Peggy Shannon, nascuda Winona Sammon (Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 10 de gener de 1907 – North Hollywood, Los Angeles, 11 de maig de 1941), va ser una actriu nord-americana. Va treballar per al teatre i el cinema de les dècades de 1920 i 1930. Va entrar a formar part de les Ziegfeld Follies el 1923, amb 13 anys, encara que ella en reclamava tenir-ne 17. Va ser ballarina de l'espectacle durant dues temporades. Després va treballar en teatre dramàtic, i en un període de tres anys (1926-1929) va participar en 15 funcions diferents, cap de les quals va tenir un gran èxit. Durant aquest període va conèixer el seu futur marit, l'actor Alan Davis. Mentre treballava al teatre a Broadway el 1931, Peggy va ser descoberta per B. P. Schulberg, productor en cap de Paramount Pictures, que li va oferir un contracte. El 1932, va signar un nou contracte amb els estudis 20th Century Fox, i es va fer coneguda pel seu difícil temperament durant els rodatges i pels seus possibles problemes amb l'alcohol. El 1940 es va casar amb l'actor i cameraman Albert G. Roberts. El nombre de papers que li oferien va disminuir, i el seu alcoholisme va anar a més. L'11 de maig de 1941, el seu marit la va trobar morta a casa seva. Tenia 31 anys. L'autòpsia va revelar que la mort es va produir per un infart agut de miocardi, motivat pel seu estat de salut deteriorat.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peggy Shannon (born Winona Sammon, January 10, 1907 – May 11, 1941) was an American actress. She appeared on the stage and screen of the 1920s and 1930s.

Shannon began her career as a Ziegfeld girl in 1923 before moving on to Broadway productions. She was signed to Paramount Pictures and groomed to replace Clara Bow as the newest "It girl", whom she replaced in the 1931 film, The Secret Call. Her growing dependency on alcohol eventually derailed her career. She appeared in her final film, Triple Justice, in 1940. In May 1941, Shannon died at the age of 34 from a heart attack, brought on by alcoholism. Her husband, Albert G. Roberts, shot himself three weeks after her death. Shannon was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1907[ (some sources erroneously cite 1909 or 1910) to Edward and Nannie Sammon. She had a younger sister, Carol. She attended Annunciation Academy Catholic School and Pine Bluff High School before being hired as a chorus girl by Florenz Ziegfeld while visiting her aunt in New York in 1923. The following year she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies followed by a role in Earl Carroll's Vanities. While on Broadway in 1927, she was spotted by B. P. Schulberg, production head of Paramount Pictures, and was offered a contract. When she arrived in Hollywood, she was hailed as the next "It girl", replacing the former, Clara Bow. Prior to the shooting of The Secret Call, Bow had suffered a nervous breakdown and Shannon was hired to replace her only two days after her arrival in Hollywood.

Shannon would sometimes work sixteen-hour days (from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. the next day) while shooting a film, and when shooting wrapped, would rush to begin another film. She would occasionally work on two separate films in one day. Through films and publicity, Shannon became known as a fashion plate, wearing styles three months before they became popular. In 1932, she signed a new contract at Fox and became known as difficult and temperamental on the set and was rumored to have had a drinking problem. In 1934, Shannon returned to New York City to do the Broadway show, Page Miss Glory.

In 1935, she continued on Broadway with The Light Behind the Shadow, but was soon replaced, with a press release claiming a tooth infection, though rumors claimed it was her drinking. In 1936, she returned to Hollywood with Youth on Parole. She found it harder to conceal her drinking. Fewer movie roles were offered, while her drinking worsened. She made her last film appearance in the 1940 film, Triple Justice, opposite George O'Brien.