Peggy Wood

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Peggy Wood was the daughter of a popular Manhattan columnist. Gifted with a lilting soprano voice, she began her stage career in #92;musicals and #92;operettas. Her chief Broadway fame rested in multilayered dramatic roles, though she was also an expert comedienne when the occasion arose. In her heyday, Wood was a member of the New York "intellectual" circuit, making occasional lunchtime stopovers at the Algonquin Round Table. A star on stage, Wood seldom appeared in anything larger than supporting roles in films; for example, she had only one scene as the sympathetic central-casting secretary in David O. Selznick's A Star Is Born (1937). From 1949 through 1957, Wood starred on the popular TV series Mama, reportedly exerting a great deal of script and casting control. Peggy Wood's last screen appearance was as the Mother Abbess in the Oscar-winning #92;musical The Sound of Music (1965); sadly, her once beautiful singing voice was a thing of the past, and she had to be dubbed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

• Also Credited As:
  Margaret Wood
• Born:
  February 9, 1892 in Brooklyn, New York, USA
• Died:
  March 18, 1978.
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Family

• Father: Eugene Wood. wrote for the NEW YORK WORLD

Milestones

• 1910 Made professional singing debut at age 18 in the chorus of Naughty Marietta
• 1917 Hade first leading stage role in Maytime
• 1919 Feature debut, Almost a Husband ; last film for 15 years
• 1934 Returned to motion pictures in Handy Andy
• 1948 Last film for 12 years, Dream Girl
• 1949 Starred as Mama in the popular CBS series I Remember Mama
• 1958 Returned to the stage in The Girls in 509
• 1960 Co-starred in The Story of Ruth
• 1965 Final feature appearance, co-starred as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music ; won Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination
• Toured with USO troupe during WWII; performed Noel Coward s Blithe Spirit