(My Travels with) Agnes Moorehead – The Lavender Lady (14 page)

I have a letter to the Trenton Trust in Trenton, New Jersey: “Agnes is tentatively scheduled to perform in her one-woman show near Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the University of Wisconsin, Wednesday October 8th. She is then scheduled to proceed to New York for an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show, Friday, October 10th.”

Some of the memos are so covered with antiquity that I hardly remember them. There’s an ASAE Convention in Las Vegas. There is a teacher’s convention and a plasterer’s convention in New York. There is an appearance on “Caravan of Stars.” A testimonial to Agnes by the American Gas Association in New York. An appearance for the Ken Murray Show, four thousand dollars plus travel expenses.

Agnes making CoffeeMate Commercial

There is a letter from the Institute of Iron and Steel in Washington, D.C. It says in part: “I have just heard about the wonderful job you did at the ASAE Convention in Las Vegas. We are currently involved in the programming of our convention to take place at the Century Plaza and Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. We would be most appreciative to have you present your Theatre in America Today again” and so forth.

There’s a letter from Gamma Phi Beta, the University of Oregon: “We would like to invite you for lunch Friday, February 13th. If this is not convenient for you, we would enjoy having you visit anytime during your stay.”

Then there’s letters like this from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: “This past week has been one of considering your proposal and checking with our potential. We have come to the conclusion that we cannot afford to invite Miss Moorehead to participate in our Arts Festival.”

There’s a letter to the AID in Santa Barbara, California: “In compliance with your request during our recent telephone conversation, a glossy picture of Agnes Moorehead, together with her biography, are enclosed for your use. Also attached is the wording to be used in your program, if you are planning to have one. Miss Moorehead’s show is entitled ‘An Evening With The Fabulous Redhead’ and production, staging and lighting credit must be given to Paul Gregory, Charles Laughton and me on any printed matter. You will send a car for Miss Moorehead and her mother on the morning of March 13th.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHRISTMAS PARTY

I always loved everything socially that Agnes did. In fact, all my life with her I was fascinated with the way she handled people and anytime I got involved with anything social that she was doing, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. I helped her with guest lists and invitations and practically acted as a very close private social secretary for her.

I think back fondly on working with her on her Christmas party. It was her first big Christmas party. It grew like a snowball and started small. I’m told it was so big that it was covered by newspapers from coast to coast, even European papers. It was the most elegant social event of the season. Everyone said so and I take pride in the fact that I had my fingers in it.

You see, she had this very plush Mediterranean home, decorated professionally at a large cost and it was a sight to behold. So when it came time for the Christmas party, she said, “We’re really going to do it up right and you’re going to help me to see that it’s beautiful and appreciated.”

There were boughs of pine and holly with huge red bows. There was a twenty foot red bow strung in the entrance foyer and from the huge chandelier in the living room. We worked day and night on it and enjoyed working together. It was something really exciting to look forward to.

What she did was, and leave it to Agnes, was to employ students and garb them in red-vested uniforms to park cars. You see that all over Beverly Hills all the time, but she did it up even better than that. I want to tell you that the day of the party there were scores of Rolls Royce’s, Mercedes Benz, and every kind of foreign car all up and down Roxbury Drive and the side streets. They came from all over, the biggest, the best and the most celebrated.

Of course, she had a live “Ho-Ho-Ho” Santa Claus standing in the foyer entrance. He greeted all the guests as they arrived with typical Santa Claus enthusiasm.

This was the first in a long chain of huge Christmas parties. She had always had parties, but not quite as large, and the party was always on the first Saturday of December. It was very clever of her to do it that way, because it was the first big seasonal party. You see, in the movie industry a lot of people give Christmas parties, but it’s the one who gives the first party that gets all the publicity.

So, I was involved in inviting the people and also being very careful about inviting the press. That she loved . . . to read about her parties in the papers and magazines. The pictures of the parties fascinated her. At that time, I pretty much knew what stars were in town, which were on location and so forth. The guest list was certainly like a who’s who of Hollywood. You name the star, and they were there. Not only were there stars, but there were directors, producers, the money men and the television people.

Her cleaning people, her friends, Freddie and Polly, worked for days and weeks getting the house clean so that it shined with cleanliness.

When the party started, Freddie and Polly were dressed in mauve uniforms and spotless white aprons.

Even families got into the act and Freddie’s husband, Rochell was always on hand to help with the bartenders hired for the event. And there were plenty of them. The liquor bill went into the thousands and there was liquor spirits for everybody.

The party was organized perfectly, started at four P.M. on the button and ended promptly at nine P.M. While to me it looked like a chore, Agnes loved it when she stood at that front entrance and never left, greeting each guest as they arrived and departed. This particular year, my first, she had me standing with her through most of the event and don’t think I didn’t love that. Talk about glamour. This was really glamour. It was up to me, as it was up to her, to have me check every area to see that guests were happy and everything was going smoothly, that everyone had food and drink when they wanted it.

Agnes put on this kind of party like she would do a play. It was planned and rehearsed and almost the words were duplicated. It was the secret of her success. She always knew what she was about. She mentioned this often: “I know what I’m about.” She had interminable fortitude and showmanship. Everyone appreciated it so much and kept telling her so. It was a delight to see such big stars as Rita Hayworth, Carol Burnett, Rock Hudson, Ceaser Romero, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson and a host of others chatting with Agnes and with other star friends. They appreciated it, too. I knew many of the recording stars because of my position with RCA and sometimes their glamour impressed me, but this was much more grand, much more elegant. It was Hollywood as Hollywood is supposed to be.

Everyone had all they wanted there to drink and eat. Agnes was hurt when people wouldn’t take seconds or thirds. Strangely, though alcohol was poured down, no one was drunk. I guess the very dignity of the place and the early hour controlled that. But it was as if the guests all knew they could have fun and could not desecrate it in any way—the lavender lady’s sanctuary. The home gave off the impression of dignity and splendor with people living up to it.

Dancer/actress Ann Miller with her escort being greeted by Agnes.

When it was over and the press had commented and the pictures had appeared, her scrapbook was full, she treated it as if she were the Bible. When the party was at its peak, every nook and cranny was filled with people and so was the basement, the patio and the interior courtyard. Most of them lingered in the huge living room, their conversation a babble of noise and the laughs were constant. Believe me, it was exciting to behold.

Agnes looked radiant. She dressed perfectly and the whole event inspired her. She was dressed in a Jacques Fath red velour original gown and was very proud of it.

Then, it was the highlight of the evening. It was one I waited for and it was so impressive. The Beverly Hills High School Club arrived. They stood up and down the stairs in a line to the second landing caroling for twenty minutes. Then they, too, partook of the hundreds of varieties of hors d’ouevres, gourmet food, the best. In fact, everything Agnes ever did always seemed to be in the best of taste.

As if someone had something, at around eight-thirty P.M., the guests started to dwindle down. As the party petered out, Agnes and several close friends would leave for another one of the guest’s home for a light dinner and another party. I stayed to see that everything was secured and to help get things in some sort of order. You know what a thousand people can do to a home after they’ve left. She went off smiling and returned smiling. When it was all over, I fixed myself a drink. I had been an important part of the splendor and the big event. I had been chosen by the Lavender Lady to see that all went well.

I couldn’t help thinking, “I wonder what my friends would think if they saw me now?”