Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900 – April 30, 1974) was an American actress best known for her role as Endora on Bewitched. However, her six-decade career also included work in radio, stage, and film.
She was part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater troupe and as such made her film debut in Citizen Kane, which was also the film debut for Welles and most of the other cast. She also appeared in Welles' second film, The Magnificent Ambersons. She went on to enjoy a thriving career as a character actress that included parts in such films as Johnny Belinda, Show Boat, All That Heaven Allows, and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. On television, besides being a regular on Bewitched, she also appeared in guest roles on a number of other series, perhaps most notably in "The Invaders", one of the best-remembered episodes from The Twilight Zone. During her career she was nominated for four Academy Awards, in addition to seven Primetime Emmy Awards (winning one) and two Golden Globes (winning both).
Moorehead died in 1974 of uterine cancer, just two years after her most famous role on Bewitched had ended. She is one of a disproportionately large number of the cast and crew from the film The Conqueror to have died of cancer. She married twice, both marriages ending in divorce, and had no children. Although she was rumoured to be a lesbian both during her lifetime and in the years since, most of those close to her deny that she was.note She was survived by her mother Mary, who bore her when she was 17 years old, and lived to the ripe old age of 106 before passing in 1990.
Roles with pages on TV Tropes:
- Citizen Kane (1941) as Mary Kane
- The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) as Fanny Minafer
- Journey into Fear (1942) as Mrs. Mathews
- Government Girl (1943) as Adele Wright
- Jane Eyre (1943) as Mrs. Reed
- Since You Went Away (1944) as Emily Hawkins
- Dark Passage (1947) as Madge Rapf
- The Woman in White (1948) as Countess Fosco
- Johnny Belinda (1948) as Aggie MacDonald
- Caged (1950) as Ruth Benton
- Show Boat (1951) as Parthy Hawks
- Magnificent Obsession (1954) as Nancy Ashford
- All That Heaven Allows (1955) as Sara Warren
- The Conqueror (1956) as Hunlun
- The Swan (1956) as Queen Maria Dominika
- The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956) as Bertha Parchman
- The Bat (1959) as Cornelia van Gorder
- Pollyanna (1960) as Mrs. Snow
- How the West Was Won (1962) as Rebecca Prescott
- Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) as Velma Cruthers
- The Singing Nun (1966) as Sister Cluny
- The Magic Pear Tree (1968) as Chantelle (voice)
- What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) as Sister Alma
- Charlotte's Web (1973) as The Goose (voice)
- Wagon Train (1 episode, 1957) as Mary Halstead
- Playhouse 90 (1 episode, 1958) as Rose GaNun
- The Millionaire (1 episode, 1960) as Katherine Boland
- Rawhide (1 episode, 1960) as Sister Frances
- The Rifleman (1 episode, 1960) as Bertie Hoakam
- The Twilight Zone (1 episode, 1961) as Woman
- Burke's Law (3 episodes, 1963–65) as Liz Haggerty/Dona Ynez Ortega y Esteban/Pauline Moss
- Bewitched (1964–1972) as Endora
- The Lone Ranger (2 episodes, 1966–68) as Black Widow (voice)
- The Wild Wild West (1 episode, 1967) as Emma Valentine
- The Virginian (1 episode, 1970) as Emma Garvey
- Night Gallery (2 episodes, 1970–71) as Emma Brigham/Head Witch
- Love, American Style (1 episode, 1971) as Mrs. Cooper
- The Wonderful World of Disney (2 episodes, 1971) as Mrs. Pringle
- Marcus Welby, M.D. (1 episode, 1972) as Mrs. Ramsey
- The Shadow (1937–39) as Margo Lane (voice)
- The Mercury Theatre on the Air (3 episodes, 1938) as Mina Harker/Mrs. Hawkins/Mrs. Lincoln (voice)
- The Adventures of Superman (1 episode, 1940) as Lara Lor-Van (voice)
- CBS Radio Mystery Theater (2 episodes, 1974) as Ada Canby/Lorna Kitteredge (voice)
Tropes:
- I Am Not Spock: As she put it in one interview, "I've been in movies and played theater from coast to coast, so I was quite well known before Bewitched, and I don't particularly want to be identified as the witch."
