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person_profile-Peggy Ryan

Peggy Ryan Died at age: 80

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Peggy Ryan

Date of Birth:

Aug 28, 1924

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Oct 30, 2004

Biography of

Peggy Ryan

    A vastly talented musical performer, Peggy Ryan found stardom dancing alongside partner Donald O'Connor as Universal's answer to Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Paired up in many a low-budget WWII-era musical, she was best known for her dancing feet, but she was no slouch in the singing department and her buoyant personality added plenty of zest to the escapist fare she appeared in.

    Christened Margaret O'Rene Ryan, Peggy was, as they say, born in a trunk in 1924 to a pair of vaudeville dancers ("The Merry Dancing Ryans") and, by age two, the pint-sized scene-stealer was already selling her heart out on stage alongside her parents. No glamor girl, Peggy had a very plaintive face, prominent nose and gangly figure, similar to a Virginia Weidler, so she was wise enough to play it up for laughs. Discovered by George Murphy, the young girl earned a part in Universal's enjoyable tune fest Top of the Town(1937), where the little Irish charmer managed to steal a dance alongside Murphy. Other movies beckoned, sometimes in teary dramas such as The Women Men Marry (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940). With the movie What's Cookin'? (1942), she teamed with O'Connor for the first time. The two were a sensation and sparked many musical programmers with their clowning, mugging, intricate dance steps, and indefatigable style. The jitterbugging twosome romped through Private Buckaroo (1942), Give Out, Sisters(1942), Get Hep to Love (1942), Top Man (1943), The Merry Monahans (1944), Chip Off the Old Block (1944) and Bowery to Broadway (1944) during their peak. During this period she married James Cross and had a son, James Michael Cross, who later died in a 1987 car accident.

    Peggy began to freelance in post-war years and found employment with other studios. She was paired up with dancer Ray McDonald for the films Shamrock Hill (1949) and All Ashore (1953) and began seeing him off screen as well. They eventually married, had a child named Kerry, and toured together across the U.S. in a nightclub act for a few years until their marriage folded. She decided to retire from films following her third marriage to Hawaiian announcer/emcee/columnist Eddie Sherman. She choreographed book shows here and there ("The Music Man", "Funny Girl"), but basically settled down in Hawaii. In later years, she came out of semi-retirement to appear in a small recurring part as the Governor of Hawaii's secretary, Millie, on TV's popular Hawaii Five-O (1968) in 1968. She remained a sporadic presence throughout the run of the show. After teaching tap dancing for decades on the sly, Peggy moved to Las Vegas with her family. A trouper to the end, she formed a group of middle-aged dancers called "The TNT's" and performed in and about town. In 2003, she suffered her first mini-stroke, dying a year later in what was reported to be complications from multiple strokes on October 30, 2004.

Photos of

Peggy Ryan

Photos ( 5 Photos

Filmography of

Peggy Ryan

Found 28 Movies in total

Pleasure Palace

Elderly Woman ( Actor )

... 1980

All Ashore

Gay Night ( Actor )

... 1953

There's a Girl in My Heart

Sally Mullin ( Actor )

... 1949

Shamrock Hill

Eileen Rogan ( Actor )

... 1949

Men in Her Diary

Doris Mann ( Actor )

... 1945

On Stage Everybody

Molly Sullivan ( Actor )

... 1945

That's the Spirit

Sheila Gogarty ( Actor )

... 1945

Patrick the Great

Judy Watkin ( Actor )

... 1945

Here Come the Co-Eds

Patty Gayle ( Actor )

... 1945

Bowery to Broadway

Specialty dancer ( Actor )

... 1944

Babes on Swing Street

Trudy Costello ( Actor )

... 1944

The Merry Monahans

Patsy Monahan ( Actor )

... 1944

This Is the Life

Sally McGuire ( Actor )

... 1944

Follow the Boys

Peggy Ryan ( Actor )

... 1944

Chip Off the Old Block

Peggy Flaherty ( Actor )

... 1944

Top Man

Jane Warren ( Actor )

... 1943

Mister Big

Peggy ( Actor )

... 1943

... 1942

Get Hep to Love

Betty Blake ( Actor )

... 1942

Private Buckaroo

Peggy ( Actor )

... 1942

Miss Annie Rooney

Myrtle ( Actor )

... 1942

What's Cookin'?

Peggy ( Actor )

... 1942

Sailor's Lady

Ellen ( Actor )

... 1940

The Grapes of Wrath

Hungry Girl (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1940

She Married a Cop

Trudy ( Actor )

... 1939

The Flying Irishman

Edith Corrigan ( Actor )

... 1939

The Women Men Marry

Mary Jane ( Actor )

... 1937

Top of the Town

Peggy ( Actor )

... 1937