Peggy Wood
Mary Margaret Wood was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best remembered for her performance as the title character in the CBS television series Mama, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; her starring role as Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, in The Story of Ruth; and her final screen appearance as Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Wood studied voice in France with the legendary soprano Emma Calve - the greatest exponent of the role of CARMEN in the first half of the 20th century. Upon returning to the U.S., Wood was an early member of the Actors' Equity Association, spending nearly 50 years on the stage, beginning in the chorus and becoming known as a Broadway singer and star. She made her stage debut in 1910, as part of the chorus for Naughty Marietta. In 1917, she starred in Maytime, in which she introduced the song "Will You Remember". She starred in several other musicals before playing the role of Portia in a 1928 production of The Merchant of Venice. From the late 1920s until the late 1930s, Wood had lead roles in musicals staged in London and New York. She was chosen by Noel Coward to star in the original London production of his wildly successful operetta BITTER SWEET.
In 1941, she starred in the New York premiere of Blithe Spirit. Wood did not star in many films. Her few film appearances include roles in Jalna, A Star is Born, Call It a Day, The Housekeeper's Daughter, The Bride Wore Boots, Magnificent Doll, and Dream Girl. From 1949 to 1957, she played matriarch Marta Hansen in the popularTV series Mama. She co-starred with comedian Imogene Coca on Broadway in The Girls in 509. In October 1963, she and Ruth Gates appeared in a one-act play, Opening Night, which played in off-Broadway. Wood portrayed Fanny Ellis, a once famous star who prepares for a performance; the play lasted 47 performances. Ruth Gates was Aunt Jenny on the "Mama" series with Wood.
She returned to movies in the 1960 CinemaScope production The Story of Ruth in a co-starring role, as what she referred to in her own book as a "blonde, blue-eyed Jewess".
Her final screen appearance was as the gentle, wise Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. She was thrilled to be in the movie although she knew that she could no longer sing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain". She was dubbed (for singing) by Margery McKay. In her autobiography, Marni Nixon, who appeared in the film as Sister Sophia, said Peggy especially liked McKay's singing voice because she sounded as Peggy did in her younger days.
In 1969, Wood joined the cast of the ABC-TV soap, One Life to Live as Dr. Kate Nolan and had a recurring role until the end of the year.
Her first autobiography, How Young You Look, was published by Farrar and Rinehart in 1941. An update, Arts and Flowers, appeared in 1963. She also wrote a biography of actor John Drew, Jr., as well as a novel called The Star Wagon and was a co-author of a play called Miss Quis.
Wood received numerous awards for her theatrical work and for a while was president of the American National Theater and Academy.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 3.477 |
Birthday | 1892-02-09 |
Place of Birth | Brooklyn [now in New York City], New York, USA |
Also Known As | Mary Margaret Wood, Mary Margaret "Peggy" Wood, |
1937
A Star Is Born
7.133/215
Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her ido...
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A Star Is Born
1953
Main Street to Broadway
6.5/2
In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for inspira...
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Main Street to Broadway
1965
The Sound of Music
7.726/3314
In the years before the Second World War, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain wi...
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The Sound of Music
1960
The Story of Ruth
7.267/45
Ruth is one of two Moabite women who marry the sons of Elimelech and Naomi. When Elimelech and sons Mahlon and Chillion die, leaving Naomi a widow wit...
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The Story of Ruth
1935
The Right to Live
5.1/5
A man with a broken back dies after his wife has an affair with his brother.
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The Right to Live
1937
Call It a Day
5/1
The various members of the middle-class Hilton family have a series of romantic misadventures during one eventful spring day.
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Call It a Day
1929
Wonder of Women
3/2
A German pianist is going to break up with his unfaithful wife, when he receives the message that his favourite stepchild has died. This film is belie...
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Wonder of Women
1939
The Housekeeper's Daughter
3.5/2
A mobster's moll leads a newsman, cub reporter and photographer to a scoop.
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The Housekeeper's Daughter
1946
The Bride Wore Boots
5.9/7
A bookish husband tries to win back the affections of his horse-breeding wife.
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The Bride Wore Boots
1946
Magnificent Doll
5.9/11
While packing her belongings in preparation of evacuating the White House because of the impending British invasion of Washington D.C., Dolly Payne Ma...
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Magnificent Doll
1948
Dream Girl
4.5/6
A young woman spends much of her time fantasizing about what might be, but a realistic admirer tries to convince her to live the life she has.
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Dream Girl
1919
Almost a Husband
0/0
A New England schoolteacher arrives in a small Southern town. He becomes the savior of several local people in time of emergency, including a young wh...
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Almost a Husband
1935
Jalna
4.8/4
A young poet, accompanied by his new bride, returns home to his large family at their Canadian farm.
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Jalna
1934
Handy Andy
1/1
A small-town druggist is henpecked by his social-climbing wife to sell his pharmacy to a national chain. In addition, she tries to set up her pretty y...
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