Peggy Shannon

Peggy Shannon
Born Winona Sammon
January 10, 1907(1907-01-10)
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S.
Died May 11, 1941(1941-05-11) (aged 34)
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active 1923–1940
Spouse Alan Davis (m. 1926–1940) «start: (1926)–end+1: (1941)»"Marriage: Alan Davis to Peggy Shannon" Location: (linkback:http://localhost../../../../articles/p/e/g/Peggy_Shannon_de77.html)
Albert G. Roberts (m. 1940–1941) «start: (1940)–end+1: (1942)»"Marriage: Albert G. Roberts to Peggy Shannon" Location: (linkback:http://localhost../../../../articles/p/e/g/Peggy_Shannon_de77.html)

Peggy Shannon (January 10, 1907[1][2] – May 11, 1941) was an American actress. She appeared on the stage and screen of the 1920s and 1930s.

Contents

Career

Shannon was born Winona Sammon in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1907[1][3] (some sources state 1909[4] or 1910).[5] She attended Annunciation Academy Catholic School and Pine Bluff High School before being hired as a chorus girl by Florenz Ziegfeld while visiting her aunt in New York in 1923.[2] The following year she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies followed by a role in Earl Carroll's Vanities. While on Broadway in 1927, she was spotted by B. P. Schulberg, production head of Paramount Pictures, and was offered a contract. When she arrived in Hollywood, she was hailed as the next "It girl", replacing the former, Clara Bow.[6] Prior to the shooting of The Secret Call, Bow had suffered a nervous breakdown and Shannon was hired to replace her only two days after her arrival in Hollywood.[2][7]

Shannon would sometimes work sixteen hour days (from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. the next day) while shooting a film, and when shooting wrapped, would rush to begin another film. She would occasionally work on two separate films in one day. Through films and publicity, Shannon became known as a fashion plate, wearing styles three months before they became popular. In 1932, she signed a new contract at Fox and became known as difficult and temperamental on the set and was rumored to have a drinking problem. In 1934, Shannon returned to New York City to do the Broadway show Page Miss Glory, playing the girlfriend of then unknown James Stewart.[2]

In 1935, she continued on Broadway with The Light Behind the Shadow, but was soon replaced, with a press release claiming a tooth infection, though rumors claimed it was her drinking. In 1936, she returned to Hollywood with Youth on Parole. She found it harder to conceal her drinking. Fewer movie roles were offered, while her drinking worsened. She made her last film appearance in the 1940 film Triple Justice, opposite George O'Brien.

Personal life and death

In 1926, Shannon married her first husband, actor Alan Davis. The marriage ended in July 1940. She married second husband, camera man Albert G. Roberts, later that year.[2][8]

On May 11, 1941, Shannon's husband Albert Roberts and a fellow studio worker returned from a fishing trip to find Shannon dead in their North Hollywood apartment. She was slumped over the kitchen table, a cigarette in her mouth and an empty glass in her hand. She had been dead for approximately twelve hours. An autopsy later revealed that she had died of a heart attack brought on by a liver ailment and a run-down condition.[2] She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery with a tombstone reading "That Red Headed Girl, Peggy Shannon."

Three weeks after Shannon's death, her husband committed suicide. He shot himself with a .22 rifle in the same chair in which she had died. His suicide note read, "I am very much in love with my wife, Peggy Shannon. In this spot she died, so in reverence to her, you will find me in the same spot."[9] Roberts is buried in Wee Kirk Churchyard, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California.

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
1930 Gob, TheThe Gob
1931 Opening Night
1931 Secret Call, TheThe Secret Call Wanda Kelly
1931 Silence Norma Davis/Norma Powers
1931 Road to Reno, TheThe Road to Reno Lee Millet
1931 Touchdown Mary Gehring
1932 This Reckless Age Mary Burke
1932 Hotel Continental Ruth Carleton
1932 Society Girl Judy Gelett
1932 Painted Woman, TheThe Painted Woman Kiddo
1932 False Faces Elsie Fryer
1933 Girl Missing Daisy Bradford
1933 Deluge Claire Arlington
1933 Devil's Mate, TheThe Devil's Mate Nancy Weaver
1933 Turn Back the Clock Elvina Evans Wright/Elvina Evans Gimlet
1933 Fury of the Jungle Joan Leesom
1934 Back Page, TheThe Back Page Jerry Hampton
1935 Night Life of the Gods Daphne Lambert
1935 Fighting Lady, TheThe Fighting Lady Dora Hart
1935 Case of the Lucky Legs, TheThe Case of the Lucky Legs Thelma Bell
1936 Man I Marry, TheThe Man I Marry Margot Potts
1936 Ellis Island Betty Parker
1937 Romancing Along Margot Potts
1937 Youth on Parole Peggy
1938 Girls on Probation Inmate Ruth Uncredited
1939 Blackwell's Island Pearl Murray
1939 Adventures of Jane Arden, TheThe Adventures of Jane Arden Lola Martin
1939 Fixer Dugan Aggie Moreno
1939 Women, TheThe Women Mrs. Jones Uncredited
1939 Dad for a Day Mary Baker
1939 Amazing Mr. Williams, TheThe Amazing Mr. Williams Kitty Uncredited
1940 Cafe Hostess Nellie
1940 House Across the Bay, TheThe House Across the Bay Alice
1940 All About Hash Edith Henry
1940 Triple Justice Susan

Stage work

References

  1. ^ a b Liebman, Roy (2003). Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. McFarland. p. 383. ISBN 0-786-41279-8. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f "The Private Life and Times of Peggy Shannon". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/246/Peggy+Shannon/index.%0Bhtml. 
  3. ^ Shipman Springer, John; Hamilton, Jack D. (1974). They Had Faces Then: Super Stars, Stars, and Starlets of the 1930's. Citadel Press. p. 327. ISBN 0-806-50300-9. 
  4. ^ Halliwell, Leslie; Walker, John (2003). 15. ed. Halliwell's Who's Who In the Movies. HarperCollins. p. 422. ISBN 0-060-53423-0. 
  5. ^ Donnelley, Paul (2003-06-01). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries (2 ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 847. ISBN 0-711-99512-5. 
  6. ^ Brettell, Andrew; King, Noel; Kennedy, Damien; Imwold, Denise (2005). Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies. Leonard, Warren Hsu; von Rohr, Heather. Barrons Educational Series. p. 252. ISBN 0-764-15858-9. 
  7. ^ Soister, John T. (2004). Up From the Vault: Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s. McFarland. p. 148. ISBN 0-786-41745-5. 
  8. ^ Star, Jimmy (2001). Barefoot on Barbed Wire: An Autobiography of a Forty-Year Hollywood Balancing Act. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 198. ISBN 0-810-83941-5. 
  9. ^ Frasier, David K. (2002). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases. McFarland. p. 267. ISBN 0-786-41038-8. 

External links