 South Main Street there was an apartment building called Fairlawn Apartments. In that building lived Frank George Belanich. He had an apartment with one room mate. He was a teacher and had attended Dayton College. Peggy died in July of 1929 and the census for 1930 happened slightly less than 9 months later. Even then a lease would be signed and it would cost you money to break it and Frank did not make that kind of money. It is worth noting that by 1931 he had moved further away but continued in his profession as a teacher and by 1932 he had moved again. He remained single while in Dayton. Frank did not marry until 1943 and by then he was living in Cleveland. Frank continued his teaching in Cleveland and by 1960 was dead. He was about 56 when he passed away. Of course I cannot prove any of this but this Frank was the closest in location to Peggy and her family. There are none others as close to their location or a location that Peggy might work at. Something to think about anyway.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
I've Got This "Ringing" In My Ears
Isn't it amazing what you notice when you think you aren't really paying attention to anything? Today on another of my blogs someone I follow posted a picture of Agnes holding an adorable cat. It was taken in the early 1930's. I was gazing at it thinking "Isn't that lovely! Just look at the adoration on her face!" Then I had an attention deficit moment, "What a gorgeous cat and just look at that beautiful....oh what's that a ring, a wedding band?" Hey, what a New York minute! A wedding band??? That started me on a backwards trip through a pile of pictures and gave me a brand new facet to the complex image of my beautiful cousin.
All The Chapel Bells Are Ringing
Thursday, June 5 1930. The weather is extremely hot. Like every other day in Manhattan people are getting married. At the Little Church Round The Corner a wedding is taking place. The groom is John Griffith Lee and the bride Agnes Robertson Moorehead. It is a traditional ceremony. Rings are exchanged symbolising a commitment to live together as man and wife. Everybody who marries, at least in 1930, exchanges wedding rings. It seems to me that it would be especially true in this case. Agnes was the daughter of the minister and to her weddings were sacrosanct. It was her upbringing. These were something her father performed regularly uniting people until "death do us part", however, by 1932 Agnes began not wearing hers on a regular basis.
You've Got A Ring Around Your Finger
The years move forward. Life goes on and Agnes begins her meteoric rise to a career that will leave a legacy denoting her as one of the best character actresses ever to grace the stage, screen and radio. Agnes did not have all that many photographs done while she was in radio, head shots I mean. There are several candid moments that appear over and over again. There are somewhere between 15 and twenty head shots that exist of her during this part of her career. The majority of them are taken in the mid thirties as she became more widely known. Of these the ones I posted above where actually taken in her apartment. Her piano stayed with her until she died. These were intended to show her "home life" and it was something that she did many times over throughout her career. You will find groupings like this in the forties, fifties and sixties. The were generally very relaxed in nature but you only saw what she wanted you to see. For example she is casually pictured with her wedding ring on and then just as casually with it off. Why remove it for a photo? Why indeed?
In the other well known head shots of Agnes from the thirties only two show her ring finger and they are quite telling in themselves.
Behind that ring is a band, an eternity band of diamonds, that is not her wedding band. Now true enough that these type of bands have been given in honor of anniversaries for years. Perhaps it was Jack that gave to her but then again Jack would have had to have been extremely wealthy to have given it to her, wouldn't he? We have all been told that Jack came from a wealthy family but alas that is not all that true. Jack's family had land, true, but monetarily they were just as average as anyone else. His father died not long after Jack married and was an actor. His mother lived in San Francisco in a nice place but was not rolling in cash. Jack was average in every way. His wife was most likely the least average thing about him.
Ring Around The Rosie
The next time you see Agnes with any kind of wedding band on will be in "Citizen Kane." I don't think it's the same one. But it's use is indicative of the story of Agnes' life, it is a prop for a performance. The next time you see a candid photograph taken of Agnes in the forties she will be wearing one of two rings on her left hand. Either the dark purple hued stone we have all come to recognize as her trademark or a ring with dark and light stones.
