Peggy Shannon

Infobox actor
name = Peggy Shannon


imagesize = 250px
caption =
birthname = Winona Sammon
birthdate = birth date|1910|1|10|mf=y
location = Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States
deathdate = death date and age|1941|5|11|1910|1|10|mf=y
deathplace = North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
yearsactive = 1923 - 1940
spouse = Alan Davis
Albert G. Roberts (1940-1941)

Peggy Shannon (January 10, 1910 – May 11, 1941) was an American actress. She appeared on the stage and screen of the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography

Born Winona Sammon in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, she became the latest addition to the Ziegfeld Follies in 1923 at age 13, though she claimed to be 17. She prepared for six weeks and began her stage work, becoming a stage dancer for two seasons. She desired to do serious dramatic stage work and within a three year period (1926-1929) she appeared in 15 shows, none of which had an extended run.

During this period, she met and married fellow actor Alan Davis. While on Broadway in 1931, Shannon was spotted by B. P. Schulberg, production head of Paramount Pictures, and was offered a contract. When she arrived in Hollywood, she was hailed as the next "It" girl, replacing the former, Clara Bow. During the shooting of "The Secret Call", Bow had suffered a nervous breakdown, and Shannon was hired to replace her only two days after arriving in Hollywood.

She would sometimes work 16 hour days (from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. the next day) while shooting a film, and when shooting wrapped, would rush to begin another film. She would occasionally work on two separate films in one day. Through films and publicity, Shannon became known as a fashion plate, wearing styles three months before they became popular. In 1932, she signed a new contract at Fox Studios and became known as difficult and temperamental on the set and was rumored to have a drinking problem. In 1934, Shannon returned to New York City to do the Broadway show "Page Miss Glory", playing the girlfriend of then unknown James Stewart.

In 1935, she continued on Broadway with "The Light Behind the Shadow", but was soon replaced, with a press release claiming a tooth infection, though rumors claimed it was her drinking. In 1936, she returned to Hollywood with "Youth On Parole". She found it harder to conceal her drinking. In 1940, Shannon married cameraman/actor Albert G. Roberts. Fewer movie roles were offered, while her drinking worsened.

Death

On May 11, 1941, Albert Roberts and a fellow studio worker returned from a fishing trip to find Shannon dead in their North Hollywood apartment. She was slumped over the kitchen table, a cigarette in her mouth and an empty glass in her hand. She had been dead for approximately 12 hours. An autopsy later revealed that she had died of a heart attack brought on by a liver ailment and a run-down condition.cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/246/Peggy+Shannon/index.%0Bhtml|title=The Private Life and Times of Peggy Shannon|publisher=glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com] She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery with a tombstone reading "That Red Headed Girl, Peggy Shannon."

Three weeks after Shannon's death, her husband committed suicide. He shot himself with a .22 rifle in the same chair in which she had died. His suicide note read, "I am very much in love with my wife, Peggy Shannon. In this spot she died, so in reverence to her, you will find me in the same spot." Albert Roberts was buried in Wee Kirk Churchyard, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California.

Filmography

tage work

* "Ziegfeld Follies of 1923" (1923-1924)
* "What Ann Brought Home" (1927)
* "High Gear" (1927)
* "Back Here" (1928)
* "Now-a-Days" (1929)
* "Cross Roads" (1929)
* "Damn Your Honor" (1929 - 1930)
* "Life is Like That" (1930-1931)
* "Napi" (1931)
* "Page Miss Glory" (1934-1935)
* "Alice Takat" (1936)

References

*amg name|id=2:64827|name=Peggy Shannon
*tcmdb name|id=175014|name=Peggy Shannon

External links

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* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1175 Peggy Shannon at Virtual History]
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Persondata
NAME= Shannon, Peggy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Sammon, Winona
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= January 10, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH= Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States
DATE OF DEATH= May 11, 1941
PLACE OF DEATH= North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States