Read I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead for Free Online

experiences I have not discovered anything that
is so productive of intelligence as listening.” The Jehlinger Method stressed
“concentration, relaxation and follow through.”
    Agnes was accepted into the class of 1929 along with another would-be
teacher with dreams of being an actress: Rosalind Russell. In fact, Russell
had a five-year plan. “I’d serve my apprenticeship, play bit parts, maids,
whatever I could latch on to, and try to work my way up, but if I hadn’t
made good in five years, I’d go back to the idea of teaching.” Russell also
recalled Jehlinger. “We referred to him as Jelly — who managed to
communicate both method and magic to his students.” Of the academy,
Russell would sum up her two years positively. “I know some actors sneer
at dramatic schools, say they’re nonsense, but I feel a school gives you the
kind of confidence it would take you years to acquire anywhere else.”
    Agnes recalled that the Academy taught her a great deal about technique
but because she was older and more experienced than many of her fellow
classmates she had a better understanding of many other aspects of acting.
“I was more mature and I had the valid experiences of a university to help
me. I was able to cope better with whatever I had to learn. For instance, I
could understand my scripts better. I knew what to expect. I understood
the purposes and intents of writers and so on. I wasn’t just pulling things
out of the air which a lot of actors and actresses do when their minds
haven’t been trained. Everything I worked with in college I’ve used in the
theater.”
    While she attended the AADA, Agnes also took courses at Columbia
University which she attended to get her PhD in Speech. She had a
roommate while attending the AADA to help cut down on expenses. Her
roommate, Elizabeth Council Crafts, later recalled: “We moved around
quite a bit that year (1927–1928). We lived at Barbizon for Women, The
Mayflower, Central Park West, and I recall one place up on Riverside Drive.
In those days, Agnes was called ‘Bobby.’ I don’t recall why, but that is what
everybody called her.” Agnes took on a variety of jobs to pay her living and
educational expenses, including that traditional occupation of the
struggling actor — waitressing. She also worked part-time as a drama
instructor at the Dalton School, an exclusive private school for girls.
    The AADA taught students many different things other than theories of
acting, such as posture. “My stint at the Academy had equipped me,”
Rosalind Russell recalled, “how to stand, how to sit, how to fence, how to
walk into a room without looking down at their feet, how to step over a
doorsill without tripping.” Notebooks from her AADA years indicate
that Agnes studied voice, speech, theatrical history, costuming, makeup,
stagecraft, dramatic analysis and pantomime.
    Lectures delivered by Charles Jehlinger were always anticipated by the
students, and one such lecture was on “The Process for Creative Work.”
According to Agnes’ notes, the lecture emphasized the following:
    1) Dramatic Art is not a system. A system never produced anything. An
individual must give thorough attention to his art. A continuity of
thought is required.
    2) Characters are real human beings — there is no end to knowing
characters — acting is a human thing .
3) How do you find the character of the individual in the play? a) The basic material comes from the author
b) Follow Nature’s laws
c) The best lesson in acting is observing situations which occur in
human life (which as we have seen Agnes had been doing since
she was a young child).
    Jehlinger stressed that absolute attention must be given to the author/playwright. The actor holds his audience by his powers of concentration. The
play read the second time gives a better understanding of the theme. The
mood does not change unless character changes it. Never be disrespectful to
your audience. Even if the character in the