All The Chapel Bells Are Ringing
Thursday, June 5 1930. The weather is extremely hot. Like every other day in Manhattan people are getting married. At the Little Church Round The Corner a wedding is taking place. The groom is John Griffith Lee and the bride Agnes Robertson Moorehead. It is a traditional ceremony. Rings are exchanged symbolising a commitment to live together as man and wife. Everybody who marries, at least in 1930, exchanges wedding rings. It seems to me that it would be especially true in this case. Agnes was the daughter of the minister and to her weddings were sacrosanct. It was her upbringing. These were something her father performed regularly uniting people until "death do us part", however, by 1932 Agnes began not wearing hers on a regular basis.
This last photo was taken the same day as the above and yet the ring is clearly not visible.
The years move forward. Life goes on and Agnes begins her meteoric rise to a career that will leave a legacy denoting her as one of the best character actresses ever to grace the stage, screen and radio. Agnes did not have all that many photographs done while she was in radio, head shots I mean. There are several candid moments that appear over and over again. There are somewhere between 15 and twenty head shots that exist of her during this part of her career. The majority of them are taken in the mid thirties as she became more widely known. Of these the ones I posted above where actually taken in her apartment. Her piano stayed with her until she died. These were intended to show her "home life" and it was something that she did many times over throughout her career. You will find groupings like this in the forties, fifties and sixties. The were generally very relaxed in nature but you only saw what she wanted you to see. For example she is casually pictured with her wedding ring on and then just as casually with it off. Why remove it for a photo? Why indeed?
In the other well known head shots of Agnes from the thirties only two show her ring finger and they are quite telling in themselves.
In the top photo her ring hand is clearly visible and she is wearing an enormous ring that appears to be a clear stone of some sort. The same ring is just visible on the bottom left of the second photo.
Ring Around The Rosie
The next time you see Agnes with any kind of wedding band on will be in "Citizen Kane." I don't think it's the same one. But it's use is indicative of the story of Agnes' life, it is a prop for a performance. The next time you see a candid photograph taken of Agnes in the forties she will be wearing one of two rings on her left hand. Either the dark purple hued stone we have all come to recognize as her trademark or a ring with dark and light stones.
Most tellingly the first photo above was taken at another candid at home photo shoot. It is one of two known taken in that striped dress. The other photos taken on the same day show her ring finger empty. No wedding band. No big stones. No nothing.
Jack, on the other hand, never appears without his wedding band. In all of the known photographs of Jack Lee taken in the forties where you can see his left hand, there is a wedding band. Poor Jack had no clue, no clue at all, that he was the only one in his marriage who still thought of it as a commitment. He was a drunk and he was abusive that we all know. What I find a little sad is that he was clearly not living in the same world as everyone else. He had honestly believed that the ring was a symbol he should not remove and so he did not. He was clueless in every sense of the word.
The Bells Are Ringing For Me and Myself.....
This ring became her trademark. It graced her finger in nearly every public appearance from this photograph until she died in 1974. She always wore it on her left hand with one exception and that was during her brief marriage to Robert Gist. After they were married in Yuma Arizona she moved her large ring to her right hand. It is only shown in one photo that I know of and it was during that brief illusion that she had entered a committed relationship with Robert Gist. Everything came full circle at that point. She was where Jack had been. Robert, well, he was on an entirely different level of existence. What is important is that the big ring went straight back to the left hand. It became a symbol of Agnes' marriage to her public and her commitment to herself. She endured and for that we should all be more grateful than we will ever have time to demonstrate.
Friday, March 8, 2013
To Be Or Not To Be Mr. Agnes Moorehead
William Shakespeare once wrote that " Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage." I used to chuckle at that line, who wouldn't, but today, well, today I'm feeling some serious pity. Today, I feel pity for a man I did not know. I feel pity for a man who lived his life so back ass wards that you would have to be made of steel not to pity him. The man is non other than Jack Griffith Lee. Jack the drunkard. Jack the wife beater. Jack the psychologically broken.
