Baby Peggy’s DISTURBING Tale - Hollywood’s forgotten child star!

when you hear about the first ever child stars people think of Shirley Temple Judy Garland because they were the most popular that you'd say right the most troubled and their stories are pretty troubling a lot of people don't really know about baby Peggy comment below if you've heard about baby Peggy before or if this is your first time but she came before dudy Garland and before Shirley Temple she actually inspired their mothers to go down the same trajectory with their children and because of her and others that came before her which we'll do videos for this is the reason why we have these child labor laws in the acting industry because she had to go through it just so child stars today can have some semblance of protection and as we've seen in recent times there hasn't been much protection but believe me as bad as things are today or were like with the whole Nickelodeon thing and Disney era it was even worse back then when there really was no regulation parents were a lot greedier and there was just no morality when it came to working children and I know in this era we like to think of ourselves as probably the worst generation ever but the more you dig into the past the past generation I don't think I would have been able to survive I mean skin color aside but just wow Hollywood was not only wild but the culture that accepted a lot of these actions was wild also because the consumers were consuming a lot of these disturbing contents and knew about the disturbing things that were happening and there wasn't really much outrage people just didn't seem to really care like that their priorities were all over the place but when it came to children I just don't think Society ever really cared to protect children and this video is a little bit triggering I know so this is your trigger warning if this is not your type of speed we're going to get into all of that in the life of baby Peggy but first hey friend welcome to my channel crean elude where we Deep dive and break down the most iconic Stars through history if you're not yet subscribed please be sure to do so and if you're already subscribed please turn on your notification Bell so you never miss an upload now without further Ado let's get into this video and before we get into it if you haven't heard of baby Peggy or even if you have please leave some flower emojis in the comments for her because she deserves her flowers and she should have got the same Fame as Judy Garland or a shley temple she really really deserved it but she just didn't because of her just troubling parents and the way the system was set up and give her her flowers for fighting until the very end she lived to be over a hundred okay and she fought till the very end for children's rights in Hollywood so leave flowers in the comments for her but let's start with her childhood which is the basis of this story on a sunny day in San Diego California on October 29th 1918 the world welcomed Peggy Jean Montgomery who would later be known simply as baby Peggy though some folks later got it twisted thinking her name was Margaret Peggy herself set the record straight the mixup probably happened because some nuns at the hospital were pushing for Margaret calling Peggy a pagan name but Peggy's parents weren't having any of it they stuck with Peggy a name that was seemingly destined for stardom Peggy's leap into the Limelight wasn't just by chance you could say it was written in the stars with a dad who was a cowboy turned Hollywood stuntman for Tom Mix Peggy had the perfect end a casual visit to centur Studios turned into Peggy's Big Break she caught the eye of a director while hanging out on set thanks to her Angelic behavior and knock for following directions like a pro next thing she knew she was starting alongside brownie the wonderdog in a series of short films 19 21 to 1924 Peggy was everywhere starring in around 150 comedies before she even hit 7 years old talk about a Workhorse she starred in everything from Blockbuster movies and societal issues to celebrities at the time and she wasn't just a onetick pony she did movie adaptations of books and fairy tales also do you guys understand 150 comedies to star in that many films short or long for a child that's not even 6 years old yet do you guys understand I'm sorry that just blew my mind her career took another exciting turn when she signed on with Universal Studios in 1923 here she dipped her toes into drama starring in Universal jewels and even sharing the screen with the iconic Clara B and Helen's babies Peggy was more than just a child star she was a full-blown sensation but with great Fame came an insane schedule Peggy wasn't just a movie star she was a promotional machine touring the country performing skits and bigname theaters theaters that she was too young to be in and even waving the American flag next to Franklin D Roosevelt during the 1924 Democratic Convention on its official Mas app for you guys to understand just how intense her schedule was there's adults even today even today adult entertainers that collapse after just doing two movies in one year think about that they collapse they have mental exhaustion they have to do substances to stay up they end up in clinical help adults grown adults cannot even deal with this type of schedule they cannot sleep they're tired they're fatigued you guys heard about it now imagine you're born into this she had no choice no say so they just pushed her into this before she even had Consciousness that is unimaginable I can't even imagine meanwhile Peggy's parents saw dollar signs they were also eager to exploit her Fame Plastering her face on magazine covers ads for businesses and charitable campaigns before Peggy could even understand the concept of money her face was selling everything from dolls and jewelry to milk it was clear baby