Margaret Kerry
| Margaret Kerry | |
|---|---|
 Margaret Kerry signing autographs in September 2007 (Photo By F. Nacino) | |
| Born |
Peggy Lynch May 11, 1929 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress Motivational Speaker Radio Host |
| Years active | 1933–Present |
| Spouse(s) |
John H. Willcox (1987-1999) Dick Brown (1951-1984) |
Margaret Kerry (born Peggy Lynch, May 11, 1929) is an American actress, motivational speaker and radio host best known for her 1953 work as the model for Tinker Bell in the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.
Career
Born in Los Angeles, California, Lynch worked under her real name as a dancer and actor in three of the Our Gang comedy shorts. She attracted the attention of Eddie Cantor, who cast her in the role of his teenaged daughter in the film If You Knew Susie and also gave her her stage name. She graduated from high school with honors while working on the film and would later graduate cum laude from Los Angeles City College.
Television work
Still a teenager, Kerry played the role of "Sharon" in one of the first network sitcoms, The Ruggles, on ABC-TV. The show's farewell episode at the end of its three year run featured Sharon's wedding and honeymoon. Kerry also appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.
A voiceover performer with twenty-one dialects and forty-eight character voices, Kerry provided voices on 52 episodes of the groundbreaking children's television show, Clutch Cargo, including characters "Paddlefoot" and "Spinner". She provided numerous voices and live-action lead-ins for The New Three Stooges and Space Angel animated series for Cambria Productions.
Work with Disney
Kerry answered an audition call during the planning stages of the animated feature film Peter Pan. The audition, supervised by animator Marc Davis, required her to pantomime the motions that would be animated as Tinkerbell. She won the part and spent six months at the Disney Studios on a mostly empty soundstage pantomiming the part. The studios provided props, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as well as a pair of giant scissors, used in the scene where Tinker Bell became trapped in a jewelry box.
Kerry was also the animation model and voice for the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon scenes. Disney Studios released the film at the time Marilyn Monroe began to make an impact, and an urban legend falsely attributes the Tinker Bell role to her.
Radio
Since 1992, Kerry has been a producer, writer and host of "What's Up Weekly" on KKLA-FM Los Angeles, a Christian radio station. The station's community services director, she heads an outreach program that connects to more than 200 non-profit service agencies. She attends conventions and signs autographs, including the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. Often mistaken for actress Peggy Lynch because of her screen name, Kerry has been mis-credited as starring in the old-time radio program, "The Couple Next Door."