As many of you are aware I had a substantial breakthrough with the legacy of Jack Lee yesterday. I discovered he was married a second time. I discovered his mother's last name and that his second wife was so totally devoted to him that she did not remarry after his death despite the fact she was 17 years his junior. I mulled all this over last night and decided that an entire story cannot be told about anyone without all of the puzzle pieces. I thought about Jack and Agnes. I ruminated on how dysfunctional they were as a married couple and why Jack never sought to question it, ever. If you really think about it he seemed to be totally blindsided by Agnes filing for divorce. For years I wondered how he pulled off that completely stunned, holy shit I never saw this coming performance and today, with out any hesitation, I can say I got it. I totally got it.
I Dote On His Very Absence
In this world only the very talented are able to convince people that they feel this way or that. Let's face it Jack was not talented and when compared with Agnes he was even less so. What can replace that talent is having actually experienced what you're living through previously. Jack did this with great aplomb.
Those of us looking in from the outside have been aware for ages that Agnes and Jack lived separate lives. When they were together in public it was always a photo opportunity, period. In a normal marriage where two people were deeply in love prolonged absence often drives a wedge between the couple very quickly. You see it happen every day in Hollywood. Two people divorce over irreconcilable differences. In the aftermath interview both lament on how being away for extended periods of time as a result of work created a chasm that could not be bridged. With Agnes and Jack it was the reverse that created a chasm that could not be bridged. They remained successfully married while he was in New York and she in California or while he was in Ohio and she in California. They both toured with various and sundry shows when they were both in New York rarely, if ever, spending any extended time together. It was when Jack moved full time to California and they had to live together that their lives began unraveling. Why oh why do you suppose?
Well, I'll tell you because the marriage was an illusion to begin with. Agnes flourished when she was away from Jack, she bloomed, she blossomed and her career took off like a bottle rocket. Jack, on the other hand, had lived this illusion of an existence his entire life. His father, Robert Marshall Lee, was an actor as well. His father toured all over the place all the time and was rarely around to inconvenience his wife, Susan, with his presence. She lived, she flourished and she reared her child or children, the existence of his sister is not documented with all the appropriate facts yet, so anyway, she reared her offspring on her own. His father was an absentee parent and he was mamma's boy.
They Stumble That Run Fast
As I began to plumb the depths of Jack's family I began to uncover some very peculiar things. I have documented through voting registrations what Mr. and Mrs. Lee claimed were their residences. While actually hunting them down I discovered that in one instance in 1923 Susan Ping Lee listed her address as 29 Belcher. Today I discovered that 29 Belcher was never her residence but that of her sister Eva. I also found that in 1914 Susan is listed as living at 2466 California, yes indeed, address for her sister Virginia. Honestly, I thought, could it get any stranger? Yes, yes it could and did.
In 1916 we find one of the rare instances of Susan and her husband being listed on the voter registration list together at 1633 Webster. By 1918 living at the same address is one Harry O'Neill. Not strange until you realize that Harry is the man that Susan marries after Robert M Lee dies around 1934. In fact the Lee's disappear from San Francisco between the end of 1918 to 1922 or there about. Susan is registered as living at an address in Modesto oddly enough there is no record of her actually having lived there but you know what Harry disappears around the same time and returns to San Francisco around the same time as well. We have, ladies and gentlemen, a triumvirate, a trio, a threesome. Wither thou goest so goest I!
