I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead Read Online Free PDF Page B

not
forgotten her true ambition — the stage. She was able to indulge herself by
directing class plays and performing in stock during summers, but to
become a legitimate stage actress would mean taking the major step and
move to New York City. In the summer of 1926 she left the security of
Soldiers Grove and traveled by train to New York City, where an audition
was arranged for her at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It was
now or never.

3
“THERE GOES THE STRAIGHTEST
BACK I’VE EVER SEEN”
    On August 14, 1926, Agnes Moorehead auditioned before Charles
Jehlinger, the well-respected Director of Instruction at the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). She shaved two years off her age,
according to her audition report; she said she was 23, rather than the 25
years she actually was. Her height is listed as 5’4”; weight, 116, and hair
coloring is described as “brunette.” The report rated Agnes in the following
categories:
    P ROPORTIONS :
P HYSICAL C ONDITION :
P ERSONALITY :
S TAGE P RESENCE :
B IRTHPLACE :
N ATIONALITY :
G ENERAL E DUCATION :
    O CCUPATION :
S TAGE E XPERIENCE :
V OICE :
P RONUNCIATION :
M EMORY :
R EADING :
S PONTANEITY :
V ERSATILITY :
C HARACTERIZATION :
    G OOD
G OOD
G OOD
G OOD
M ASS .
    I RISH -S COTCH -E NGLISH
B.A. M USKINGUM C OLLEGE – P OST G RAD .
U NIV . OF W ISCONSIN .
T EACHER OF E NG . AND MATH – H IGH S CHOOL A MATEUR
G OOD ( SOMEWHAT NASAL )
M IDWEST R
( THIS WAS LEFT BLANK )
V ERY INTELLIGENT
G OOD
( ALSO LEFT BLANK )
G OOD
Agnes Moorehead 23
    D ISTINCTION : ( BLANK )
P ANTOMIME : G OOD
D RAMATIC I NSTINCT : Y ES
T EMPERAMENT : M ENTAL -N ERVOUS -V ITAL
I NTELLIGENCE : K EEN
I MITATION : ( BLANK )
R ECITATION : “I TALIAN D IALECT R ECITATION ” — “Q UALITY
OF M ERCY ” — “B ARBARA ”
     
I MAGINATION : G OOD
    Summing up her audition, Jehlinger wrote: “Individuality and promise
of a positive personality. Has promise. Acceptable.” Jehlinger was skeptical
that with Agnes’ already formidable background in stock, along with her
extensive education, additional training was needed. He advised her to go
out and audition for acting jobs. Agnes took in what Jehlinger told her and
began to sob, “‘Oh, I can’t stand it, I’m not very good.’ Tears began rolling
down my cheeks, and he said, ’Well, if that’s the way you feel, we’d love to
have you, but you don’t have to have us.’ ”
    The AADA was founded in 1884 and was the first conservatory of
its kind dedicated to the training of professional actors. Among its
distinguished alumni were Spencer Tracy, Edward G. Robinson, Hume
Cronyn, Walter Abel, and Betty Field, and, in the years following, included
Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Montgomery and Lee Remick.
    Lawrence Langner, for many years the head of the Theatre Guild, was
once asked by an English producer, “Why is it that you have so many
magnificent American actors and actresses who are trained both for
dramatic and comedy roles and are able to play emotional scenes without
the inhibitions which plague our English actors?” Langner replied that it
was largely due to the existence of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts,
“which, under the artistic direction of Charles Jehlinger, had developed a
native method of teaching which particularly fits the actor for playing
naturalistic, emotional roles.”
    “The Jehlinger Method,” according to Langner, stressed “the exercise
of the imagination,” and his teaching method, above all, was aimed at
“spontaneity of action and reaction on the part of the actor.” Jehlinger,
himself, explained, “If I were to be asked to state the most important
contribution you can supply, you the student, it is listening. Hearing is
simply making use of the ear. We listen with our minds. Hearing is merely
sound. It penetrates the ears; in one and out the other usually. Listening,
however, reaches the intellect and enriches the understanding and
comprehension. In all my