Diana Serra Cary (Baby Peggy) passes away.

[Javier]

The moment now has come, she lived a long and may I say a rewarding life in her later years, but still made me sad when I read the news of her passing.
May you rest in peace Ms. Serra Cary/Baby Peggy.
Thank you for the wonderful memories you left us with.

[GishFan]

Are there any notable silent film personalities still alive? I'm sure some very young child actors in late 20 films are, but probably not that are well-known.

[Paul Penna]

On Shorpy, a high-resolution National Photo Co. of her in Washington DC in 1925:

https://www.shorpy.com/node/25403

[bgp]

The last interview she did, just ten days before she passed:

https://silenceisplatinum.blogspot.com/ ... rview.html

[goldenband]

The last interview she did, just ten days before she passed:

https://silenceisplatinum.blogspot.com/ ... rview.html

It's from quite a bit earlier (March 2016), but was understandably reposted for the occasion:

https://silenceisplatinum.blogspot.com/ ... rview.html

A very lively interview, and a nice treat to see Hobart Bosworth get acknowledged (my wife and I enjoyed his work in THE PHANTOM EXPRESS).

[Mike Gebert]

It's with Jessica Wahl, coincidentally a guest on the current NitrateVille Radio.

[Harlowgold]

She had an astonishingly long life and lived to see herself "rediscovered" by many devoted classic movie fans. I know she was really wonderful to the fans who were in her orbit; one of my movie buff friends I use to write frequently and trade vintage clippings and photos with (alas, I lost touch with him a few years back) was crazy about her and talked to her frequently on the phone and said she was one of his best friends, a sincerely caring and friendly woman. I'm most sad for those fans like John who loved her and were lucky enough to love a star who really loved them back. RIP Baby Peggy.

PS - The TCM tribute is awesome, a very happy surprise. I can think of several 1930's non-superstar names who are regularly seen on TCM who didn't get such an honor when they passed. Did her passing make any of the national news the day of her death? The major networks are really weird about that, some times they'll mention the death of somebody who was a band member of a briefly popular act, other times they'll ignore an actor who starred in films or television for years.

[ejonestexas]

I used to talk to her at the Silent Movie theater in LA. One time we were the only ones at the theater

Ed

[TerryC]

I did hear about her death on the CBC. I think the program was “As It Happens”. They talked about how she was left penniless by her parents etc.

[IA]

This bit from the "Silence is Platinum" interview stood out:

"Roddy [McDowall] was the only person I knew who knew everyone's secrets. There's a library in Boston where he put a file full of secrets. No one can access that file for fifty years, so all the secrets are safe. He wouldn't spill the beans on anyone. He was scrupulous."

At the risk of sounding prurient, is there any further information on this "secrets" file?

[Brooksie]

Boston University have McDowall's personal and professional papers. There is a description of the collection at http://archives.bu.edu/collections/collection?id=122438. She might have been exaggerating just a little, as although it is quite common for restrictions to be placed on that kind of collection, no such conditions are mentioned here. No doubt it's a fascinating collection nonetheless. McDowall was one of those rare figures who was both a star and a megafan.

[Roscoe]

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival emailed that THE KID REPORTER, starring Baby Peggy, has been restored and will be featured in the May Festival.

[Roseha]

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival emailed that THE KID REPORTER, starring Baby Peggy, has been restored and will be featured in the May Festival.

Great news. I wonder if she got to see it at some point after they restored it. I hope so.

[Brooksie]

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette have republished the New York Times tribute with an editorial cartoon that may just break your heart ...

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/202 ... -20200302/

[Harlowgold]

Boston University have McDowall's personal and professional papers. There is a description of the collection at http://archives.bu.edu/collections/collection?id=122438. She might have been exaggerating just a little, as although it is quite common for restrictions to be placed on that kind of collection, no such conditions are mentioned here. No doubt it's a fascinating collection nonetheless. McDowall was one of those rare figures who was both a star and a megafan.

I think Baby Peggy may have actually been understating the case. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that McDowall actually has a hundred year requirement after his death before researchers would be able to access his diaries and personal notes. Presumably, he is very frank in them and did not want to embarrass any of his friends or their children who survive him.