In 1918 Robert was in Chicago and lists his home address as 1633 Webster. In 1918 Susan is god knows where and gives her home address as 418 13th Street Modesto! Harry, well I'll be damned if I know where Harry is but one thing is for sure he is not in San Francisco! Am I the only one here sensing a pattern? I think not. Shakespeare says " They stumble that run fast" and oh how right he is! A person can get ahead of themselves and then impale themselves on the the truth accidentally! If the age of information had never come about we would know none of this at all. I'm not saying whose lover Harry was but you don't migrate with people unless you're in love with one of them! By the time of the 1930 census Harry O'Neill lists himself as married, he never was..there is simply no record of it anywhere, and he is significantly well off in terms of the Depression. Harry owned 841 Corbett and was worth $7000.00. Living with him in 1930 while her husband was in a hotel in New York with his son Jack was Susan. She is identified as "border" but nobody else lives there my friends, nobody. Voter registration still lists it as her address in 1934 but she is still Susan Lee....hmmm, scratching head vigorously...hmmmm.
Nature Hath Framed Strange Fellows In Her Time
Okay, so now I've reached the epitome of odd, right? Wrong, oh soooo wrong! By 1940 Susan has married Harry O'Neill and they live at 841 Corbett. Harry is ridiculously well off, although he is listed as a "taxi driver", and Susan is reaping the reward of having dedicated herself to Harry, or not.....By 1944 Harry is living at 841 Corbett all on his lonesome and Susan, well, Susan is practically next door, actually sort of literally next door. Susan lives by herself at 853 Corbett but she's still Mrs. Susan O'Neill and she's still a "housewife" for someone anyway.
No wonder her son grew up with no idea what in the name of blue blazes a marriage was! His family apparently put the "fun" in "dysFUNctional." It appears that Jack grew up in a very, very, very liberal home...or an idea of a home because you cannot bloody tell where these people really lived until after 1930! Of course he would pick out a woman who had as much use for him as a fish does a bicycle because that is exactly who he had lived his whole life! Of course he would have no idea that things weren't right because he had no idea what "right" meant. Jack was a twisted wreck of a man before he ever got married and it most likely was a result of his gypsy like rearing. I don't find his drinking all that odd now because I can tell you this if I had grown up like that I'd be drinking everything I could get my hands on. Who knows what kind of crazy temperamental outbursts he witnessed and I'm sure the violent side of him has its roots in this disaster area of a childhood as well. Jack was a product of his environment plain and simple.
He dealt with some seriously stressful stuff his whole life and the end of his marriage to Agnes was not one bit different. I have dealt with several traumatic deaths over the last 5 years but I never managed to pull this off, ever. The year is 1949. Jack has been separated from Agnes once on record that we know of in 1946.
On February 28, 1949 after 8:10 pm Jack's mother dies at Saint Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. On Thursday March 3 the funeral for Susan O'Neill is held and she is buried at Cypress Lawn. Three limousines are used in the funeral. One car is arranged for simply to carry flowers. An organist is requisitioned to play at the funeral and a clergyman asked to perform the service. The entire funeral is billed to Jack Lee at a cost of $1018.50 and the bill is sent to him at Monte Mar Terrace in Los Angeles. I know it doesn't seem like a lot but think of this way:
In 2009 we buried my mother at a cost of $6500.00 and we had to have her remains flown to Pennsylvania.
In January of this year we buried my father in law at a cost of $7500.00 and it was a modest funeral that didn't involve travel of any kind. My mother's funeral would have been over $10,000.00 today. An increase of $4000.00 in 3 years. That averages out to $1333.00 per year. Jack's mother died in 1949 that is 64 years ago. In those terms his mother's funeral would have cost around $85,000.00 today.
Mother has died and is buried on March 3rd. The Academy Awards are on March 24, 1949. Agnes is not only the first woman to act as co host but she is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress. That is 3 weeks between the death of Jack's mother and the Academy Awards. Keep in mind the size of the funeral. It was his tribute to Susan. He's stressed and he's drinking. Unbeknownst to him in slightly less than 3 months his wife is going to file for separation from him. This is Jack unrehearsed and captured candidly on March 24 1949 at his wife's side on the red carpet.
