Peggy Thomas Blair (December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973), known professionally as Peggie Castle, was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. She was Miss Cheesecake in 1949.

Early life

Castle was born in Appalachia, Wise County, Virginia. She changed her last name "because there was another actress named Blair at the first studio in which she worked." Her father, Doyle H. Blair, was at one point "an industrial relations director for a large corporation" and later business manager for

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talki ...

and studio manager for Goldwyn Studios. Her mother was Elizabeth Blair. She took lessons in drama when she was 8 years old. Castle graduated from

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. His ...

and attended

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

for two years.

Career

Radio

Castle's first work as an actress came in the soap opera ''

Today's Children ''Today's Children'' was a name shared by two thematically related Radio in the United States, American radio soap operas created and written by Irna Phillips, the earliest of which was her first nationally networked series. 1933–1938 series Th ...

''. A spot on ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...

'' in 1947 brought her a screen-test offer from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

Film

Castle was discovered by a talent scout at a restaurant in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

and signed to a seven-year contract with

Universal-International Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, ...

. She made her film debut in the 1947 film ''When a Girl's Beautiful''. In 1949, she was named "Miss

Cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...

" by the Southern California Restaurant Association; and later that year, the Junior Chamber of Commerce named her "Miss Three Alarm". She appeared in the films '' Mr. Belvedere Goes to College'' (1949), ''

Payment on Demand ''Payment on Demand'' is a 1951 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan (actor), Barry Sullivan. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage ...

'' (1951), '' The Prince Who Was a Thief'' (1951) '' Invasion, U.S.A.'' (1952), '' Cow Country'' (1953), '' 99 River Street'' (1953), '' Beginning of the End'' (1957), and '' Arrivederci Roma'' (1957). She often starred in Westerns, appearing in nearly a dozen between '' Wagons West'' (1952) and '' Hell's Crossroads'' (1957).

Television

In the 1950s, Castle moved into television, with multiple guest roles on '' Fireside Theater'', ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'', ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American private detective crime drama television series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each epis ...

'', and ''

The Restless Gun ''The Restless Gun'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne (actor), John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Ci ...

''. In 1956, she appeared as Mississippi in the episode Fury At Rio Hondo and then again in 1957 as Amy Gordon on ''Cheyenne'' in the episode titled "The Spanish Grant". In 1957, she played defendant Sally Fenner in the ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'' episode, "The Case of the Negligent Nymph". Also in 1957, she was a primary star on ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', as forlorn Nita Tucker in the episode "Chester's Murder". From 1959 to 1962, she co-starred in the television Western series '' Lawman,'' her first continuing series. Her role as saloon owner Lily MerrillMcNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television''. Penguin Books USA, Inc. . P. 472. brought out a new dimension of Castle's talent. She said, "For the first time in my life, I'm a singer—that's the producer's opinion, not mine." Her final onscreen role was a guest appearance in a 1966 episode of '' The Virginian''.

Stage

In 1958, Castle appeared with Jesse White in a production of ''A Hole in the Head'' at the Civic Playhouse in Los Angeles.

Personal appearances

In 1960, Castle and Peter Brown (who also was a regular in ''Lawman'') traveled to rodeos, performing as a song-and-dance team. Castle stressed, "We're very careful not to sing any romantic songs," treating the act more like a brother-sister team. The duo's stops included St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque.

Awards

On February 8, 1960, Castle received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6230

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

Personal life

Castle was married four times. She married Revis T. Call, a second lieutenant in the Army, on August 19, 1945, in Los Angeles. Following that marriage, she began using Peggy Call as her professional name. They divorced in 1950. She married Universal publicist Robert H. Raines on January 4, 1951. They divorced April 29, 1954. On July 24, 1955, Castle married producer/director, William McGarry. They had a daughter, Erin McGarry. Castle divorced McGarry in 1969. In 1971, Castle married Arthur Morganstern. They remained married until his death in April 1973.

Death

Castle was addicted to alcohol. On August 11, 1973, her third husband, William McGarry, found her body on the couch of her Hollywood apartment. Her death was later determined to be caused by

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

Filmography

This is a partial list of films. John Russell Peggy Castle Lawman 1959

Films

Television

References

External links

*
The Girl They Loved to Kill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Peggie 1927 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles Actresses from Virginia Alcohol-related deaths in California American film actresses American radio actresses American television actresses Deaths from cirrhosis People from Appalachia, Virginia People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Western (genre) film actresses Warner Bros. contract players Western (genre) television actors