Peggy Ryan

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

American actress and dancer (1924–2004)

title: "Peggy Ryan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1924-births", "2004-deaths", "american-tap-dancers", "american-female-dancers", "american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "actresses-from-long-beach,-california", "american-vaudeville-performers", "20th-century-american-dancers", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-women"] description: "American actress and dancer (1924–2004)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Ryan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress and dancer (1924–2004) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
namePeggy Ryan
imagePeggy Ryan in Private Buckaroo (1942).jpg
captionRyan in Private Buckaroo (1942)
birth_nameMargaret O'Rene Ryan
birth_date
birth_placeLong Beach, California, U.S.
death_date
death_placeLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
known_for
occupation
years_active1930–1983
spouse{{plainlist
* {{marriageJames Cross
* {{marriageRay McDonald
::

| name = Peggy Ryan | image = Peggy Ryan in Private Buckaroo (1942).jpg | imagesize = | caption = Ryan in Private Buckaroo (1942) | birth_name = Margaret O'Rene Ryan | birth_date = | birth_place = Long Beach, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | known_for = | occupation = | years_active = 1930–1983 | spouse = {{plainlist|

Margaret O'Rene Ryan (August 28, 1924 – October 30, 2004) was an American dancer and actress, best known for starring in a series of movie musicals at Universal Pictures with Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean.

Career

Ryan joined her parents' vaudeville act, "The Merry Dancing Ryans", before she was 3 years old, and appeared in her first film, Wedding of Jack and Jill (1929) when she was 4. She attended Hollywood Professional School.

Her singing, acting, and dancing skills were noticed by song-and-dance actor George Murphy, who helped her get a role in 1937's Top of the Town. However, her entry in the book Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America, Volume 1 notes, "[B]y then she was outgrowing the kiddie parts, yet not old enough for the teenage roles."

She continued working in small roles until 1942, when she had a solo number in the feature film What's Cookin'?. The Gloria Jean-Donald O'Connor-Peggy Ryan team were a great hit with audiences and exhibitors, and the three teens made five features together. Her screen character in these films was usually brash, wisecracking, and boy-crazy. In 1944, Ryan advanced to more elaborate productions, in support of Jack Oakie and Abbott and Costello.

She left Universal in 1945 and married James Cross that same year; they were divorced in 1952. She returned to the screen with dancer Ray McDonald for 1949's There's a Girl in My Heart and Shamrock Hill, and 1953's All Ashore. They wed in 1953 and toured together in a nightclub act before being divorced in 1957. Her third marriage, in 1958, was to Hawaii columnist Eddie Sherman, following which she left movies for choreography and semiretirement. Sherman adopted her two children from her previous marriages.

On television, Ryan played a recurring role as secretary Jenny Sherman in Hawaii Five-O from 1969–76.

In later years, she trained Las Vegas showgirls in tap dancing. Her last public performance, at her 80th birthday party, was a hilarious song-and-dance routine for her former Universal studio colleagues. She continued to teach tap until two days before her death.

Death

Ryan died in 2004 at age 80, following two strokes. Her ashes were scattered under the Hollywood sign in Hollywood, California.

Eddie Sherman died in 2013 in Hawaii .

Filmography

Features:

Television work

References

References

  1. (2007). "Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America". Psychology Press.
  2. [[Scott MacGillivray]] and Jan MacGillivray, ''Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven'', iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2005 {{ISBN. 0595370802
  3. (2016). "Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. (2 volume set)". McFarland.
  4. (1997). "Booking Hawaii Five-O: An Episode Guide and Critical History of the 1968-1980 Television Detective Series". McFarland.
  5. "Veteran Hawaii columnist Eddie Sherman dies at 88".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1924-births2004-deathsamerican-tap-dancersamerican-female-dancersamerican-film-actressesamerican-television-actressesactresses-from-long-beach,-californiaamerican-vaudeville-performers20th-century-american-dancers20th-century-american-actresses21st-century-american-women