Peggy Cass
Encyclopedia
Mary Margaret “Peggy” Cass (May 21, 1924 – March 8, 1999) was an American actress, comedian
, game show
panelist, and announcer.
A native of Boston
, Massachusetts
, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School
; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part. After graduating from high school, she spent most of the 1940s in search of an acting career, eventually landing Jan Sterling
's role in a traveling production of Born Yesterday
.
Remembered today primarily as a regular panelist on the long-running To Tell The Truth
, Cass was best known for her performance as Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame
on both Broadway
and in the film
version (1958), a role for which she won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress, and later received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress
. Upon achieving acclaim for her role as Agnes Gooch, Cass once recounted how she felt a high one night as she approached the theatre where Auntie Mame was playing; however, the lights were out in the "C" of her last name, which resulted in a billing of "Peggy -ass."
Cass was also part of the nine member ensemble cast for the 1960 Broadway revue
A Thurber Carnival
, adapted by James Thurber
from his own works. As "First Woman", according to the script, she played the mother in "The Wolf at the Door", a woman who insisted Macbeth
was a murder mystery, the wife Mr. Preble wanted to get rid of, Miss Alma Winege (who wanted to ship Thurber 36 copies of Grandma Was a Nudist), a woman helping to update old poetry, Walter Mitty
's wife, and the narrator of "The Little Girl and The Wolf".
In 1964
she starred as First Lady Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield in the mock-biographical novel First Lady: My Thirty Days in the White House
. The book, written by Auntie Mame author Patrick Dennis
, included photographs by Cris Alexander
of Cass, Dody Goodman
, Kaye Ballard
and others, portraying the novel's characters.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s she replaced other actresses in Don't Drink the Water
(as Marion Hollander) and in Neil Simon
's Plaza Suite
; and played Mollie Malloy in two revival runs of The Front Page
. She also appeared in the 1969
film comedy If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
. In the 1980s she returned to the stage in 42nd Street
and in the brief 1985 run of The Octette Bridge Club.
, speaking in retrospect, he felt he may have ruined Cass's Oscar chances by lobbying too much for her on his enormously popular television series The Tonight Show
. Cass filled in as announcer for Jack Paar's late night talk show that aired in the 1970s on ABC.
In the 1961–1962 season, Cass and Jack Weston costarred in an ABC sitcom, The Hathaways
, along with the Marquis Chimps, a chimpanzee
showbiz troupe which served as her "children" on the show. The Hathaways followed the new adventure
series Straightaway
on ABC, about two young men (John Ashley
and Brian Kelly
) involved in auto racing
, but neither program could compete with CBS
's Rawhide
starring Clint Eastwood
and Eric Fleming
.
In 1987, Cass was featured in the early Fox sitcom Women in Prison
. Aside from sitcoms, she played the role of H. Sweeney on the NBC afternoon soap opera The Doctors from 1978-1979.
Aside from her work with Jack Paar, her most notable television appearances came as a guest on many game shows, mainly on shows based in New York City
. She was a regular panelist on To Tell the Truth
from the 1960 through its 1990 revival, appearing in most episodes in the 1960s and 1970s. She was also a panelist on the pilot of the 1960s version of Match Game
. On Truth and other series, she often displayed near-encyclopedic knowledge of various topics, and would occasionally question the logic of some of the "facts" presented on the program.
In 1983
she appeared in the New Amsterdam Theatre Company's concert staging of Kurt Weill
and Ogden Nash
's One Touch of Venus
as Mrs. Kramer, opposite Susan Lucci
as her daughter, as well as Lee Roy Reams
, Ron Raines
, and Paige O'Hara
as the titular Venus. In the spring of 1991 she participated in a concert staging of Cole Porter
's Fifty Million Frenchmen
at New York City's French
Institute/Alliance Francaise, in the role of Mrs. Gladys Carroll, singing Porter's "The Queen of Terre Haute." (Her performance was repeated on 1991 studio cast recording based on the concert staging, appearing alongside Howard McGillin
, Susan Powell, Kim Criswell
, and Karen Ziemba
.)
