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Sara Jane Moore: Miriam Roth Ballard, Scenery by: Christopher Sheley, Lighting by: Jonathan Spencer, Costumes by: Janson Fangio, Directed by: Scott RC Levy, Photo by Nathan Willers |
An attempted member of Sondheim’s crew of ASSASSINS, Sara Jane Moore (played by Miriam Roth Ballard, pictured above) was described by Time Magazine as a “misfit” and “a kind of radical groupie” in an article written in 1975.
Before attempting to kill President Gerald R. Ford on September 22, 1975, would be Sara Jane Moore had been enrolled as a nursing student, been recruited by the Women’s Army Corps, held a position as a bookkeeper for Randolph Hearst’s People In Need organization, and served as an FBI informant. But, the attempted assassination was not the first time Moore made headlines.
ASSASSINS Fun Fact #4: In 1950 at the age of 18, Sara Jane Moore received her first newspaper mention in the Washington Daily News after collapsing in front of the White House with amnesia.
(Want to catch up on your ASSASSINS trivia? Here are links to Fun Facts #3, #2 and #1.)
On December 31, 2007, at the age of 77, Moore was released from prison on parole after serving 32 years of her life sentence. She gave ABC7 an exclusive interview in April of 2009. Here’s an excerpt of the transcript:
The transition from prison to freedom took some adjusting. The world was 34 years older when Moore was released.
“It was the silly little things that were hard,” Moore said. “We had TV in prison, but I didn’t know how to use the remote on the TV.”
Nor did she know what a cell phone was.
“I didn’t have the foggiest, didn’t know how to answer the phone, didn’t know how to dial the phone,” Moore said.
Moore says she loves her life of anonymity in the small town where she now lives.
“I have a lovely view out my window and I just sit there and I just think, ‘isn’t this marvelous,’ I just sit there and I am so happy and so content,” Moore said.
Not only is Moore happy with her new life, she is happy with the changes in a society she fought three decades ago.