Diana Serra Cary

Baby Peggy was "discovered" at the age of 19 months, when she visited Century Studios on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood with her mother and a film-extra friend. Her father, Jack, a former cowboy and park ranger, had done work as a stuntman and stand-in for Tom Mix in a number of his cowboy films. Impressed by Peggy's well-behaved demeanor and willingness to follow directions from her father, director Fred Fishback hired her to appear in a series of short films with Century's canine star Brownie the Wonder Dog. The first film, Playmates in 1921, was a success, and Peggy was signed to a long-term contract with Century.[9]

Baby Peggy in The Family Secret

Between 1921 and 1924, Peggy made close to 150 short comedy films for Century. Her films often spoofed full-length motion pictures, social issues and stars of the era; in one, Peg O' The Movies, she satirized both Rudolph Valentino and Pola Negri. She also appeared in film adaptations of novels and fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk, contemporary comedies, and a few full-length motion pictures.[9]

In 1923, Peggy began working for Universal Studios, appearing in full-length dramatic films. Among her works from this era were The Darling of New York, directed by King Baggot, and the first screen adaptation of Captain January. In line with her status as a star, Peggy's Universal films were produced and marketed as "Universal Jewels", the studio's most prestigious and most expensive classification. During this time, she also starred in Helen's Babies, opposite Clara Bow.[9]

The success of the Baby Peggy films brought her into prominence. When she was not filming, she embarked on extensive "In-Person" personal appearance tours across the country to promote her films. She was also featured in several short skits on major stages in Los Angeles and New York City, including Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre and the Hippodrome. Her likeness appeared on magazine covers and was used in advertisements for various businesses and charitable campaigns. She was also named the Official Mascot of the 1924 Democratic Convention in New York City, and stood onstage waving a United States flag next to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[1]

Baby Peggy holding a Baby Peggy doll - June 1922

By the age of 5, she had her own line of various endorsed items, including dolls in her likeness, sheet music, jewelry, and even milk.[10][1]

As a child, Frances Gumm (later Judy Garland) owned at least one Baby Peggy doll. Cary would later befriend Garland, and wrote in her autobiography that she believed Garland's mother had pursued fame for her children based on Baby Peggy's success.[11]

Baby Peggy with Frances & Gene Quirk. Peggy was meeting president Coolidge at the White House, Washington D.C., February 2, 1925

While under contract with Century and Universal, Peggy commanded an impressive salary. By 1923, she was signed to a $1.5 million a year contract at Universal ($25.6 million in 2022); on her vaudeville tours she made $300 per day. Her parents handled all of the finances and money was spent on expensive cars, homes, and clothing.[10] Nothing was set aside for the welfare or education of Peggy or her sister. Peggy herself was paid one nickel for every vaudeville performance. Through reckless spending and corrupt business partners of her father, her entire fortune was gone before she hit puberty.[2] When fellow child star Jackie Coogan sued his parents in 1938, Peggy's parents asked her if she was going to do the same. Believing it would do no good, Peggy did not pursue legal action. Coogan's case, and cases like Baby Peggy's, eventually inspired the Coogan Act to protect child actors' earnings.[12]

Peggy's working conditions, as described in later interviews and her autobiography, were harsh. As a toddler she worked eight hours a day, six days a week. She was generally required to perform her own stunts, which included being held underwater in the ocean until she fainted (Sea Shore Shapes), escaping alone from a burning room (The Darling of New York), and riding underneath a train car (Miles of Smiles). While at Century she also witnessed several instances of animal cruelty and saw a trainer crushed to death by an elephant.[13]

Schooling for both Peggy and her sister, Louise, was sporadic at best. Neither attended school until the end of the vaudeville era; for their secondary education, they worked to pay for their tuition at Lawlor Professional School, which offered flexible schedules and allowed them to continue performing in films.[14]

Baby Peggy’s career was controlled by her father, who accompanied her to the studio every day and made every decision about her contracts. Mr. Montgomery often claimed that Peggy's success was based not on her own talent, but on her ability to follow orders unquestioningly.[15]

