Peggy Stewart

American actress Peggy Stewart was one of the queens of the Westerns during the genre's film heyday of the 1940s and '50s. A native of West Palm Beach, Florida, she relocated with her family to California as a teenager. She was befriended by actor Henry O'Neill who suggested her for the role of the teenaged daughter of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee in "Wells Fargo" (1937). She signed a contract with Republic Pictures and was soon starring in a steady succession of B-movie Westerns. She was perhaps best known for her roles in the serialized films based on the Red Ryder comic strip. She made a number of appearances in the series, acting in titles like "Tucson Raiders" (1944), that starred Wild Bill Elliott as Red Ryder. She worked outside of Westerns during her time at Republic starring in films like "The Tiger Woman" (1945) and "Messenger of Peace" (1947). With the advent of television, she began working regularly on the new medium's cowboy shows, appearing on popular programs like "The Cisco Kid" (Syndicated, 1950-56), "The Roy Rogers Show" (NBC, 1951-57), and "The Gene Autry Show" (CBS, 1950-56). As Westerns began to subside in popularity, Stewart began acting less, although she still made television appearances on a regular basis throughout the 1960s and '70s in primetime network shows such as "The Mod Squad" (ABC, 1968-73) and "Baretta" (ABC, 1975-78). She found a new niche as she aged, playing a variety of elderly female characters. She had guest roles on popular fare, from "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-98) to "NCIS" (CBS, 2003-) to "Weeds" (Showtime, 2005-12). She appeared on "The Office" (NBC, 2005-13) as the grandmother of Jenna Fischer's Pam. On the big screen, she played another grandmother opposite Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg in "That's My Boy" (2012). She made her last on-screen appearance on Laurie Metcalf's "Getting On" (HBO, 2013-15). Stewart passed away on May 29, 2019 at 95.