Diana Serra Cary, also known as Baby Peggy, was the last surviving star of the silent era. Her, along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie were the three child actors that won the hearts of the world in the early days of motion pictures.
Today the majority of the Baby Peggy silent films are considered lost, but a handful of shorts and a few of her feature length movies do survive. This is sad due to the fact that she made numerous popular shorts and features between 1921 and 1924. Her career ended suddenly when her father and producer Sol Lesser butted heads over her contract which was already at 1.5 million per year.
And just like Jackie Coogan before her, she was broke by the time she was a teenager due to the reckless spending of her money by her parents. Vaudeville and extra work in films followed before she left performing to become an author and silent movie historian. Her book, "Jackie Coogan, the World's Boy King" as well as her biography, "What Ever Happen to Baby Peggy" are must reads for any silent movie buff.
Of the few Baby Peggy films that survive, "A Family Secret" just may be the best, but all are worth discovering. It was a different time. There were no child labor laws and a cute kid that could act on camera and behave off, became the property of the studios to do with what they wanted. Baby Peggy, Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie were both stars and victims, and to not seek out their surviving films would be a disservice to their contributions to the film industry.
Today the majority of the Baby Peggy silent films are considered lost, but a handful of shorts and a few of her feature length movies do survive. This is sad due to the fact that she made numerous popular shorts and features between 1921 and 1924. Her career ended suddenly when her father and producer Sol Lesser butted heads over her contract which was already at 1.5 million per year.
And just like Jackie Coogan before her, she was broke by the time she was a teenager due to the reckless spending of her money by her parents. Vaudeville and extra work in films followed before she left performing to become an author and silent movie historian. Her book, "Jackie Coogan, the World's Boy King" as well as her biography, "What Ever Happen to Baby Peggy" are must reads for any silent movie buff.
Of the few Baby Peggy films that survive, "A Family Secret" just may be the best, but all are worth discovering. It was a different time. There were no child labor laws and a cute kid that could act on camera and behave off, became the property of the studios to do with what they wanted. Baby Peggy, Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie were both stars and victims, and to not seek out their surviving films would be a disservice to their contributions to the film industry.
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