Baby Peggy's film career abruptly ended in 1925 when her father had a falling out with producer Sol Lesser over her salary and canceled her contract.[14] She found herself essentially blacklisted due to actions of her father with his studio boss, and was able to land only one more part in silent films, a minor role in the 1926 picture April Fool.[9][2]

From 1925 to 1929, Peggy had a successful career as a vaudeville performer. Although her routine, which included a comedy sketch, singing and a dramatic monologue, was initially met with skepticism, it soon became a popular and respected act. Although she was prohibited from "playing the Palace" because of her young age, she appeared onstage there as a special guest. Peggy and her family toured the United States and Canada, performing in major venues, until the family tired of touring.[14]

While on the vaudeville circuit, Peggy was frequently ill with tonsillitis and other ailments; however, she continued working. In What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy?, she wrote, "On several occasions I went onstage so yellow-dog sick they had to put buckets in the wings: I threw up in one before I made my entrance, and in the second when I exited, before changing and going back out for my encore." Her mother feared for her health, another reason for leaving the rough life of touring.[15]

Peggy's parents continued to spend excessively after she had been pushed out of films, wasting on unnecessary luxuries much of the US$2 million she had made.[2] Peggy's father planned to buy a ranch and convert it into a high-end getaway. However, the stock market crash of 1929 put an immediate halt to the plans. The Montgomerys had to sell their Beverly Hills home and, having made a $75,000 deposit on the land and existing property, moved to rural Wyoming where they lived near the Jelm Mountains. Peggy found the change in pace refreshing and hoped her stage days were over. However, the family struggled to make a living, and, as a last-ditch effort, returned to Hollywood in the early 1930s, much to the teenaged Peggy's chagrin. She stated in a 2012 interview that she was paid three dollars a day, and many of the other extras were other silent actor stars that she grew up with, and collectively they considered the work to be like that of "galley slaves".[2][14]

Peggy posed for publicity photos with Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and signed with a new manager. Hopes of a comeback were mostly dashed by false rumors of a bad screen test that had never taken place.[14] The family resorted to using food coupons from the Motion Picture Relief Fund.[2] The Los Angeles School Board asserted that Peggy had to go to school, and was first enrolled at Lawlor Professional School, a school with flexible hours for child actors, and was classmates with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.[2] She later attended Fairfax High School while the entire family was forced to take extra work. She loathed screen work and retired soon after appearing in Having Wonderful Time in 1938.[14]

In the spring of 1940, Peggy's career had reached such a low, journalist Walter Winchell in his column On Broadway reported Peggy and her husband Gordon Ayres were now living in a small furnished room in New York City, with only doughnuts to eat. Gordon Ayres was working as a bartender while Peggy was looking for a screen job.[16]

• Baby Peggy's Own Story Book, Diana Serra Cary, Frederick A. Stokes, 1924
• What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star, Diana Serra Cary, St. Martins Press, 1996, (ISBN 0-312-14760-0)
• The Hollywood Posse: The Story of a Gallant Band of Horsemen Who Made Movie History, Diana Serra Cary, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, (ISBN 0-8061-2835-6)
• Hollywood's Children: An Inside Account of the Child Star Era, Diana Serra Cary, Southern Methodist University Press, 1997, (ISBN 0-87074-424-0)
• Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King: A Biography of Hollywood's Legendary Child Star, Diana Serra Cary, Scarecrow Press, 2003, (ISBN 0-8108-4650-0)
• The Shirley Temple Story, Lester David, Putnam Pub Group, 1983, (ISBN 0-399-12798-4)
• Silent Stars Speak: Interviews with Twelve Cinema Pioneers, Tony Villecco, 2001, (ISBN 9780786408146)
• "At 93, a Party Girl Is Silent No More", photographs, interview and article by Bruce Bennett, in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2012, page A19.
• "The Last Silent Star Standing: An Oral History of 1920s Film With Diana Serra Cary," photographs, interview and article by Jeffrey Crouse, Film International, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2013, pages 6–24.
• Goldrup, Tom; Goldrup, Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 20–29. ISBN 1476613702.