Peggy Ryan

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

33

Gender

Female

Birthday

1924-08-28

Day of death

2004-10-30 (80 years old)

Place of Birth

Long Beach, California, USA

Peggy Ryan

Biography

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.

Known For

  • Hawaii Five-O

    Hawaii Five-O

  • Simon & Simon

    Simon & Simon

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    The Grapes of Wrath

  • Here Come the Co-Eds

    Here Come the Co-Eds

  • Shamrock Hill

    Shamrock Hill

  • On Stage Everybody

    On Stage Everybody

  • Top Man

    Top Man

  • When Johnny Comes Marching Home

    When Johnny Comes Marching Home

  • Sailor's Lady

    Sailor's Lady

  • She Married a Cop

    She Married a Cop

  • Chip Off the Old Block

    Chip Off the Old Block

  • Get Hep to Love

    Get Hep to Love

  • The Women Men Marry

    The Women Men Marry

  • All Ashore

    All Ashore

  • Private Buckaroo

    Private Buckaroo

  • Follow the Boys

    Follow the Boys

  • Mister Big

    Mister Big

  • Patrick the Great

    Patrick the Great

  • Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue

    Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue

  • This Is the Life

    This Is the Life

  • Top of the Town

    Top of the Town

  • That's the Spirit

    That's the Spirit

  • Miss Annie Rooney

    Miss Annie Rooney

  • The Merry Monahans

    The Merry Monahans

  • Girls' Town

    Girls' Town

  • What's Cookin'?

    What's Cookin'?

  • Pleasure Palace

    Pleasure Palace

  • The Wedding of Jack and Jill

    The Wedding of Jack and Jill

  • The Flying Irishman

    The Flying Irishman

  • Babes on Swing Street

    Babes on Swing Street

  • There's a Girl in My Heart

    There's a Girl in My Heart

  • Men in Her Diary

    Men in Her Diary

  • Bowery to Broadway

    Bowery to Broadway