Mary Margaret "Peggy" Cass (May 21, 1924 – March 8, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year. The fo ...

for her performance in the 1958 film ''

Auntie Mame ''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father. The book is often desc ...

''.

Early life

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass attended Cambridge Latin School and became interested in acting as a member of the drama club. However, throughout her entire time at the school, she never had a speaking part in any of the club's productions. After graduating, she spent most of the 1940s in search of an acting career. She received acting training at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...

in New York City and eventually landed

Jan Sterling Jan Sterling (born Jane Sterling Adriance; April 3, 1921 – March 26, 2004) was an American film, television and stage actress. At her most active in films during the 1950s (immediately prior to which she had joined the Actors Studio), Sterling ...

's role in a traveling production of '' Born Yesterday''.

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'', she played Agnes Gooch in ''

'' on 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. She was cast as "First Woman" in the nine-member ensemble for the 1960 Broadway revue '' A Thurber Carnival'', adapted by

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected ...

from his own works. She played several characters throughout the performance including: the mother in "The Wolf at the Door", the narrator of "The Little Girl and the Wolf", a nameless American tourist (who insisted ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' was a murder mystery), Miss Alma Winege in "File and Forget" (who wanted to ship Mr. Thurber 36 copies of ''Grandma Was a Nudist'' which he did not order), Mrs. Preble in "Mr. Preble Gets Rid of His Wife", Lou in "Take Her Up Tenderly" (who was helping make old poetry more cheerful), and

Walter Mitty Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first 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. Thurber ...

's wife. In 1961, she played Mitzi Stewart in the movie ''

Gidget Goes Hawaiian ''Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy musical film starring James Darren, Michael Callan and Deborah Walley. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee beach film vehicle ''Gidget''. Dee was ...

''. 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 White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

''. The book, written by ''Auntie Mame'' author

Patrick Dennis Edward Everett Tanner III (18 May 1921 – 6 November 1976), known by the pseudonym Patrick Dennis, was an American author. His novel '' Auntie Mame: An irreverent escapade'' (1955) was one of the bestselling American books of the 20 ...

, included photographs by Cris Alexander of Cass,

Dody Goodman Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...

Kaye Ballard Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nac ...

and others who portrayed the novel's characters. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she succeeded other actresses in '' Don't Drink the Water'' (as Marion Hollander) and in

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

's ''

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. The first act, ''Visitor From Mamaroneck'', introduces the a ...

'' as well as 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 1985 run of ''

The Octette Bridge Club ''The Octette Bridge Club'' is a play by P.J. Barry. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, it focuses on eight sisters of Irish descent who meet on alternate Friday evenings to play bridge and gossip. The first act, which opens with the women posing ...

''.

Television and stage

According to

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of '' The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar rep ...

, 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'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''. Cass filled in as announcer for Paar's late night talk show that aired in the 1970s on ABC. Peggy Cass and James Thurber and Joan Anderson

In the 1961–1962 season, Cass and Jack Weston costarred in an ABC sitcom, '' The Hathaways'', along with the

Marquis Chimps The Marquis Chimps were a group of trained chimpanzees that were used in variety shows and television programmes and commercials, initially in Britain and then in the United States, from the late 1940s to the 1980s. They were owned and trained by ...

, a showbiz troupe of chimpanzees that 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' Rawhide''. In 1987, Cass was featured in the early Fox sitcom ''

Women in Prison This article discusses the incarceration of women in correctional facilities. As of 2013 across the world, 625,000 women and children were being held in penal institutions, and the female prison population was increasing in all continents.< ...

''. Aside from sitcoms, she played the role of H. Sweeney on the NBC afternoon soap opera '' The Doctors'' from 1978 to 1979. in addition to her work with Paar, Cass's notable television work included appearances on many game shows, mainly on shows based in New York City. She was a regular panelist on '' To Tell the Truth'' from 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'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelis ...

''. 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. Cass made several appearances on the '' $10,000 & $20,000 Pyramid'' hosted by

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...

from 1973 to 1980, as well as the nighttime version which was titled ''The $25,000 Pyramid'' (1974–1979), hosted by her friend

Bill Cullen William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he host ...

. All three of these versions were taped in New York City. She also appeared in the late 1970s on '' Shoot for the Stars'' hosted by

Geoff Edwards Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards (February 13, 1931 – March 5, 2014) was an American television actor, game show host, and radio personality. Starting in the early 2000s, he was also a writer and broadcaster on the subject of travel. Background P ...

, another game show that partnered contestants with celebrities, also filmed in New York City. In 1983, she appeared in the New Amsterdam Theatre Company's concert staging of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

and

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

's ''

One Touch of Venus ''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmal ...

'' as Mrs. Kramer, with

Susan Lucci Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is an American actress, television host, author and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama ''All My Children'' during that show's entire network run from 1970 ...

as her daughter, as well as Lee Roy Reams,

Ron Raines Ron Raines (born December 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Alan Spaulding on the television soap opera ''Guiding Light''. Raines also performs in musical theatre and in concert with symphony orchestras. Career Early ye ...

, and Paige O'Hara as the titular Venus. In the spring of 1991, she participated in a concert staging of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's ''

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. The title is a reference to the hit 1927 song "Fifty Milli ...

'' at New York City's French Institute/Alliance Francaise as Mrs. Gladys Carroll, singing Porter's "The Queen of Terre Haute". Peggy Cass appeared on the first episode pilot of ''

Major Dad ''Major Dad'' is an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from September 17, 1989, to May 17, 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. ...

'' on September 17, 1989. She portrayed Esther Nettleton, a civilian secretary working on the Marine base for Maj. John "Mac" MacGillis.

Personal life and death

On March 8, 1999, Cass 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 (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute� ...

.Peggy Cass, 74, an Actress; Won Tony as Agnes Gooch
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; accessed October 11, 2016. She was survived by her second husband, Eugene Michael Feeney (1924–2013), a former Jesuit priest and educator. She had no children.

Filmography

Stage

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1957 Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Play – Agnes Gooch in ''

'' *1957 Theatre World Award – Agnes Gooch in ''

'' ;Nominations *1958 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Agnes Gooch in ''

'' *1958

– Agnes Gooch in ''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Peggy 1924 births 1999 deaths American stage actresses American television actresses American television personalities American women television personalities Actresses from Boston Tony Award winners American women comedians 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American comedians