Peggy Wood

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peggy Wood (around 1918)

Peggy Wood (birth name: Margaret Wood ) (born February 9, 1892 in Brooklyn , New York City , † March 18, 1978 in Stamford , Connecticut ) was an American singer and actress , who won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award and two Emmies was nominated.

biography

Operetta singer, stage successes and first films

Peggy Wood (1917)

The daughter of a well-known journalist and humorist received singing lessons at the age of eight and made her debut as a singer in the choir in 1910 at the world premiere of Victor Herbert's operetta Naughy Marietta . A year later she appeared in the play The Three Romeos for the first time on Broadway in 1911 , before she played her first leading role in Maytime in 1917 and was particularly praised for singing the song "Will You Remember?" In the following years she played leading roles in musicals and operettas such as Buddies (1919), Marjolaine (1922) and The Clinging Vine (1922) before appearing in witty comedies and starring in George Bernard Shaw's Candida (1925), A. Lady in Love (1927) and "Portia" in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1928).

In addition, she made her debut in 1919 in the silent film Almost a Husband by Clarence C. Badger on the side of comedian Will Rogers , but then turned no more silent films. In 1924 she married her first husband, the poet and editor John VA Weaver , and was with him a member of the Algonquin Round Table , a legendary literary circle of a loose group of journalists, writers and actors who frequent the famous Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan , New York City , met.

The British writer Noël Coward wrote the role of "Peggy" in his operetta Bitter-Sweet (1928) especially for her and which she played at the premiere in 1929 in London's West End and also sang the song "I'll See You Again" for the first time . Afterwards she also appeared several times in London , for example in 1932 alongside Francis Lederer in The Cat and the Fiddle by Jerome David Kern , where she also sang "Try to Forget", and in 1938 in the musical Operetta by Noël Coward. In this, too, she celebrated great success with the songs "Where Are the Songs We Sung" and "Dearest Love". With "Ruth Condomine" she played at the world premiere in 1941 in New York City on the side of Clifton Webb in Blithe Spirit again a role in a piece of Cowards and then appeared in this role in Piccadilly Circus in London.

She also starred in a number of films in the mid- 1930s , such as Handy Andy (1934) by David Butler as Will Rogers's nagging wife, The Right to Live (1935) by William Keighley , Jalna (1935) by John Cromwell and Call It a Day (1937) by Archie Mayo . During the Second World War , she also appeared as a singer in the United Service Organizations (USO) performance to entertain the soldiers of the US Army .

Success as a film and television actress in the post-war period

In 1946, after the death of her first husband in 1938, she married the print shop manager William Walling and lived with him until his death in 1973.

After her supporting roles in the films The Bride Wore Boots (1946) by Irving Pichel , The wonderful doll (1946) by Frank Borzage and Dream Girl (1948) by Mitchell Leisen , she played the title role of "'Mama" Marta Hansen between 1949 and 1957 “In the hit television series Mama , which emerged from George Stevens' 1948 film Secret Mother's Day. For this role as the mother of an immigrant family from Norway , she was nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series in both 1953 and 1957 .

In addition to numerous stage appearances in the 1950s such as Charley's Aunt , The Girls in 508 alongside Imogene Coca , The Rape of the Belt , Pictures in the Hallway and The Madwoman of Chaillot , she was President of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA ).

She only played her greatest film roles when she was around 70, on the one hand "Naomi" in the Bible adaptation The Book of Ruth (1960) by Henry Koster , and on the other hand that of "Mother Superior" in My Songs - My Dreams (1965) by Robert Wise . For this role, she was not only nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 1966 Academy Awards, but also for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress .

Peggy Wood, who also wrote articles about theatrical and acting arts for newspapers and magazines , made her last stage appearance in 1970 and was last managed by her son David Weaver.

Quotes

When asked why she didn't have the same success in films as she did on stage and on television, she replied:

"I was not attractive in the way one was supposed to be out there, and I think that, and the fact that I could act, confused them terribly."

"I was not attractive in the way that was expected, and I believe that this, and the fact that I can act, is terribly confusing."

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Peggy Wood  - collection of images
personal data
SURNAME Wood, Peggy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wood, Margaret (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1978
Place of death Stamford , Connecticut , United States