Margaret Helen Stevenson (February 8, 1912 – January 2, 2011) was an American film, stage and radio actress, known for her role as

Margo Lane Margo Lane is a fictional character in ''The Shadow'' stories. Margo is a friend and companion to Lamont Cranston, and an agent for his alter ego, The Shadow, in the wealthy set. Her first appearance was in 1937 in ''The Shadow'' radio drama. ...

in the radio adaptation of ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'', opposite

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

in 1938.

Early life

Stevenson was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on February 8, 1912, the daughter of Irish-born actor Charles Alexander Stevenson, who was 60 years old when she was born, and his second wife Frances Riley, who was 22 years old at the time. She graduated from

Brearley School The Brearley School is an American all-girls private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It educates approximately 770 girls in grades K–12, with approximately 50 to 65 students per grade. In addition to being a member ...

in Manhattan. Stevenson was about to enroll at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, when the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

began. She decided to pursue acting to earn an income instead of attending Bryn Mawr.

Career

Stevenson made her Broadway debut in ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' in 1932. Her other Broadway credits included ''The Royal Family'' (1975), ''Hostile Witness'' (1966), ''One by One'' (1964), ''Big Fish, Little Fish'' (1961), ''Triple Play'' (1959), ''The Young and Beautiful'' (1955), ''The Leading Lady'' (1948), ''The Rugged Path'' (1945), ''Little Women'' (1944), ''Golden Wings'' (1941), ''You Can't Take It With You'' (1936), ''Stage Door'' (1936), ''Call It a Day'' (1936), ''Truly Valiant'' (1936), ''Symphony'' (1935), ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1935), ''A Party'' (1933), and ''Evensong'' (1933). She also acted in a West End production of ''The Seven Year Itch'' in London in the 1950s in addition to performing frequently in

summer stock theatre In American theater, summer stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock t ...

and regional theater in the United States. In addition to her work on ''The Shadow'', Stevenson acted on ''

Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories ''Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories'' was a 15-minute radio drama that aired January 18, 1937, to November 16, 1956, on CBS, sponsored by Spry shortening. The program was heard weekdays at 11:45 a.m. until 1946, when it moved to 12:15 p.m ...

'' on

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

. She also acted on television and for more than a decade did TV commercials.

Personal life

Her second husband,

Val Avery Sebouh Der Abrahamian (July 14, 1924 – December 12, 2009), known professionally as Val Avery, was an American character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows. In a career that spanned 50 years, Avery appeared in over 1 ...

, whom she married in 1953, died on December 12, 2009, at age eighty-five. By the late 1990s, Stevenson was blind as a result of

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred vision, blurred or vision loss, no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no sym ...

. She died at her home in Manhattan on January 2, 2011, at the age of 98.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Margot 1912 births 2011 deaths American stage actresses American radio actresses Actresses from Manhattan 20th-century American actresses Brearley School alumni American film actresses 21st-century American women