She died of heart failure in New York City at the age of 74 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
. She was survived by her husband, Eugene Feeney. They had no children.
Nominations
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
panelist, and announcer.
A native of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Cambridge Public Schools....
; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part. After graduating from high school, she spent most of the 1940s in search of an acting career, eventually landing Jan Sterling
Jan Sterling
Jan Sterling was an American actress.Most active in films during the 1950s, Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty , and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance...
's role in a traveling production of Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted intoa successful 1950 film of the same name.- Plot :...
.
Stage and film
Cass made her Broadway debut in 1949 with the play Touch and Go.Remembered today primarily as a regular panelist on the long-running To Tell The Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
, Cass was best known for her performance as Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
on both Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
version (1958), a role for which she won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress, and later received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. Upon achieving acclaim for her role as Agnes Gooch, Cass once recounted how she felt a high one night as she approached the theatre where Auntie Mame was playing; however, the lights were out in the "C" of her last name, which resulted in a billing of "Peggy -ass."
Cass was also part of the nine member ensemble cast for the 1960 Broadway revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
A Thurber Carnival
A Thurber Carnival
A Thurber Carnival is a revue by James Thurber, adapted by the author from his stories, cartoons and casuals , nearly all of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. It was directed by Burgess Meredith...
, adapted by James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
from his own works. As "First Woman", according to the script, she played the mother in "The Wolf at the Door", a woman who insisted Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
was a murder mystery, the wife Mr. Preble wanted to get rid of, Miss Alma Winege (who wanted to ship Thurber 36 copies of Grandma Was a Nudist), a woman helping to update old poetry, Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in the New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942...
's wife, and the narrator of "The Little Girl and The Wolf".
In 1964
1964 in literature
The year 1964 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jean-Paul Sartre becomes head of the Organization to Defend Iranian Political Prisoners....
she starred as First Lady Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield in the mock-biographical novel First Lady: My Thirty Days in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. The book, written by Auntie Mame author Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century. In chronological vignettes "Patrick" recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis...
, included photographs by Cris Alexander
Cris Alexander
Cris Alexander is an American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer.-Acting career:As an actor he co-starred as Chip in the original Broadway cast of On the Town. Subsequent Broadway appearances included Present Laughter opposite Clifton Webb, Wonderful Town, and Auntie Mame. Mr...
of Cass, Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman
Dolores "Dody" Goodman was an American character actress known for her playing the mother of the title character Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman...
, Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...
and others, portraying the novel's characters.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s she replaced other actresses in Don't Drink the Water
Don't Drink the Water (play)
Don't Drink the Water is a play written by Woody Allen that premiered on Broadway on November 17, 1966 and played for 598 performances at three different Broadway theaters. The farce takes place inside an American Embassy behind the Iron Curtain...
(as Marion Hollander) and in Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite is a comedy play by Neil Simon.-Plot:The play is composed of three acts, each involving different characters but all set in Suite 719 of New York City's Plaza Hotel...
; and played Mollie Malloy in two revival runs of The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
. She also appeared in the 1969
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
film comedy If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium is a 1969 romantic comedy film made by Wolper Pictures and released by United Artists. It was directed by Mel Stuart, filmed on location throughout Europe, and features many cameo appearances from various stars....
. In the 1980s she returned to the stage in 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
and in the brief 1985 run of The Octette Bridge Club.
Television and later years
According to Jack PaarJack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
, speaking in retrospect, he felt he may have ruined Cass's Oscar chances by lobbying too much for her on his enormously popular television series The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
. Cass filled in as announcer for Jack Paar's late night talk show that aired in the 1970s on ABC.
In the 1961–1962 season, Cass and Jack Weston costarred in an ABC sitcom, The Hathaways
The Hathaways
The Hathaways is a 26-episode situation comedy which aired on ABC from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles "parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrays Walter Hathaway, a real estate agent. Cass is his wife Elinore, the...
