Peggy O'Neill was a promising young starlet who took her own life when she was just twenty-one years old
She born Barbara Jeanne O'Neill on April 8, 1924 in San Francisco, California. Her parents, William and Helen, divorced when she was a child. Peggy was educated at a convent and started her career acting in local theater. In 1941 she made her film debut in the comedy All American Co-Ed. The following year she won a beauty contest and decided to move to Hollywood. She studied acting with drama teacher Max Reinhardt. Producer Charles Rogers offered her a seven year contract in 1943. Peggy was so excited that she fainted after signing it! She had a featured role in the 1944 musical Song Of The Open Road with Jane Powell. Her performance got positive reviews and columnist Louella Parsons called her "Hollywood's newest Cinderella". During the Summer of 1944 she went on a bond selling tour of Texas with Adele Mara and Gale Storm.
She born Barbara Jeanne O'Neill on April 8, 1924 in San Francisco, California. Her parents, William and Helen, divorced when she was a child. Peggy was educated at a convent and started her career acting in local theater. In 1941 she made her film debut in the comedy All American Co-Ed. The following year she won a beauty contest and decided to move to Hollywood. She studied acting with drama teacher Max Reinhardt. Producer Charles Rogers offered her a seven year contract in 1943. Peggy was so excited that she fainted after signing it! She had a featured role in the 1944 musical Song Of The Open Road with Jane Powell. Her performance got positive reviews and columnist Louella Parsons called her "Hollywood's newest Cinderella". During the Summer of 1944 she went on a bond selling tour of Texas with Adele Mara and Gale Storm.
The lovely redhead landed small parts in It's A Pleasure and You Came Along. Peggy impulsively married Lloyd Miner, an Army officer, on January 16, 1945. They separated a few weeks after the wedding and she moved in with her mother. In the Spring of 1945 she made a screen test for Paramount. She was dating thirty-one year old screenwriter Albert Mannheimer Jr. The couple had been seeing each other on and off for two years. On April 12, 1945 she went to Albert's apartment for dinner. They had a fight and he walked out on her. Soon after she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. When Albert returned to his apartment he found her body lying dead on the floor. Peggy was only twenty-one years old. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. According to her agent she was supposed to sign a long-term contract with Paramount the day after she died.
