Peggy Wood

Peggy Wood, born Mary Margaret Wood on February 9, 1892 in Brooklyn, New York, was a seminal American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly six decades and left an indelible mark on stage, film, and television. She began her professional life in the chorus of the 1910 Broadway production Naughty Marietta and quickly rose to prominence, becoming a celebrated Broadway star after introducing the hit song “Will You Remember” in the 1917 musical Maytime. Wood’s vocal training in France with the famed soprano Emma Calvé gave her a distinctive lyrical quality that made her a favorite in operettas, most notably in Noël Coward’s original London production of Bitter Sweet and the 1928 Broadway staging of The Merchant of Venice where she played Portia. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she headlined numerous productions on both sides of the Atlantic, and she was a prominent member of the Algonquin Round Table, mingling with literary and theatrical luminaries of her era. In the 1940s she returned to the New York stage as Ruth Condomine in the premiere of Blithe Spirit, and she made a series of memorable, though limited, film appearances in titles such as Jalna, A Star Is Born and Dream Girl. Her most enduring television role came from 1949 to 1957 when she portrayed the matriarch Marta Hansen in the beloved CBS series Mama, a performance that earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. Late in her career she appeared as Mother Abbess in the 1965 classic The Sound of Music, receiving both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and she made a brief return to soap operas as Dr. Kate Nolan on One Life to Live in 1969. Beyond acting, Wood authored several books, including the autobiographies How Young You Look (1941) and Arts and Flowers (1963), a biography of John Drew Jr., a novel titled The Star Wagon, and co‑wrote the play Miss Quis. A devout Episcopalian and longtime president of the American National Theater and Academy, she remained a respected elder stateswoman of the theatre until her death on March 18, 1978, in Stamford, Connecticut.