[silentfilm]

https://news.amomama.com/269216-baby-pe ... es-in.html

Baby Peggy's Life Was Marred with Tragedies including Living with Insatiable Dad Who Could Make Her Sob in a Snap
August 01, 2021 | by Junie Sihlangu

Fans should recall actress Peggy-Jean Montgomery who was better known as Baby Peggy. Her life might’ve looked like a fairytale, but it was filled with tragedy, and her father was quite strict.

In 1918, Peggy-Jean Montgomery was born and was later known as child superstar Baby Peggy. She became a well-known star at the age of 5 after being discovered at the age of 2 in 1920.

Peggy became one of the most famous performers of the Hollywood silent era. She later became a self-made multimillionaire after starring in three feature films and almost 150 shorts.
A still image of Baby Peggy Montgomery from a mini-biography about her life. Released on March 10, 2021 | Photo: YouTube/Most Actor & Actress Hollywood

A still image of Baby Peggy Montgomery from a mini-biography about her life. Released on March 10, 2021 | Photo: YouTube/Most Actor & Actress Hollywood

BLACKLISTED & NO SCHOOLING

When she was just 7, she faced one of her first big tragedies when she was blacklisted. All the studios who had exploited her turned away after having made her work eight-hour days without breaks.

She never got to go to school properly and worked six days a week. “The New York Times,” said the star was so big that she also had her own line of Baby Peggy dolls, jewelry, and sheet music.

Diana Serra Cary at the TCM Classic Film Festival for the 40th Anniversary of "Cabaret" on April 12, 2012, in Los Angeles, California | Photo: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins

LIVING IN LUXURY & RAISED BY A BULLY

She and her parents lived in a huge Beverly Hills Mansion. The actress was chauffeured in a limousine to work, and she had maids who attended to all her needs, but all she had was gotten through hard work.

Her father, Jack Montgomery, raised her and her sister, Louise, like horses. They had to answer commands immediately or face punishment as Jack snapped his fingers, demanding Peggy to cry at the drop of a hat.
Diana Serra Cary aka Baby Peggy Montgomery at the screening of the film "Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room" on April 13, 2012, in Hollywood, California | Photo: Jason Merritt/WireImage/Getty Images

Diana Serra Cary aka Baby Peggy Montgomery at the screening of the film "Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room" on April 13, 2012, in Hollywood, California | Photo: Jason Merritt/WireImage/Getty Images

PEGGY’S ACTING RANGE & FATHER

One newspaper once described Peggy’s acting range as the “five faces of Baby Peggy: miserable, amused, brave, saucy and angelic.” A lot of her work was lost in a 1926 studio fire, but what survived was preserved.

The star’s father was a troubled man who once threatened to shoot himself and his entire family because of a bad toothache. Her parents argued a lot, within earshot, about her salary.

Baby Peggy Montgomery circa 1923 | Photo: Popperfoto/Getty Images

BAD PARENTING

Jack and Marian Montgomery failed to look out for her well-being. Her father was a former stuntman and cowboy, and he controlled all of her daughter’s earnings and spent them without guilt.

He didn’t even save for her future, and in 1925, at age 7, he started a fight with a studio, and that move cost her everything. In the documentary, “Showbiz Kids,” the actress confessed that her career was over at that time.

The last silent film star is 100 and — Dianna Serra Cary AKA “Baby Peggy” is a total badass and just self published her first novel. This factoid is my therapy today. pic.twitter.com/LNlxLe8nZZ
— Brently Heilbron (@Brently) August 13, 2018

CHILDHOOD & LOSS OF CAREER

The Alex Winter-directed HBO documentary was shot before her death in February 2020. She confessed to Winter that she never got the chance to be a regular child because she never had friends.

Jack fought with a studio over his daughter’s salary leading to her $1.5 million contract being canceled. In 1924, Peggy held the American flag at the Democratic National Convention, alongside Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Goodnight, Baby Peggy (Diana Serra Cary) who has died aged 101. A silent movie star who earned $1 million a year before retiring at the age of six. pic.twitter.com/iWHwr8UgmZ
— Quentin Fottrell (@Quantanamo) February 25, 2020

DANGEROUS ACTING ROLES

However, by the time Roosevelt became president in 1933, the actress had long retired. When she still had proper work, Peggy worked long hours with little supervision, and studios often put her in dangerous situations.

In 1923’s “The Darling of New York,” her character had to escape a burning building that was actually doused with kerosene. Peggy was also abused on set by fellow actors.

