Baby Peggy

Known as Baby Peggy, Diana Serra Cary was an American child actor, vaudeville performer, and author who later wrote about silent film history. She was born in 1918 and, at 19 months old, was hired by director Fred Fishback for shorts with Brownie the Wonder Dog, starting with Playmates in 1921. For Century Film Corporation she made close to 150 short comedies between 1921 and 1924, then moved to Universal for full-length dramas including The Darling of New York, Captain January, Helen's Babies, and The Family Secret (1924). Her screen career ended in 1925, and she performed in vaudeville for several years. As Diana Serra Cary, she wrote books on early Hollywood, among them her autobiography What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy? and a biography of Jackie Coogan. She appeared in documentaries and interviews about her work and was honored at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in 2008 and with the Cinecon Legacy Award in 2018.