(My Travels with) Agnes Moorehead – The Lavender Lady (20 page)

EPILOGUE

Miss Moorehead died of uterine cancer at Methodist Hospital, April 30, 1974 in Rochester, (Olmsted County) Minnesota. Agnes and several cast members were exposed to radiation while filming “The Conqueror” in Nevada. It has been rumored this might have been the cause of her “uterine cancer” diagnosis.

Miss Moorehead bequeathed her 1967 Emmy Award statute for her guest appearance on “Wild Wild West” The Vicious Mrs. Valentine” and many of her private papers to Muskingum University as well as her home in Rix Mills, Ohio.

“Moorehead Manor” the family’s Ohio estate and farmlands was left to Bob Jones University to be used for retreats and special Christian meetings in addition to some of her biblical books from her personal library. Since the distance of the estate from South Carolina BJU school the property was useless. BJU eventually traded the Ohio farmlands with another college for $25,000 and a collection of library books. Her professional papers, scripts, scrapbooks, etc were willed to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Following a private Presbyterian funeral service Agnes’ body was returned to Dayton, Ohio for interment beside her parents in Abby Mausoleum located in Dayton’s historic Memorial Park.