Diana Serra Cary – aka ‘Baby Peggy’ Montgomery – obituary by @SightSoundmag: the early child star who became an activist for Hollywood’s children https://t.co/FQIegz2xxH pic.twitter.com/r61dtnddUp
— BFI (@BFI) February 25, 2020

BEING EXPLOITED

In one of Peggy’s acting roles, she was bucked from a speeding truck, struck by a bicycle in another, and half-drowned by a Great Dane while filming a rescue at sea.

She often found herself being physically pushed around by adults because the script demanded it. After the star lost all her work, her parents continued trying to find ways to use her to support them.

We mourn the passing of Diana Serra Cary, better known to her fans as Baby Peggy, who passed away yesterday at 101. Although most of her films are lost—a sad commonplace in the silent era—we’ve done a lot of preservation work on ones that do survive, like Circus Clowns (1922). pic.twitter.com/YLap29RG1m
— LOC National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (@LOC_AV) February 25, 2020

WEALTH SQUANDERED

“The New York Times” obituary revealed how the actress’s $2 million fortune was spent within a couple of years. It was used for luxury cars, hotels, and travel expenses.

With the Depression looming, the family moved to Wyoming for a brief period before returning to Hollywood. In 1932, the star returned to movies as Peggy Montgomery, but she had little success.

Baby Peggy, the last silent star, aka historian Diana Serra Cary, is 98 today. Here's a recent pic and a 1923 clip. https://t.co/n9UeaaniyE pic.twitter.com/tFG5UbNeiS
— Matthew Sweet (@DrMatthewSweet) October 29, 2016

THE END OF AN ERA

Over the next five years, she got some parts but never regained the kind of fame she had experienced as a child. In a 1982 interview, she confessed that she felt like a senior citizen at age 15.

Peggy recalled how Baby Peggy destroyed her family as their life was turned upside down. Her family never discussed Baby Peggy again, and the star never became important to her father again after becoming herself.

RIP Diana Serra Cary, aka #BabyPeggy: one of Hollywood’s first child actors, and surely the last surviving silent film star, has died aged 101. @PamHutch pays tribute ☞ https://t.co/qMhGQQLJiJ pic.twitter.com/K4RwYT1jbS
— Sight and Sound magazine (@SightSoundmag) February 25, 2020

ATTENDING SCHOOL & REINVENTION

However, she finally got to go to school and attended Fairfax High school in Los Angeles. After graduation, she married her first husband, movie extra Gordon Ayres, whom she divorced 10 years later.

Peggy [Montgomery] passed away at the age of 101 in Gustine, California.

Diana Serra Cary, Child Star Known as Baby Peggy, Dies at 101 https://t.co/QsMdx34BLE pic.twitter.com/iQXBnn3717
— Variety_Film (@Variety_Film) February 25, 2020

TRANSITIONING, FINDING LOVE & NEW CAREER

The marriage marked a transition period for Peggy, who changed her name to Diana Serra Cary. The name change was so she could have anonymity and distance from her Hollywood persona.

She found love again in 1954 when she married artist Bob Cary, with whom she had a son. The actress reinvented her career by becoming an author after having a few odd jobs and starting her writing career.

A great era is over.

Peggy-Jean Montgomery, known as #BabyPeggy, who was the last living film star of Hollywood silent films, has died at the age of 101. RIP https://t.co/WnBQP3Pveb
— Samuel West (@exitthelemming) February 25, 2020

1st NOVEL & DOCCIE ABOUT HER LEGACY

In 2019, she self-published her first novel, “The Drowning of the Moon,” at the age of 99. Long before that, in the 1970s, the star became a film historian and spoke at film festivals about her life and career.

In 2012, the documentary “Baby Peggy, the Elephant in the Room” was released, and it focused on the star’s legacy. Peggy passed away at the age of 101 in Gustine, California.

[Jim Roots]

While I'm happy to see the publicity accorded to a long-gone star by this article, it is so poorly written as to be almost a disservice.

There is so much repetition in it, it could easily have been edited down to 25% of its current length.

Jim

[pbma]

By the way was Diana’s birth name hyphenated or not. I can’t see the government in 1918 allowing Peggy-Jean rather than Peggy Jean being able to be registered, let alone for hospital or religious records. Diana also - understandably - always understated how much heat her parents got for refusing to use Margaret. Again 1918 is not the 21st century where Beyoncé could name a baby Sir.