Posted by Professional Tourist on June 5, 2014, 7:03 pm
It is a great pleasure to share some news: Agnes has been elected to the class of 2014 of the National Radio Hall of Fame:
This has been a long time coming; I myself have tried to influence the steering committee's selection process by sending information to them about AM's tremendous body of work in that medium, but after a few years of disappointments I gave up. I believed it was never going to happen -- AM was passed over for so much formal recognition during her lifetime, and posthumously too. Then tonight I saw the press release:
Born in 1900, Moorehead began her career as a singer on KMOX/St. Louis. In the 1930s she moved to New York, and by 1935 was one of radio's busiest and most versatile actresses. Moorehead epitomized the golden age of radio drama, becoming the first actor to play Margo Lane on The Shadow and Mrs. Brown on The Aldrich Family, and she was an original ensemble member of Orson Welles's The Mercury Theatre on the Air. During the 1940s she costarred with Lionel Barrymore in Mayor of the Town and became "the First Lady of Suspense" by appearing in more than 25 episodes of the long-running series. Television brought her more fame through her role as Endora on Bewitched before she passed away on April 30, 1974."
This is so exciting!
Many here may be unfamiliar with AM's radio work, since most of it was behind her by the time Bewitched began. Here is one broadcast I uncovered recently, a 1952 episode of the Hallmark Playhouse, which I set to a slideshow of radio-related photos:
Thanks for posting, PT! This is great news! Amazing, that it is so late in coming, but definitely welcome at any time. Thanks for letting us know!! "Witches are good! Witches are dear!"