, along with the Marquis Chimps, a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
showbiz troupe which served as her "children" on the show. The Hathaways followed the new adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
series Straightaway
Straightaway
Straightaway is a 26-week half-hour drama series which ran on ABC television during the 1961–1962 season –the story of two young men who operate a garage and engage in auto racing. John Ashley and Brian Kelly played race car designers Clipper Hamilton and Scott Ross, respectively. Scott...
on ABC, about two young men (John Ashley
John Ashley (actor)
John Ashley was an actor who appeared in many films, most notably the American International Pictures' "Beach Party" films...
and Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly (actor)
Brian Kelly was an American actor best known for his role as Porter Ricks, the widowed father of two sons on the NBC television series Flipper, and as Scott Ross in the ABC advernture series Straightaway, with co-star John Ashley.-Early years:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Kelly was the son of former...
) involved in auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
, but neither program could compete with CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
and Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long running CBS television series Rawhide.-Early life:...
.
In 1987, Cass was featured in the early Fox sitcom Women in Prison
Women in Prison (TV series)
Women in Prison is an American television sitcom, which aired on Fox from October 11, 1987 to April 2, 1988.-Synopsis:Set in cell-block J of the Bass Women's prison in Wisconsin, the show focuses on the interactions among the prison inmates...
. Aside from sitcoms, she played the role of H. Sweeney on the NBC afternoon soap opera The Doctors from 1978-1979.
Aside from her work with Jack Paar, her most notable television appearances came as a guest on many game shows, mainly on shows based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She was a regular panelist on To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
from the 1960 through its 1990 revival, appearing in most episodes in the 1960s and 1970s. She was also a panelist on the pilot of the 1960s version of Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. On Truth and other series, she often displayed near-encyclopedic knowledge of various topics, and would occasionally question the logic of some of the "facts" presented on the program.
In 1983
1983 in art
-Works:* Completion of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude environmental artwork, Surrounded Islands, involving eleven islands being surrounded by 6,500,000 square feet of fabric....
she appeared in the New Amsterdam Theatre Company's concert staging of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
and Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
's One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
as Mrs. Kramer, opposite Susan Lucci
Susan Lucci
Susan Victoria Lucci is an American actress and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the daytime drama All My Children. The character is considered an icon, and Lucci has been called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by TV Guide, with New York Times and Los Angeles Times citing her as the...
as her daughter, as well as Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams is an American musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director.Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati...
, Ron Raines
Ron Raines
Ron Raines is an American actor. He is known for the role of Alan Spaulding on the long-running television soap opera Guiding Light. Raines also performs in musical theatre and in concert with symphony orchestras....
, and Paige O'Hara
Paige O'Hara
Donna Paige O'Hara is an American Broadway singer, actress, and Disney Legend best known for her voicework as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.-Personal life:...
as the titular Venus. In the spring of 1991 she participated in a concert staging of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later...
at New York City's French
Institute/Alliance Francaise, in the role of Mrs. Gladys Carroll, singing Porter's "The Queen of Terre Haute." (Her performance was repeated on 1991 studio cast recording based on the concert staging, appearing alongside Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
, Susan Powell, Kim Criswell
Kim Criswell
Kim Criswell is an American musical entertainer and actress.- Life and career :Criswell was born in Hampton, Virginia, but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After she graduated from high school, she studied musical theatre at the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music...
, and Karen Ziemba
Karen Ziemba
Karen Ziemba is an American actress, singer and dancer, best known for her work in musical theatre.-Biography:Ziemba was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and went on to attend the University of Akron , where she studied dance and joined the Ohio Ballet in her sophomore year.Her Broadway debut was in...
.)
She died of heart failure in New York City at the age of 74 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
. She was survived by her husband, Eugene Feeney. They had no children.
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1957 Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Play – Agnes Gooch in Auntie MameAuntie MameAuntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
- 1957 Theatre World Award – Agnes Gooch in Auntie MameAuntie MameAuntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
Nominations
- 1958 Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
– Agnes Gooch in Auntie MameAuntie Mame (film)Auntie Mame is a 1958 film based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta... - 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture – Agnes Gooch in Auntie MameAuntie Mame (film)Auntie Mame is a 1958 film based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta...