Peggy Webber

Peggy Webber
Peggy Webber
	Webber in a 1955 episode of Dragnet
Born	September 15, 1925 (age 98); Laredo, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1937–present
Television	Dragnet (1952–1955); The Waltons (1976); The Smurfs (1983–1984)
Spouse	Dr. Robert Marshall Sinskey (m. 1951; div. 1967) Sean McClory (m. 1983; died 2003)
Children	3

Peggy Webber (born September 15, 1925)^[1] is an American actress and writer who has worked in film, stage, television, and radio.

Early years

The daughter of a wildcat oil driller,^[2] Webber was born in Laredo, Texas.^[1]

In 1942, she graduated from Tucson High School, where she was active in dramatics.^[3] Before she was 3 years old, she was entertaining audiences at intermission times in theaters.^[4]

Film

Her screen debut came in the 1946 film Her Adventurous Night. She played Lady Macduff in Orson Welles' adaptation of Macbeth. Her other notable roles include Mrs. Alice Rice in the 1952 film Submarine Command and Miss Dennerly in The Wrong Man, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.^[5]

Radio

Webber debuted on radio at age 12 on WOAI (AM) in San Antonio, Texas.^[6] Her vocal talents for radio were highlighted in Time magazine's August 5, 1946, issue. The Radio: Vocal Varieties article noted, "In three years, her latex voice has supplied radio with 150 different characters on some 2,500 broadcasts."^[7]

Programs on which she was heard included The Dreft Star Playhouse,^[6] Dragnet,^[8] The Woman in My House,^[9]^: 358 Pete Kelly's Blues,^[9]^: 269 Dr. Paul,^[9]^: 101 The Damon Runyon Theater,^[9] and The Man Called X.^[3] In 1979, she played many characters on Sears Radio Theater.

She is the founder of California Artists Radio Theatre.^[8]

The September 8, 2019, episode of The Big Broadcast highlighted her career and included a recent interview in which she mentioned her current projects.^[10]

Television

Webber appeared on a number of television programs including "Dragnet". She portrayed Elise Sandor in Kings Row on ABC in 1955–56.^[11]

She also played abused sister Flora Stencil in the 1957 episode of Gunsmoke in the episode "Cheap Labor".

Writing, directing, and producing

Webber wrote and directed "some 250 stage plays, radio and television programs."^[4] She was writer and producer for Treasures of Literature, an early television program. In her later years, she was responsible for writing, directing, and producing "hundreds of new audio programs."^[4]

Recognition

Webber received the 2014 Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre, "which celebrates a lifetime of achievement in this sonic art."^[4] She was the first woman so honored.^[4] Her program Treasure of Literature was named "Most Popular Television Program – 1949" by the Television Academy.^[12]

Filmography

Films
Year	Title	Role	Note
1946	Her Adventurous Night	Miss Howard	Uncredited
1946	Little Miss Big	Ellen
1948	Macbeth	Lady Macduff / The Three
1951	Fighting Coast Guard	Head Hostess
1951	Journey Into Light	Jane Burrows
1951	Submarine Command	Alice Rice
1956	The Wrong Man	Alice Dennerly
1958	The Screaming Skull	Jenni Whitlock
1958	The Space Children	Anne Brewster
1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Woman praying at temple	Uncredited
1987	'Tis the Season to Be Smurfy	Elise	Voice

Television
Year	Title	Role	Note
1952–1955	Dragnet	Peg Ruskin / Virginia Sterling / Leona Perry / Police dispatcher / Roberta Salazar
1955	The Public Defender	Mrs. Gayley
1955	Medic	Stell Ramsey
1955	The Whistler	Denise Clark
1955	Big Town	Carla Jackson
1955	Matinee Theatre	Cathy
1956	Frontier	Meg Horn
1956	Damon Runyon Theatre	Claire Simpson
1956	Front Row Center	Kathy Mullin
1956	Cheyenne	Ella McIntyre
1956	Climax!	Inez Harley
1956	Chevron Hall of Stars	Martha
1956	The Millionaire	Mildred Kester
1957	Jane Wymann Presents the Fireside Theatre	Mrs. Helding
1957	The Ford Television Theatre	Mrs. Wane
1957	Zane Grey Theatre	Norah
1957	Gunsmoke	Flora Stancil
1957	The Walter Winchell File	Mary
1957–1960	M Squad	Mary Nichols / Amy Pryor
1958	Panic!	Fran Pulaski
1959	Wagon Train	Millie Collins
1959	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Minnie Lee Blake
1959	Man Without a Gun	Kate Hutchins
1959	Trackdown	Nora
1960	Law of the Plainsman	Hattie Mullen
1960	The Rebel	Juanita Flynn
1962	Laramie	Martha Grundy
1967	I Spy	Sister Agatha
1967–1970	Dragnet 1967	Jean Sawyer / Mrs. Atkins / Alice Philbin / Mrs. Mary Tucker/ Mrs Eunice Rustin / Marian Stanley / Mrs. Peggy Lassin / Janet Ohrmund
1968	The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Old Lady / Maiden	Voice
1969	The Survivors	Wife on TV
1969	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Mrs. Ross
1971–1972	Night Gallery	Old Crone / First Phone Operator
1971–1973	Adam–12	Mrs. Rule / Mary Grant
1976	The Waltons	Eva Hadley
1977	Emergency!	Helen Phillips
1978	Project U.F.O.	Emma Smith / Helen Carson
1981	Bossom Buddies	Dr. Fritzly
1982	Quincy M.E.	Woman
1983–1984	The Smurfs	Elderberry	Voice
2005	The Inside	Mama Bunch	Episode: "Everything Nice"

References

^ ^a ^b Who's Who in the West?. Vol. 3. University of Michigan. 2000. p. 662. ISBN 9780837909301.
^ Weaver, Tom (2010). A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers. McFarland. p. 191. ISBN 9780786458318. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Peggy Webber to Be on Air". Tucson Daily Citizen. Arizona, Tucson. June 13, 1946. p. 5. Retrieved August 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Zizza, Sue (October 2014). "Hear now festival honors radio actress: Webber receives Norman Corwin Award for excellence in audio theatre". Radio World. 38 (25). Retrieved 2 August 2016. – via General OneFile (subscription required)
^ "Radio theater's Peggy Webber is 90 – and cooler than you". Los Angeles Weekly. 6 May 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ ^a ^b DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 278.
^ "Radio: Vocal Varieties". Time. August 5, 1946. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Peggy Webber". Cartradio.com. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4. Pp. 89-90.
^ Interview with Peggy Webber @7:45 pm https://wamu.org/story/19/09/01/the-big-broadcast-september-8-2019/
^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 567.
^ "Awards Search". Television Academy. Retrieved 2 August 2016.