Diana Serra Cary (born 26 October 1918 in Merced, California, U.S.A. as Margaret Montgomery), best known as Baby Peggy Montgomery, was one of the principal child stars of the Hollywood silent movie era, in her heyday between 1920 and 1923 she was even more famous than Jackie Coogan. Although she earned millions of dollars, like Coogan she saw her fortune squandered by her parents and suffered several nervous breakdowns in young adulthood. She went on to have a career as a book publisher and author on Hollywood subjects under the name Diana Serra Cary (she married Gordon Ayres in 1938, divorced ten years later, and married Bob Cary in 1954). October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Merced is the county seat of Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... ... Silent Movie is a 1976 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) in 1921 Jackie Coogan (October 26, 1914 - March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. ...

Movie Career

Baby Peggy was "discovered" at the age of 19 months, when she visited Century Studios on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood with her father Jack Montgomery, a former cowboy who had become a stuntman and stand-in for Tom Mix in his cowboy movies. She worked eight hour days as a toddler, and is reported to have worked on nine feature films and 150 one-reel movies between 1920 and 1923 ([1]), although the Internet Movie Database only lists 47 movies from the silent era. Thomas E. Mix (January 6, 1880 – October 11, 1940) was an American film actor, the star of many early Western movies. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), owned by Amazon. ...

Silent movies

1. Her Circus Man (1921)
2. On with the Show (1921)
3. The Kid's Pal (1921)
4. Playmates (1921)
5. On Account (1921)
6. Pals (1921)
7. Third Class Male (1921)
8. The Clean Up (1921)
9. Golfing (1921)
10. Brownie's Little Venus (1921)
11. A Week Off (1921)
12. Brownie's Baby Doll (1921)
13. Sea Shore Shapes (1921)
14. A Muddy Bride (1921)
15. Teddy's Goat (1921)
16. Fool's Paradise (1921)
17. Get-Rich-Quick Peggy (1921)
18. The Straphanger (1922)
19. Circus Clowns (1922)
20. Little Miss Mischief (1922)
21. Penrod (1922)
22. Peggy, Behave! (1922)
23. The Little Rascal (1922)
24. Little Red Riding Hood (1922)
25. Peg o' the Movies (1923)
26. Hansel and Gretel (1923)
27. Sweetie (1923)
28. The Kid Reporter (1923)
29. Taking Orders (1923)
30. Nobody's Darling (1923)
31. Tips (1923)
32. Carmen, Jr. (1923)
33. Little Miss Hollywood (1923)
34. Miles of Smiles (1923)
35. The Darling of New York (1923)
36. Such Is Life (1924)
37. Helen's Babies (1924)
38. The Law Forbids (1924)
39. Our Pet (1924)
40. The Flower Girl (1924)
41. Steppin' Some (1924)
42. Poor Kid (1924)
43. Captain January (1924)
44. Jack and the Beanstalk (1924)
45. The Family Secret (1924)
46. Peg o' the Mounted (1924)
47. April Fool (1926)

The major highlights of this period were On With the Show, Playmates and Brownie’s Baby Doll in 1921, Circus Clowns, Little Red Riding Hood, and Peggy, Behave! in 1922, Peg o’ the Movies, Sweetie, Nobody’s Darling, Little Miss Hollywood, The Darling of New York, and Hansel and Gretel in 1923. Her first full-length movie was The Darling of New York for Universal Pictures, while her starring role in 1924's Captain January was remade a decade later by Shirley Temple. Universal Studios Theme Parks. ... Shirley Temple in Glad Rags to Riches Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928), later known as Shirley Temple Black, is an American diplomat and former film child actress, the most famous child actress of the 1930s. ...

Baby Peggy's silent movie career came to a sudden halt at the age of eight, in 1926, when her father fell out with the studio. She then worked in the vaudeville theatre – in a 2006 interview for Sky News she remarked that she earned $150,000 a year for four years, but again her parents squandered her money. Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Sky News is Europes first 24-hour television news channel, originally launched as part of the 4-channel Sky Television network in February 1989. ...

Talking movies

Like many silent movie stars, she was able to have a modest career in the talking movies in the 1930s, under her "Peggy Montgomery" name. Her final role was as an uncredited extra in 1938's Having a Wonderful Time.

1. Off His Base (1932)
2. The Return of Chandu (1934)
3. Eight Girls in a Boat (1934)
4. The Return of Chandu (1934)
5. Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
6. Souls at Sea (1937)
7. True Confession (1937)
8. Having a Wonderful Time (1938)

Ah, Wilderness! is a play by Eugene ONeill, and has the distinction of being the only true comedy he would ever write. ...

Later life

She later had a successful career as a publisher and author on Hollywood subjects, writing among other works, an autobiography of her life as a child star, What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star, and a biography of her contemporary and rival, Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King: A Biography of Hollywood's Legendary Child Star.

References

• What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star, Diana Serra Cary, St Martins Press, 1996, ISBN 0312147600
• The Hollywood Posse: The Story of a Gallant Band of Horsemen Who Made Movie History, Diana Serra Cary, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, ISBN 0806128356
• Hollywood's Children: An Inside Account of the Child Star Era, Diana Serra Cary, Southern Methodist University Press, 1997, ISBN 0870744240
• Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King: A Biography of Hollywood's Legendary Child Star, Diana Serra Cary, Scarecrow Press, 2003, ISBN 0810846500

External links

• Baby Peggy at the Internet Movie Database