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Peggie Castle Article in Films Of The Golden Age

posted 13 years ago by jamesbwill
5 replies | jump to latest

There is a one-page article about Peggie Castle in Fall issue of FOGA. It is in the "Forgotten Faces" area. It describes Peggie's very sad life after "Lawman" was canceled. It was about that time that she developed a very serious alcohol problem, and several actors who knew Peggie said that she very unhappy, although nobody knew why. Chad Everett recalled saving her from a suicide attempt in 1969, when she took an overdose of pills and cut her wrists. Peggie went to the Camarillo State Hospital in an unsuccessful attempt to overcome her alcoholism. After leaving the hospital, Peggie was reduced to living in a dingy apartment in Hollywood. Her ex-husband, Bill McGarry, found her dead. The cause was cirrosis of the liver, and a heart attack brought on by hardening of the arteries. She was 45.

It is a really sad story, but quite well-written. Fans of Peggie Castle might want to read it.

[–] flint19492001 13 years ago

James, I knew she passed away so young in life. Didn't know the particulars. Sad to hear.

[–] tipafo 13 years ago

Any mention of Peggie doing her own singing on the show?

Lily's singing is obviously dubbed (i.e., not recorded during actual filming of the scene), but is it Peggie or someone else?

(This is posted for entertainment. Don't get upset.)

[–] JoeN678 12 years ago

I can't imagine that they would get someone else to dub Peggie Castle's singing since her singing is so off-key. Peggie basically talked her way through her songs (and chose songs that didn't require much of a vocal range), and was an entertaining performer on stage despite her inability to consistently sing on key. A good example is the classic "I Need A Man Man Man Man Man" which she sings flat flat flat flat flat, but gets away with it because of her delivery. I'm not trying to be mean here, Peggie's songs were indeed very entertaining. She just wasn't a gifted singer in terms of staying on key. She's certainly not alone in show biz in that respect. It's very sad that she descended into alcoholism which eventually killed her at a rather young age. She was a lovely lady and a gifted performer whose presence elevated Lawman above the other inexpensive WB Westerns of the day, even if her role was clearly patterned after Kitty Russell of Gunsmoke fame.

Just saw a great episode (Reunion In Laramie) featuring William Schallert as a pianist working for Lily who was a coward in the Civil War when he served under Union Captain Dan Troop. Schallert did his own piano playing and was excellent performing a couple of Chopin etudes and backing up Lily with one of her better songs which didn't overtax her vocal range (I can't remember the song title). The director Robert Sparr used direct-on camera positions to show that it was Schallert playing in real time. Schallert is a fine character actor who has written music for several films as well. He was soooooo funny in the film Matinee starring in the film-within-a-film Mant.

Life's too short to waste my time on someone who'll just throw it away.

[–] joehrobertsjr 12 years ago

I read an interview with Peggie when Lawman was running and she said that she'd never sang before in her life and suggested that they get someone to dub her singing on the show but the producers had her warble a song or two for them and they said that her singing sounded adequate. Granted, she's not Teresa Brewer or Julie London (two popular singers of that era) but she does an adequate job for the most part.

[–] darkavenger77 12 years ago

It didn't sound like it was dubbed to me. LOL at the flat, flat, flat, flat, flat comment.

Raylan Givens: You make me pull, and I'll put you down.