Peggy had become the family's Cash Cow and her childhood was the price of admission to this Showbiz spectacle Peggy hit the jackpot big time her deal with Universal Studios was nothing short of a gold mine raking in an eye watering 1.5 million a year that is equivalent to $23.7 million today she was making $23.7 million in one year well technically her parents were and when she hit the Vaudeville circuit a smooth 300 daily 300 daily is unimaginable money during that day by any standards especially for a kid Peggy was swimming in cash amassing a Fortune of around 2 million but here's the kicker being just a baby Peggy couldn't exactly call the shots on her own money this winfall wasn't just a win for Peggy it was like hitting the lottery for her parents before Peggy could even throw a popper tantrum they were living large in a Beverly Hills mansion complete with Maids waiting on them hand and foot high-end hotels became their go-to when traveling and they even splurge on a fancy $30,000 dusenberg car she was driven around in a limosine with a private chauffer to work all the time like Hollywood royalty okay they did try to splurge on her in that regards but it was nefarious but it wasn't all about the material things the spotlight Shone brightly on baby Peggy making her the Talk of the Town her signature Bob and that for tugging at hard strings turned her into an instant icon and by the age of six she was drowning and fin mail to the tune of 1.2 million letters the buzz was so loud that it sparked a frenzy among other parents itching to catapult their own kids to start him much like Charlie Temple and Judy Garland's mom who Peggy reckon got the idea from her own skyrocketing Fame and it was said that b Judy and Charley Temple had Peggy baby Peggy dolls when they were growing up they had her dolls so it was kind of like oh let's go down the same path but behind the glitz and Glam life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for young Peggy she was a Trailblazer but the path was anything but smooth Hollywood was a jungle especially for child stars who were a new breed with zero protections Peggy's childhood was a Non-Stop work Marathon 8 hours a day day 6 days a week without a break in sight for something as simple as a nap or even school and if that wasn't Tough Enough Peggy saw things that would give anyone nightmares imagine a little girl witnessing an elephant Crush its trainer to death right on set that cuz she worked with a lot of animals for skits and stuff real animals like bears tigers elephants Lions they had this girl around these real animals touching them and and she had to witness the death of a trainer from an elephant like at that young age the trauma this was a grim reality behind the Silver Screen a place where not just people but animals too paid a steep price they had no regards for animals no regards for people definitely no regards for women and children this side of Hollywood was dark far removed from the Glamorous facade it liked to project of that time if you know at that time it was glamour a time when people were classy like I see those comments a lot and I was one person that believed that too I really was like oh my goodness what I would give to be in a 1940s era aesthetic um the way people spoke was so classy the way they dress but guys it it was a dark era I don't want to go back I'm grateful for the progress though be it small that we have made through the years because wow can you imagine probably if I ask you what was the famous Hollywood animal you probably would think of Lassie the Dog and you know they used to have dogs chimpanzees and all of those like the treatment was gruesome and a lot of times these animals would have psychotic breaks themselves even they could not be subjected to such intense treatment so imagine you know a human a little child going through these type of treatments it's just Insanity Peggy's life was a classic case of fame's double EDG sword one hand she was baby Peggy the darling of the Silver Screen and on the other just Peggy G and Montgomery trying to figure out who she really was it was like leading two lives and the pressure was unbearable the glitzy facade of baby Peggy masked the struggle of Peggy Jean causing an internal crisis that nearly broke her the conflict between her Public Image and private reality was so intense it threaten her mental health a battle she would face repeatedly over the years and that's also something that people do not speak about with child stars is that they don't grow up having their own identity it's kind of given to them especially if you're a child star it's like you're baby Peggy everyone knows you as baby Peggy and the characters you play you've been acting since you were a child so who are you who are you you're baby Peggy you're baby Peggy you're the Loved Baby Peggy who is friendly to everybody who signs autographs everybody loves you you have this wholesome image to keep up you cannot make mistakes you got to be this person and I'm thinking of even Disney stars because imagine Coming of Age like you at what age did you start to develop your identity I would say my true identity and knowing who I am started coming in my mid 20s like I didn't really start to even know what I like who I am where I want to go until my mid 20s and some people are even later in life they start to know who they are in their 30s Etc so I couldn't IM imagine going through my most pivotal years having an identity crisis like this and this is what was going on with baby Peggy she just didn't know who she was she was stuck between like what she liked it's it's like her mind started being confused and being you know scrambled together with her true identity and the Persona of baby Peggy and she just didn't know what to do and it drove her insane but her parents saw that did they care no they did not care because the money was more