Peggy Shannon
Encyclopedia
Peggy Shannon was an American actress. She appeared on the stage
and screen
of the 1920s and 1930s.
in 1907 (some sources state 1909 or 1910). 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.
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
. 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.
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
.
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.
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. 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." Roberts is buried in Wee Kirk Churchyard, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California
.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and screen
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...
of the 1920s and 1930s.
Career
Shannon was born Winona Sammon in Pine Bluff, ArkansasPine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
in 1907 (some sources state 1909 or 1910). She attended Annunciation Academy Catholic School and Pine Bluff High School before being hired as a chorus girl by Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
while visiting her aunt in New York in 1923.
The following year she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
followed by a role in Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll was an American theatrical producer, director, songwriter and composer born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
's Vanities. While on 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...
in 1927, she was spotted by B. P. Schulberg
B. P. Schulberg
B.P. Schulberg was a pioneer film producer and movie studio executive.Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the boy in front of him when registering for school to avoid mockery for his British name...
, production head of Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, and was offered a contract. When she arrived in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, she was hailed as the next "It girl
It girl
"It girl" is a term for a young woman who possess the quality "It", absolute attraction.The early usage of the concept "it" in this meaning may be seen in a story by Rudyard Kipling: "It isn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just 'It'."...
", replacing the former, Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
. Prior to the shooting of The Secret Call, Bow had suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and Shannon was hired to replace her only two days after her arrival in Hollywood.
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
Publicity
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
, Shannon became known as a fashion plate
Fashion plate
A fashion plate is an illustration demonstrating the highlights of fashionable styles of clothing. Fashion plates are not depictions of specific people, but are instead generalized portraits, meant only to dictate the style of clothes that a tailor, dressmaker, or store could make or sell, or to...
, wearing styles three months before they became popular. In 1932, she signed a new contract at Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
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
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...
to do the 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...
show Page Miss Glory, playing the girlfriend of then unknown James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
.
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
Youth on Parole
- Cast :*Marian Marsh as 'Bobbie' Blake*Gordon Oliver as Phillip Henderson*Miles Mander as Sparkler *Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Abernathy *Milburn Stone as Ratty *Joe Caits as Fingy *Harry Tyler as Danny Hinkle...
. 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.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
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
later revealed that she had died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
brought on by a liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
ailment and a run-down condition. She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
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." Roberts is buried in Wee Kirk Churchyard, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | |||
| 1931 | Opening Night | ||
| 1931 | Wanda Kelly | ||
| 1931 | Silence | Norma Davis/Norma Powers | |
| 1931 | Lee Millet | ||
| 1931 | Touchdown | Mary Gehring | |
| 1932 | This Reckless Age | Mary Burke | |
| 1932 | Hotel Continental | Ruth Carleton | |
| 1932 | Society Girl | Judy Gelett | |
| 1932 | Kiddo | ||
| 1932 | False Faces | Elsie Fryer | |
| 1933 | Girl Missing | Daisy Bradford | |
| 1933 | Deluge Deluge (film) Deluge is an apocalyptic science fiction film, released by RKO Radio Pictures, about a group of worldwide natural disasters which lead to the destruction of the earth.... |
Claire Arlington | |
| 1933 | Nancy Weaver | ||
| 1933 | Turn Back the Clock | Elvina Evans Wright/Elvina Evans Gimlet | |
| 1933 | Fury of the Jungle | Joan Leesom | |
| 1934 | Jerry Hampton | ||
| 1935 | Night Life of the Gods | Daphne Lambert | |
| 1935 | Dora Hart | ||
| 1935 | Thelma Bell | ||
| 1936 | 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 | Lola Martin | ||
| 1939 | Fixer Dugan Fixer Dugan Fixer Dugan is a 1939 drama film starring Lee Tracy as a circus promoter who decides to help out an orphaned girl, played by Virginia Weidler. The film was directed by Lew Landers and is based on the play What's a Fixer For? by H.C... |
Aggie Moreno | |
| 1939 | Mrs. Jones | Uncredited | |
| 1939 | Dad for a Day | Mary Baker | |
| 1939 | Kitty | Uncredited | |
| 1940 | Cafe Hostess | Nellie | |
| 1940 | Alice | ||
| 1940 | All About Hash | Edith Henry | |
| 1940 | Triple Justice | Susan |
Stage work
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 (1923–1924)
- What Ann Brought Home (1927)
- High Gear (1927)
- Back Here (1928)
- Now-a-Days (1929)
- Cross Roads (1929)
- Damn Your Honor (1929–1930)
- Life is Like That (1930–1931)
- Napi (1931)
- Page Miss Glory (1934–1935)
- Alice Takat (1936)