Peggie Castle

Peggie Castle (born Peggy Thomas Blair;[2] December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973) was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. She was also billed under the names Peggy Castle and Peggie Call.

Peggie Castle
Actress Peggie Castle
Born	Peggy Thomas Blair (1927-12-22)December 22, 1927 Appalachia, Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 11, 1973(1973-08-11) (aged 45) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Peggy Castle Peggie Call
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Revis T. Call ​ ( m. 1945; div. 1950) Robert H. Rains ​ ( m. 1951; div. 1954) William McGarry ​ ( m. 1955; div. 1969) (1 child) Arthur Morganstern ( m. 1971⁠–⁠1973) (her death)
Children	1[1]

Early years

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."[3] Her father, Doyle H. Blair,[3] was at one point "an industrial relations director for a large corporation"[4] and later business manager for Donald O'Connor[3] and studio manager for Goldwyn Studios.[5] Her mother was Elizabeth Blair.[5] She took lessons in drama when she was 8 years old.[3]

Castle graduated from Hollywood High School[5] and attended Mills College[6] for two years.[7]

Radio

Castle's first work as an actress came in the soap opera Today's Children. Then a spot on Radio Theatre in 1947 brought her a screen test offer from 20th Century Fox.[7]

Film

Castle was discovered by a talent scout while eating in a restaurant in Beverly Hills. She was signed to a seven-year contract with Universal-International and made her film debut in the 1947 film When a Girl's Beautiful. In 1949, she was named "Miss Cheesecake" by the Southern California Restaurant Association. Later that year, the Junior Chamber of Commerce named Castle "Miss Three Alarm".[8][9] She later appeared in the films Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949),[5] Payment on Demand (1951), The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) Invasion U.S.A. (1952), 99 River Street (1953), Beginning of the End (1957) and Arrivederci Roma (1957).

Television

In the 1950s, Castle moved into television. She appeared in multiple guest roles on Fireside Theater, Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Restless Gun. In 1957 she appeared as Amy Gordon on Cheyenne in the episode titled "The Spanish Grant." In 1957 she played defendant Sally Fenner in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Negligent Nymph."

From 1959 to 1962, she co-starred in the television western series Lawman — her first continuing series.[3] Her role as saloon owner Lily Merrill[10] brought out a new dimension of Castle's talent. She stated "For the first time in my life I'm a singer — that's the producer's opinion, not mine."[3]

Her final onscreen role was a guest appearance in a 1966 episode of The Virginian.

Stage

In 1958, Castle acted with Jesse White in a production of A Hole in the Head at the Civic Playhouse in Los Angeles.[2]^:14

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.[11] The duo's stops included St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque.[11]

Personal life

Castle was married four times. She married Revis T. Call, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, on August 19, 1945, in Los Angeles.[2] Following that marriage, she began using Peggy Call as her professional name.[2]^:8 They divorced in 1950.[8] She married Universal publicist Robert H. Raines January 4, 1951. They divorced April 29, 1954.[12] She married producer/director William McGarry on July 24, 1955.[2]^:13 They had a daughter, Erin, before divorcing in 1969.[13] Castle's fourth and final marriage was to Arthur Morganstern in 1971. They remained married until Morganstern's death in April 1973.

Recognition

For her contribution to the television industry, Peggie Castle has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6230 Hollywood Boulevard.[9] It was dedicated February 8, 1960. (This source lists the address as 6266 Hollywood Boulevard.)[14]

Death

In her later years, Castle developed alcoholism.[15] 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.[16]

Selected filmography

From Invasion USA trailer

John Russell and Peggie Castle in ABC's Lawman (1959)

Russell and Castle in Lawman (1962)