There's a smile on his face but his eyes are completely blank, at least that is how they look to me. So, here I sit feeling sorry for him. Was he a victim of his own upbringing, most likely. Is that an excuse? No, because we are all victims of something that happened to us. Do I feel for the man? Yes I do. I have also have a whole new respect for the level of the knowledge that Paul Gregory had about Agnes. Paul said she was a meat grinder and that Jack never stood a chance with her at all. Paul said Jack was actually a nice guy away from Agnes. Nobody will ever really know for sure but...here's some sympathy for the poor devil and may he rest in peace!
As many of you are aware I had a substantial breakthrough with the legacy of Jack Lee yesterday. I discovered he was married a second time. I discovered his mother's last name and that his second wife was so totally devoted to him that she did not remarry after his death despite the fact she was 17 years his junior. I mulled all this over last night and decided that an entire story cannot be told about anyone without all of the puzzle pieces. I thought about Jack and Agnes. I ruminated on how dysfunctional they were as a married couple and why Jack never sought to question it, ever. If you really think about it he seemed to be totally blindsided by Agnes filing for divorce. For years I wondered how he pulled off that completely stunned, holy shit I never saw this coming performance and today, with out any hesitation, I can say I got it. I totally got it.
I Dote On His Very Absence
In this world only the very talented are able to convince people that they feel this way or that. Let's face it Jack was not talented and when compared with Agnes he was even less so. What can replace that talent is having actually experienced what you're living through previously. Jack did this with great aplomb.
Those of us looking in from the outside have been aware for ages that Agnes and Jack lived separate lives. When they were together in public it was always a photo opportunity, period. In a normal marriage where two people were deeply in love prolonged absence often drives a wedge between the couple very quickly. You see it happen every day in Hollywood. Two people divorce over irreconcilable differences. In the aftermath interview both lament on how being away for extended periods of time as a result of work created a chasm that could not be bridged. With Agnes and Jack it was the reverse that created a chasm that could not be bridged. They remained successfully married while he was in New York and she in California or while he was in Ohio and she in California. They both toured with various and sundry shows when they were both in New York rarely, if ever, spending any extended time together. It was when Jack moved full time to California and they had to live together that their lives began unraveling. Why oh why do you suppose?
Well, I'll tell you because the marriage was an illusion to begin with. Agnes flourished when she was away from Jack, she bloomed, she blossomed and her career took off like a bottle rocket. Jack, on the other hand, had lived this illusion of an existence his entire life. His father, Robert Marshall Lee, was an actor as well. His father toured all over the place all the time and was rarely around to inconvenience his wife, Susan, with his presence. She lived, she flourished and she reared her child or children, the existence of his sister is not documented with all the appropriate facts yet, so anyway, she reared her offspring on her own. His father was an absentee parent and he was mamma's boy.
They Stumble That Run Fast
As I began to plumb the depths of Jack's family I began to uncover some very peculiar things. I have documented through voting registrations what Mr. and Mrs. Lee claimed were their residences. While actually hunting them down I discovered that in one instance in 1923 Susan Ping Lee listed her address as 29 Belcher. Today I discovered that 29 Belcher was never her residence but that of her sister Eva. I also found that in 1914 Susan is listed as living at 2466 California, yes indeed, address for her sister Virginia. Honestly, I thought, could it get any stranger? Yes, yes it could and did.
In 1916 we find one of the rare instances of Susan and her husband being listed on the voter registration list together at 1633 Webster. By 1918 living at the same address is one Harry O'Neill. Not strange until you realize that Harry is the man that Susan marries after Robert M Lee dies around 1934. In fact the Lee's disappear from San Francisco between the end of 1918 to 1922 or there about. Susan is registered as living at an address in Modesto oddly enough there is no record of her actually having lived there but you know what Harry disappears around the same time and returns to San Francisco around the same time as well. We have, ladies and gentlemen, a triumvirate, a trio, a threesome. Wither thou goest so goest I!
