Peggy McCay

Peggy McCay

McCay on Ben Casey (in 1964)
Born Margaret Ann McCay
(1927-11-03) November 3, 1927[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1949–present

Margaret Ann McCay (born November 3, 1927),[1] known professionally as Peggy McCay, is an American actress whose career began in 1949, and includes theatre, television, soap operas, and feature films. She may be best known for originating the roles of Vanessa Dale on the CBS soap opera Love of Life (a role she played from 1951–55), and Caroline Brady, which she has played since 1983 on NBC's Days of Our Lives.

Biography

The Manhattan-born McCay was the only child of Michael, a construction company owner who specialized in building schools, and his wife, Catherine (or Cathryn) McCay. She attended St. Walburga's Convent School and Barnard College, graduating from the latter in June 1949.[2] After her father's sudden death, she and her mother ran his construction company for a period of time.[3]

After graduation, she joined impresaria Margo Jones's Texas-based theatre company and graduated to repertory, where she essayed numerous roles. She studied with Lee Strasberg in New York,[4] later helping to set up Strasberg's West Coast studio.

One of her first New York roles was in an off-Broadway production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, opposite Franchot Tone;[5][6] they reprised their roles in the 1957 film version of the play. Her role as Sonya earned[7]her the off-Broadway award "OBIE" for Best "Off-Broadway" Young Actress of the Year.[8]

McCay accepted her first major role as the heroine Vanessa Dale on the soap opera Love of Life, which premiered in 1951. After four years, she left in 1955 to pursue other options. In 1958 she appeared on Perry Mason as defendant Stephanie Falkner in "The Case of the Long-Legged Models", and in 1959 as conwoman Melissa Maybrook in the Maverick episode "The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot". Soon after, she was cast in an episode of the CBS anthology series, Appointment with Adventure. She appeared in four feature films in the late 1950s before landing a lead role in 1962 in the ABC television series Room for One More as Anna Perrott Rose, who had written a memoir about her family life as a foster mother.[9] In 1962, McCay starred in the feature film, Lad, A Dog.[10]

On February 4, 1963, she appeared as Sheriff Taylor's old girlfriend Sharon DeSpain in the "Class Reunion" episode of The Andy Griffith Show. On April 9, 1963, McCay appeared in the episode "Broken Honor" of NBC's Laramie; she and Rod Cameron played Martha and Roy Halloran, a farm couple who stumble upon $30,000 in money found inside a strong box on their property. The loot had been seized by bandits in a stagecoach heist and hidden away for later retrieval. Roy, who is wheelchair-bound, insists on keeping the money until Jess Harper, played by series regular Robert Fuller, arrives at their farm amid grave danger to all from the bandits.[11]

McCay guest-starred on ABC's The Roaring 20s, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Jason Evers's Channing. In 1963, she appeared on NBC's Redigo, with Richard Egan, and on CBS's Perry Mason (as defendant Margaret Layton in "The Case of the Skeleton's Closet").[9]

In 1964, she returned to daytime television as a lead on ABC's The Young Marrieds. When the show went off the air in 1966, she was written into the story line on ABC's General Hospital (as Iris Fairchild) until 1970. In the 1970s, McCay appeared in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, How the West Was Won, and The Lazarus Syndrome. She appeared in a 1975 television movie, John O'Hara's Gibbsville (also known as The Turning Point of Jim Malloy), and was a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 series Gibbsville.[9]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a recurring role as Marion Hume in the CBS drama Lou Grant. She may be best known as matriarch Caroline Brady on Days of Our Lives. First appearing on the program in February 1983, she signed a long-term contract with the serial in 1985 and has appeared on a regular basis ever since.[9]

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations
Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
1956
 Obie Award Distinguished Performance by an Actress Uncle Vanya Won
[12]
1986
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Days of Our Lives Nominated
[13]
1986
 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Cagney & Lacey Nominated
[14]
1987
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Days of Our Lives Nominated
[15]
1991
 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series The Trials of Rosie O'Neill Won
[14][16]
1993
 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story Nominated
[17]
1994
 Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story Nominated
[18]
2013
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Days of Our Lives Nominated
[19]
2015
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Days of Our Lives Nominated
[20]
2016
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Days of Our Lives Nominated
[21]

Personal life

McCay has never married or had children. She resides in Los Angeles, California.[9]

Feature films

References

  1. 1 2 1930 U.S. census indicates she was born in 1927, giving her age in April 1930 as 2½
  2. ↑ "Dramatic Composition Brings Barnard Prize". New York Times. ProQuest Document ID 105824661. May 29, 1949. p. 28. Miss Peggy Ann McCay, who will be graduated from Barnard College next Wednesday, has received the Helen Prince Prize for excellence in dramatic composition
  3. ↑ Associated Press (1962-01-28). "TV Actress Is Official of Construction Company". The St. Joseph Gazette. p. 5D. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  4. ↑ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 278. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
  5. ↑ McCay profile, Internet Off-Broadway Database; accessed May 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ Tallmer, Jerry (1956-02-08). "Theatre: Uncle Vanya". The Village Voice. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2012-12-11. To access the next page, drag the image down a bit and to the left.
  7. ↑ Tallmer, Jerry (1958-04-23). "Movies: Uncle Vanya". The Village Voice: p. 12 and 13; retrieved December 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ Peggy McCay clippings file at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, 3rd floor, Lincoln Center; accessed August 31, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Peggy McCay at the Internet Movie Database
  10. ↑ "Lad: A Dog (1962)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  11. ↑ ""Broken Honor", April 9, 1963". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  12. ↑ "First Obie Winners Cheered at Limelight". The Village Voice. 1956-06-20. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  13. ↑ "1986 Emmy Winners & Nominees". Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. Archived from the original on August 18, 2004. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Peggy McCay at the Emmys". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. emmy.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  15. ↑ "1987 Emmy Winners & Nominees". Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. Archived from the original on August 18, 2004. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Cheers and L.A. Law Top Emmys: Television honors its top prime-time shows and performers.". The New York Times. ProQuest document ID 108709362. August 26, 1991. p. C13. This is a partial list of the Emmy winners ... Peggy McCay [for] The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, CBS
  17. ↑ "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special 1993". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. emmy.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Event: Gemini Awards (1994)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  19. ↑ "The 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. emmyonline.org. May 1, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  20. ↑ "The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations". New York: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. March 31, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  21. ↑ "The 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations" (PDF). New York: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. March 24, 2016. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.

Further reading

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