important the dangers wasn't just emotional physically being a child star was a high-risk job Peggy did stunts that would make your heart stop and she did all of her own stunts one time she had to escape a burning room in real life okay a real life they was filming this cuz back then stunts were not you know they didn't really understand illusion as well as they do today so a lot out of these stunts if someone was escaping a burning building they literally was escaping a burning building if they were escaping a a car that was blowing up it was literally a car blowing up you catch my drifts so Peggy did this one St one time where she had to escape a burning room for a scene only to find her supposed exit engulfed in flames scrambling to a window as a last result she found that too was on fire it was a miracle she made it out unscathed okay so there was no escape from this Burning situation and somehow she ended up getting out but can you imagine putting a child through that the tarot in her eyes and realizing that oh my goodness I probably could have died in his but then right when she get out she had to go right back to work [Music] [Applause] I can't even imagine despite being the family's main source of income Peggy had no say over her earnings her parents controlled everything splurging on lavish Lifestyles while Peggy saw almost none of it just a nickel per Ville show as her allowance while they lived in luxury she bore the weight of their extravagance Peggy was no fool she knew exactly what her life entailed contrary to her mother's claims to reporters that filming was all fun and games for Peggy the truth was starkly different Peggy herself admitted she hardly knew what playing meant because her childhood was consumed by work education which should have been a priority was sidelined schooling took a backseat to film sets leaving Peggy and her sister with little normaly or academic Foundation dreams of further education seemed impossible as Peggy Grew Older not just because of the demanding schedule but because there was no money left for her future her parents had blown through her Fortune with little thought for tomorrow their Reckless spinning didn't just eat away out Peggy's earnings it devoured her chances at a life beyond the camera's glare and her father Jack Montgomery was a horrible father he was a puppet master behind Peggy's career making all the calls and never letting her step on set without him by her side Jack's ego was something else actually tried to snatch some of the Limelight for himself claiming that Peggy's success was all thanks to her being obedient to him completely sidelining her own Talent that's just terrible right well Karma didn't you hear a stage moms but he was definitely a stage dad and he made it be known that she wouldn't be Peggy if I didn't hold an Iron Fist and made her force her to be obedient Karma didn't take too long to knock at his door in 1925 Jack picked a fight he could not win squabbling with producer so lesser over Peggy's paycheck bad move ler didn't just get mad he got even by tearing up Peggy's contract and literally telling everybody hey her father is terrible y don't want to work with her because he just he does too much he does too much and just like that Hollywood turned its back on Peggy leaving her with only a minor role in what would be her last movie at just 7 years old her film career was over all thanks to her dad but Peggy wasn't about to exit stage left from Showbiz while Hollywood might have given her the cold shoulder her vaille career was just warming up for four grueling years she toured non-stop initially folks didn't know what to make of it but soon enough Peggy had won them over earning respect and admiration she even snagged an invite as a special guest at the prestigious Palace Theater in New York City though she was too young to perform there the road however was far from kind poor Peggy battled through one health issue after another often suffering from tonsilitis among other elments and despite feeling under the weather she powered through her performances sometimes needing buckets on either side of the stage for her to throw up that's how sick and nauseous she was but instead of being like let's take a break you're not doing too well they're like you know what the show must go on put some buckets on both sides in case you need to quickly grow up and go back on stage can you imagine it was far from the Glamorous Life people imagined then came the real storm even as Peggy star in film dim her family's lavish spinning blazed on she wasn't getting work like that but they were still spending as if she was and to make matters worse her grandfather took off with a chunk of her Fortune even the grandparents were part of the con artist just taken from her the money she made from vaille helped patch things up a little a little bit but their fancy Lifestyles were a ticking Time Bomb eventually they had to sell their Beverly Hills mansion but that barely scratched the surface of their financial woes seeking a fresh start they moved to a ranch in Wyoming funded by the last of Peggy's earnings D her father dreamed of transforming this Ranch into a luxurious retreat but then the stock market crash of 1929 hit shattering those dreams caught in the grip of the Great Depression Peggy and her family faced Hard Times headon marking a stark contrast from the glitzy life they once knew Peggy's childhood of stardom had morphed into a tail of caution shadowed by Financial ruin and personal hardship Peggy might have found herself kneed deep in poverty but she managed to spot a glimmer of hope in her new simpler Life Away From The Glitz and glamour unfortunately that little bit of Peace was short-lived the family's financial situation hit rock bottom forcing them to sell whatever precious belongings they had left just to scrape by with no other choice Peggy