In 1918 Robert was in Chicago and lists his home address as 1633 Webster. In 1918 Susan is god knows where and gives her home address as 418 13th Street Modesto! Harry, well I'll be damned if I know where Harry is but one thing is for sure he is not in San Francisco! Am I the only one here sensing a pattern? I think not. Shakespeare says " They stumble that run fast" and oh how right he is! A person can get ahead of themselves and then impale themselves on the the truth accidentally! If the age of information had never come about we would know none of this at all. I'm not saying whose lover Harry was but you don't migrate with people unless you're in love with one of them! By the time of the 1930 census Harry O'Neill lists himself as married, he never was..there is simply no record of it anywhere, and he is significantly well off in terms of the Depression. Harry owned 841 Corbett and was worth $7000.00. Living with him in 1930 while her husband was in a hotel in New York with his son Jack was Susan. She is identified as "border" but nobody else lives there my friends, nobody. Voter registration still lists it as her address in 1934 but she is still Susan Lee....hmmm, scratching head vigorously...hmmmm.
Nature Hath Framed Strange Fellows In Her Time
Okay, so now I've reached the epitome of odd, right? Wrong, oh soooo wrong! By 1940 Susan has married Harry O'Neill and they live at 841 Corbett. Harry is ridiculously well off, although he is listed as a "taxi driver", and Susan is reaping the reward of having dedicated herself to Harry, or not.....By 1944 Harry is living at 841 Corbett all on his lonesome and Susan, well, Susan is practically next door, actually sort of literally next door. Susan lives by herself at 853 Corbett but she's still Mrs. Susan O'Neill and she's still a "housewife" for someone anyway.
No wonder her son grew up with no idea what in the name of blue blazes a marriage was! His family apparently put the "fun" in "dysFUNctional." It appears that Jack grew up in a very, very, very liberal home...or an idea of a home because you cannot bloody tell where these people really lived until after 1930! Of course he would pick out a woman who had as much use for him as a fish does a bicycle because that is exactly who he had lived his whole life! Of course he would have no idea that things weren't right because he had no idea what "right" meant. Jack was a twisted wreck of a man before he ever got married and it most likely was a result of his gypsy like rearing. I don't find his drinking all that odd now because I can tell you this if I had grown up like that I'd be drinking everything I could get my hands on. Who knows what kind of crazy temperamental outbursts he witnessed and I'm sure the violent side of him has its roots in this disaster area of a childhood as well. Jack was a product of his environment plain and simple.
He dealt with some seriously stressful stuff his whole life and the end of his marriage to Agnes was not one bit different. I have dealt with several traumatic deaths over the last 5 years but I never managed to pull this off, ever. The year is 1949. Jack has been separated from Agnes once on record that we know of in 1946.
On February 28, 1949 after 8:10 pm Jack's mother dies at Saint Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. On Thursday March 3 the funeral for Susan O'Neill is held and she is buried at Cypress Lawn. Three limousines are used in the funeral. One car is arranged for simply to carry flowers. An organist is requisitioned to play at the funeral and a clergyman asked to perform the service. The entire funeral is billed to Jack Lee at a cost of $1018.50 and the bill is sent to him at Monte Mar Terrace in Los Angeles. I know it doesn't seem like a lot but think of this way:
In 2009 we buried my mother at a cost of $6500.00 and we had to have her remains flown to Pennsylvania.
In January of this year we buried my father in law at a cost of $7500.00 and it was a modest funeral that didn't involve travel of any kind. My mother's funeral would have been over $10,000.00 today. An increase of $4000.00 in 3 years. That averages out to $1333.00 per year. Jack's mother died in 1949 that is 64 years ago. In those terms his mother's funeral would have cost around $85,000.00 today.
Mother has died and is buried on March 3rd. The Academy Awards are on March 24, 1949. Agnes is not only the first woman to act as co host but she is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress. That is 3 weeks between the death of Jack's mother and the Academy Awards. Keep in mind the size of the funeral. It was his tribute to Susan. He's stressed and he's drinking. Unbeknownst to him in slightly less than 3 months his wife is going to file for separation from him. This is Jack unrehearsed and captured candidly on March 24 1949 at his wife's side on the red carpet.
