Peter Grimes or ambiguous the various characters are. Pears was certainly the intended Peter Grimes, and it is likely that Britten wrote the role of Ellen Orford for Joan Cross. The work has been called "a powerful allegory of homosexual oppression", and one of "the true operatic masterpieces of the 20th century", but the composer's own contemporary (1948) summation of the work was simpler: a subject very close to my heart — the struggle of the individual against the masses. The more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual. Though as the writing of the libretto progressed, certain versions showed Grimes'
Tammy Grimes the 1970 animated feature version "Shinbone Alley" with Carol Channing in the Mehitabel role) and Jules Munshin. Grimes was originally chosen to play the part given to Elizabeth Montgomery in the hit television situation comedy "Bewitched", but she turned down the offer, preferring to star in "The Tammy Grimes Show". In 1966, Grimes starred in her own ABC television series, "The Tammy Grimes Show", in which she played a modern-day heiress who loved to spend money. Receiving unfavorable critical reaction and poor ratings, it ran for only a month, although an additional six episodes had already been made. Returning to