Peggy Ryan(1924-2004)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
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 glamour 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
Jimmy 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, Jenny, 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.
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 glamour 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
Jimmy 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, Jenny, 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.