There's a smile on his face but his eyes are completely blank, at least that is how they look to me. So, here I sit feeling sorry for him. Was he a victim of his own upbringing, most likely. Is that an excuse? No, because we are all victims of something that happened to us. Do I feel for the man? Yes I do. I have also have a whole new respect for the level of the knowledge that Paul Gregory had about Agnes. Paul said she was a meat grinder and that Jack never stood a chance with her at all. Paul said Jack was actually a nice guy away from Agnes. Nobody will ever really know for sure but...here's some sympathy for the poor devil and may he rest in peace!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
And Now For Something Completely Diffrent
Monty Python Does Genealogy
I have been away from my blog for some time now and I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every single one of you for your well wishes. I haven't stopped my research though, nope not a one little bit. So, I am hereby serving notice that I have found the semi "Holy Grail" of Agnes Moorehead research. It's the semi "Holy Grail" because it has nothing to do with Sean but it does, at last answer a question that many of us had wondered about for some time, which is, "Whatever happened to Jack G. Lee?" I had a "Come To Jesus" moment today. I ran around my living room yelling "I found him, I FOUND HIM!" My husband was, alas, totally speechless at my I just scored the game winning Superbowl touchdown celebration and I was totally pumped!!!!
Here, my friends, is the answer we have all been waiting for:
Jack G Lee did remarry to one Joanna Jayne Johnson on February 18, 1956. At the time he remarried his address was 1158 El Centro, Los Angeles, California and so was hers, yes they appear to have lived together prior to marriage. Their marriage license was issued November 19, 1955. Joanna remained married to him until his death and she never remarried, alas, she died in 2005. His father's name was Robert M Lee, I knew that already, however I did not know his mother's last name was PING....no you aren't hearing things I said PING!!! I know that my failing to be in your living room going PING at the top of my voice and laughing vigorously at my own humor looses something in translation. Anyway it's important, trust me.
Bring In The Expensive Machine That Goes PING!!!
So this day started with an inexplicable urge to follow up on Jack G. Lee. Until, a short time ago, I found an actual high school picture of Jack Lee I had not one single clue as to where he spent his youth. I had no idea what his mother's last name was. I had only guessed that his mother's first name was and thank heavens that panned out. I knew that he, allegedly, came from San Francisco. I knew that his father's name, or rather combination of names, was Robert Marshall Lee or Marshall Robert Lee. I knew his father was an actor or decorator, depending on who wrote it down. But now I know and I know oh soooo much more my friends, oh sooooo much more.
What, you may well ask, do you know? Well kids I know this....Jack was not an only child, nope, he wasn't. It seems that Mr R. M Lee and Miss Susan PING had a daughter named Lucille...yup they sure did. She was an older sister born to the pair in 1901 in, where??? Hello, MISSOURI!!!!
Woot....I'm on a roll kids. I'm so proud I can't stand it!!!
I'll Have One Without So Much PING In It!
Okay, here's the skinny on this whole situation. Susan Ping was the daughter of William James Ping and Hester Powell Ping. Her parents operated the "California Home For The Care And Training Of Feeble Minded Children" in Sonoma, California. It seems that her father had some contacts in Sutter California where the Lee family lived and henceforth Miss PING came to know Mr. R M Lee. From this union comes Mr. Jack G Lee or as we refer to him, Mr. Agnes Moorehead.
It is little wonder that our Jack was a troubled soul. His father was constantly on the road. His mother ended up openly living with the man she married after Jack's father died. I'm sure that Jack was torn between his parents and ultimately that was responsible for some of the issues he developed as he aged. It most likely wasn't an easy childhood and lord only knows how many times he witnessed all sorts of random things when he was young.
Susan ultimately married one Harry O'Neill and subsequently died as Mrs. O'Neill in 1949. Lucille married a man named Harry Arnold and I've found one child between them named Nancy Lee Arnold born around 1936 in San Francisco. I haven't found anything further there yet.