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1947	When a Girl's Beautiful	"Koko" Glayde	Credited as Peggy Call
1950	Buccaneer's Girl	Cleo	1951
1951	Payment on Demand	Diana Ramsey
1951	Air Cadet	Pat
1951	The Golden Horde	Lailee
1952	Invasion U.S.A.	Carla Sanford
1952	Wagons West	Ann Wilkins
1953	I, the Jury	Charlotte Manning	Shown in 3-D[4]
1953	99 River Street	Pauline Driscoll
1953	Cow Country	Melba Sykes
1954	The Yellow Tomahawk	Katherine
1954	The White Orchid	Kathryn Williams
1954	Overland Pacific	Ann Dennison
1954	The Long Wait	Venus
1954	Jesse James' Women	Waco Gans
1955	Finger Man	Gladys Baker
1955	Tall Man Riding	Reva
1955	Target Zero	Ann Galloway	Korean War UN worker
1956	Miracle in the Rain	Millie Kranz
1956	Quincannon, Frontier Scout	Lesley Selander
1957	Beginning of the End	Audrey Aimes
1957	The Counterfeit Plan	Carole Bernard
1958	Arrivederci Roma	Carol Ralston

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952–1954	Fireside Theater	Various roles	3 episodes
1956	The Millionaire	Candy Caldwell	Episode: "The Candy Caldwell Story"
1956	Four Star Playhouse	Molly Barry	Episode: "Success Story"
1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater	Jenny	Episode: "A Quiet Sunday in San Ardo"
1956	Cheyenne	Mississippi	Episode: "Fury at Rio Hondo"
1957	Conflict	Lila Prescott	Episode: "The Money"
1957	Gunsmoke	Nita Tucker	Episode: "Chester's Murder"
1957	Perry Mason	Sally Fenner	Episode: "The Case of the Negligent Nymph"
1958	The Texan	Charlotta Rivera	Episode: "The First Notch"
1958	77 Sunset Strip	Valerie Stacey	Episode: "The Well-Selected Frame"
1959	Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer	Joan Barry	Episode: "The Big Drop"
1959	Markham	Ann Jennings	Episode: "Deadline Date"
1959–1962	Lawman	Lily Merrill	105 episodes
1966	The Virginian	Melissa	Episode: "Morgan Starr"

References

1. "Peggie Castle - The Private Life and Times of Peggie Castle. Peggie Castle Pictures". www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com.
2. Wagner, Laura (July 2020). "Peggie Castle". Classic Images (541): 6, 8–15, 58–60.
3. Anderson, Robert (November 7, 1959). "Showdown in Laramie!". Chicago Tribune. p. 25. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
4. "Spillane Thriller On Lowe Screen". The Post-Standard. September 9, 1953. p. 14. Retrieved September 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Aaker, Everett. Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. pp. 88–90. ISBN 978-1-4766-6250-3. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
6. Yarbrough, Gloria (September 3, 1949). "Hollywood News". The Indiana Gazette. p. 14. Retrieved September 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Lily of 'Lawman' Began on Radio". Express and News. June 24, 1961. p. 7. Retrieved September 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Zylstra, Freida (July 23, 1950). "Star of the Week". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. C7.
9. "Hollywood Star Walk". latimes.com. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
10. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. P. 472.
11. "Peter Brown, Peggy Castle on Rodeo Circuit". The Daily Register. June 20, 1960. p. 5. Retrieved September 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Peggy Castle Granted Divorce From Raines". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. April 30, 1954. p. 30. Retrieved September 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Burroughs Hannsberry, Karen (2009). Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film. McFarland. pp. 44, 49. ISBN 0-786-44682-X.
14. "Peggie Castle". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
15. Brode, Douglas; Parker, Fess (October 19, 2009). Shooting Stars of the Small Screen: Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors (1946-present). University of Texas Press. p. 80. ISBN 0-292-71849-7.
16. "Actress Peggie Castle Dies at 45". The Milwaukee Journal. August 12, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2013.

External links

• Peggie Castle on IMDb
• Peggie Castle at AllMovie
• Peggie Castle at Find a Grave
• The Girl They Loved to Kill