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.
The Grapes of Wrath
as Hungry Girl (uncredited)Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm...
Movie pageHere Come the Co-eds
as Patty GayleMolly, her brother, Slats, and his pal, Oliver, are taxi dancers at the Miramar Ballroom. As a...
Movie pageThe Flying Irishman
as Edith CorriganThis is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan...
Movie pageFollow the Boys
as Peggy RyanDuring World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every...
Movie pageBabes on Swing Street
as Trudy CostelloThe president of a settlement-house group puts on a benefit variety show.
Movie pageTop of the Town
as PeggyIn this musical set in swingin' Manhattan, an heiress plans a ballet in the famous Moonbeam...
Movie pagePatrick the Great
as Judy WatkinA famous stage actor hopes to land the lead role in a big new Broadway musical, but he's unaware...
Movie pageThere's a Girl in My Heart
as Sally MullinA Gay-Nineties musical set in NYC's Bowery and East-Side explores the life of its...
Movie pageMiss Annie Rooney
as MyrtleA poor girl falls for a wealthy young man. He invites her to his gala birthday party, but she...
Movie pageMen in Her Diary
as Doris MannSinger/Dancer Peggy Ryan neither sings nor dances in this comedy in which she plays a secretary,...
Movie pageTop Man
as Jane WarrenIn this WW II musical, a young man suddenly finds himself in charge of his family when his...
Movie pageThe Women Men Marry
as Mary JaneA newsman with a no-good wife exposes a religious racket with a newswoman who loves him.
Movie pageAll Ashore
as Gay NightThree sailors finally get some shore leave, and go in search of fun and girls.
Movie pageGet Hep to Love
as Betty BlakeOrphan prodigy singer runs away from her oppressive aunt and tricks a rural couple into adopting...
Movie pageBowery to Broadway
as Specialty dancerTwo Bowery vaudevillians find success in producing shows on Broadway, but when one of them...
Movie pageOn Stage Everybody
as Molly SullivanRadio's miracle show is on the screen.
Movie pagePrivate Buckaroo
as PeggyThe film tells the story of army recruits following basic training, with the Andrew Sisters...
Movie pageMister Big
as PeggyStudents at the Davis School of the Theatre are assigned "Antigone" as their class play, but...
Movie pageSailor's Lady
as EllenSailor is going to marry his girlfriend when he returns, but she becomes foster mother to baby...
Movie pagePleasure Palace
as Elderly WomanStory of a professional gambler, connoisseur, gourmet and sportsman who sets out to help a Las...
Movie pageChip Off the Old Block
as Peggy FlahertyThe son of a strict Navy officer falls for the daughter of a musical-comedy star.
Movie pageWhat's Cookin'?
as PeggyJ. P. Courtney wants to update the music on the radio program he sponsors, but his wife, Agatha...
Movie pageThe Merry Monahans
as Patsy MonahanThe film concerns a family vaudeville troupe headed by patriarch Pete Monahan. Because of his...
Movie pageWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home
as DustyBy popular consensus, Allan Jones' best Universal mini-musical of the 1940s was the timely When...
Movie pageThis Is the Life
as Sally McGuire18-year-old Angela, reared in a New England town by her Aunt Betsy, receives an inheritance...
Movie pageShamrock Hill
as Eileen RoganA young girl holds a special place in her heart for a place called Shamrock HIll, and she tries...
Movie pageShe Married a Cop
as TrudyThis comedy is set in New York and centers upon a singing Irish cop who causes quite a sensation...
Movie pageThat's the Spirit
as Sheila GogartyA vaudeville performer returns from the dead to help his wife and daughter, who are being...
Movie pageBilly Rose's Casa Mañana Revue
as Peggy DixonThe scene is set at Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue, filmed at the Fort Worth Frontier Fiesta...
Movie pageHawaii Five-O
as JennyHawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and...
TV Show pageSimon & Simon
as uncreditedSimon & Simon is an American detective television series that originally ran from November 24,...
TV Show page