As I uncover info I will post about it as time allows. Right now I'm going take a victory lap around the living room and shout PING for a little while longer. I am so hoping that my Monty Python references are not lost in translation!! Ta ta for now Cherie's!
I have been away from my blog for some time now and I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every single one of you for your well wishes. I haven't stopped my research though, nope not a one little bit. So, I am hereby serving notice that I have found the semi "Holy Grail" of Agnes Moorehead research. It's the semi "Holy Grail" because it has nothing to do with Sean but it does, at last answer a question that many of us had wondered about for some time, which is, "Whatever happened to Jack G. Lee?" I had a "Come To Jesus" moment today. I ran around my living room yelling "I found him, I FOUND HIM!" My husband was, alas, totally speechless at my I just scored the game winning Superbowl touchdown celebration and I was totally pumped!!!!
Here, my friends, is the answer we have all been waiting for:
Jack G Lee did remarry to one Joanna Jayne Johnson on February 18, 1956. At the time he remarried his address was 1158 El Centro, Los Angeles, California and so was hers, yes they appear to have lived together prior to marriage. Their marriage license was issued November 19, 1955. Joanna remained married to him until his death and she never remarried, alas, she died in 2005. His father's name was Robert M Lee, I knew that already, however I did not know his mother's last name was PING....no you aren't hearing things I said PING!!! I know that my failing to be in your living room going PING at the top of my voice and laughing vigorously at my own humor looses something in translation. Anyway it's important, trust me.
Bring In The Expensive Machine That Goes PING!!!
So this day started with an inexplicable urge to follow up on Jack G. Lee. Until, a short time ago, I found an actual high school picture of Jack Lee I had not one single clue as to where he spent his youth. I had no idea what his mother's last name was. I had only guessed that his mother's first name was and thank heavens that panned out. I knew that he, allegedly, came from San Francisco. I knew that his father's name, or rather combination of names, was Robert Marshall Lee or Marshall Robert Lee. I knew his father was an actor or decorator, depending on who wrote it down. But now I know and I know oh soooo much more my friends, oh sooooo much more.
What, you may well ask, do you know? Well kids I know this....Jack was not an only child, nope, he wasn't. It seems that Mr R. M Lee and Miss Susan PING had a daughter named Lucille...yup they sure did. She was an older sister born to the pair in 1901 in, where??? Hello, MISSOURI!!!!
Woot....I'm on a roll kids. I'm so proud I can't stand it!!!
I'll Have One Without So Much PING In It!
Okay, here's the skinny on this whole situation. Susan Ping was the daughter of William James Ping and Hester Powell Ping. Her parents operated the "California Home For The Care And Training Of Feeble Minded Children" in Sonoma, California. It seems that her father had some contacts in Sutter California where the Lee family lived and henceforth Miss PING came to know Mr. R M Lee. From this union comes Mr. Jack G Lee or as we refer to him, Mr. Agnes Moorehead.
It is little wonder that our Jack was a troubled soul. His father was constantly on the road. His mother ended up openly living with the man she married after Jack's father died. I'm sure that Jack was torn between his parents and ultimately that was responsible for some of the issues he developed as he aged. It most likely wasn't an easy childhood and lord only knows how many times he witnessed all sorts of random things when he was young.
Susan ultimately married one Harry O'Neill and subsequently died as Mrs. O'Neill in 1949. Lucille married a man named Harry Arnold and I've found one child between them named Nancy Lee Arnold born around 1936 in San Francisco. I haven't found anything further there yet.
As I uncover info I will post about it as time allows. Right now I'm going take a victory lap around the living room and shout PING for a little while longer. I am so hoping that my Monty Python references are not lost in translation!! Ta ta for now Cherie's!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Pardon the Delay
Hey kids, just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten my follow up post on "The Mystery of Love." I have been overwhelmed with some family illness. Bear with me!