biography
Born Peggy Blair on December 22, 1925, in Appalachia, Virginia (some sources cite either 1926 or 1927 as her year of birth), B movie
bad girl Peggie Castle moved to California with her parents in the mid 1930s. While still a teenager, Castle began doing some print
model work in the early 1940s. She found roles in a few films in the late 1940s before signing with Universal-International in 1949.
A solid actress who was adept at playing femme fatales and hardened saloon girls, the brunette Castle saw her career take off when
she bleached her hair blonde.  
Universal-International promotional photos of Peggie Castle from 1950 and 1951 |
the films of peggie castleThe Golden Horde (1951) 
Castle portrays Lailee in the Universal-International costume drama The Golden HordeInvasion USA (1952) 
With Gerald Mohr in the Columbia science fiction release Invasion USA, an effective "Red Scare" thriller made on a shoestring budget. Significant portions of the film are comprised of stock footageJesse James' Women (1954) 
From the low-budget western Jesse James' Women, directed by its star Don 'Red' Barry. LEFT: Castle as Waco Gans. RIGHT: With Lita Baron and Don 'Red' BarryOverland Pacific (1954)
With Jock Mahoney and William Bishop in the western Overland PacificThe White Orchid (1954)
As Kathryn Williams in the adventure The White OrchidTarget Zero (1955)
From the Warner Bros. Korean war drama Target Zero with Richard Conte and John AldersonMiracle in the Rain (1956)
With Fred Clark in the Warner Bros. three-hanky production Miracle in the RainThe Oklahoma Woman (1956)
With Richard Denning in the Roger Corman western The Oklahoma WomanBack from the Dead (1957) 
From the 20th Century-Fox horror release Back from the Dead. LEFT: With Arthur Franz, Marianne Stewart, and Helen Wallace. RIGHT: With Arthur FranzBeginning of the End (1957)
With love interest Peter Graves in the science fiction cult classic Beginning of the End. This film once aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000The Counterfeit Plan (1957)
With Zachary Scott in the Warner Bros. crime drama The Counterfeit PlanSeven Hills of Rome (1958)
From the MGM romance Seven Hills of Rome with Mario Lanza. This was Castle's last filmlater yearsBeginning in the mid 1950s, Castle did quite a bit of work on television as a guest star on such programs as Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, and Perry Mason. In 1958, she starred in her last film, Seven Hills of Rome (1958; with Mario Lanza). Afterward, Castle worked exclusively in television and, in 1959, landed the role of Lily Merrill in the ABC western TV series The Lawman (1958-1962; with John Russell and Peter Brown).With the cancellation of The Lawman in the spring of 1962, Peggie Castle decided to retire from the screen, as she was pregnant. After she and her third husband (whom she married in 1955), assistant director William McGarry, welcomed their daughter's birth in 1963, Castle accepted only an occasional role on television and fully retired in the mid 1960s. Her lengthy marriage to McGarry soured in the late 1960s, so they divorced in 1970 and Castle married again in 1971. This marriage was a short one, however, as her fourth husband Arthur Morgenstern died suddenly in April 1973. Castle was by this time battling alcoholism, which took a severe toll on her health. She was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment on August 11, 1973, at the age of 47 from natural causes. She was survived by her daughter, Erin. |
filmographyFILM
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This page premiered March 16, 2006.
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