along with her family had borrowed $300 from a kind-hearted friend and they made the trip back to Hollywood but the Hollywood they returned to was not the one they left it had moved on to the era of takis leaving silent film stars like Peggy in the dust now a teenager her she was not hot commodity anymore Peggy found herself practically invisible in an industry where she once shown brightly the best she could do was land gigs as an extra earning am measly $3 a day alongside others who had fallen from Grace undeterred Peggy tried to claw her way back to relevance she snagged a photo up with Douglas Fairbanks senior and even got herself a new manager in hopes of stirring up some buzz but then a nasty rumor about a botch screen test I was like ah she sucks she did a screen test and she sucks by the way the screen test never actually happened but it spread like wildfire sabotaging any chance of a comeback the situation at home went from bad to worse the Montgomery were now living off of food coupons which is similar to like food stamps as a far cry from their once lavish lifestyle what's crazy about this is she was making $23 million a year for the better of like four to 5 years of her life can you imagine making 23 do the math if anyone's really good at math that should be over 5 to 6 years 20 three I'd say over aund million right over $100 million that her family just squandered like that that's how irresponsible they were with the money and they had no savings no funds and these were a whole bunch of adults even the grandparents like I said took their money and dipped and dipped and never even saw Peggy again she was being used by all of these people that took all of this money that she grew up never having spent or seen a dime of all of this money her her family literally squandered it on lavish Lifestyle on cars trips you know just nice outfits all of those things and it just H it's heartbreaking to the point where now they were practically on food stamps and government assistance can you imagine a multi-millionaire family now not even within 10 years not even 10 years later that's what you call Financial irresponsibility they were on food stamps and that was during an era where everything was like 10 cents you could buy a house for literally a dollar and you were on food stamps that's crazy when it came to school so the school board ended up stepping in and was like hey she's at the age where she has to go to school so it became non-negotiable for the family and Peggy and her sister ended up at the Lawler Professional School designed for child actors putting them in the same Circle as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland however being around successful peers did nothing to lift Peggy's Spirit the family Dynamic was deteriorating fast the pressure to make in's meet took a toll on Peggy's parents' marriage leading to constant conflict now that there was no money they were just angry and fighting and all the pressure was going on poor little Peggy's shoulders yet despite their own troubles they didn't hesitate to exploit Peggy further driven by an insatiable greed this toxic environment wrecked havoc on Peggy's mental health leading to multiple nervous breakdowns the safe haven she once sought in her home life was nowhere to be found fed up with everything 17-year-old Peggy did the unthinkable she finally had the courage to run away taking her sister with her it seemed like the end of the road for her Hollywood dreams but fate had a Twist in store a few years down the line Peggy stumbled upon an unexpected opportunity for payback to her toxic family back in the day when Peggy was the darling of Hollywood there wasn't a single rule on the books to protect kids like her in Showbiz fast forward to 1938 and Jackie kougan another kid star who got the raw end of the deal like Peggy took his folks to court for blowing through the fortune he made when Peggy's parents caught wind of this they were shaking in their boots worried that she'll pull the same move and try to sue them and they was like we already got money please don't try to sue us she had compassion on them um and they straight up asked her if she was planning to sue them too but Peggy seeing no real benefit in it for herself decided against it because if I sued you guys what would I get from me I don't even have money to begin with you know but here's the kicker even though Peggy didn't drag her parents through the legal mud her story still Sparks some major changes in California law come 1939 the state passed the California child actors Bill better known as the kugan ACT named after you guessed it Jackie kugan this law was a game changer making sure child actors weren't treated like ATMs by their parents and actually got to keep some of their hard-earned cash in a trust Peggy might not have seen a dime of her lost Fortune but thanks to her and kogan's Nightmare Stories the kids coming after them had a Fighting Chance cut to Peggy trying to make a life for herself away from her family and adulthood wasn't exactly welcoming her with open arms Hollywood still felt like a closed door but it wasn't all doom and gloom on the set of our Wilderness she bummed into Gordon a a bartender with stars in his eyes just like her and 3 years down the line they tied the KN and Peggy now Diana airs and her new hubby's last name she was ready for a fresh start but she was wrong there would be no fresh start changing her name to Diana didn't magically fix her career woles she still ended up as just an extra and to add insult to injury there were Whispers around town that she and Gordon were barely scraping by in New York surviving on Donuts while he B attended and she hunted down acting gigs so that was her meals for a while she was just eating donuts can you imagine again making millions before the age of seven and then now in your you know early 20s you're just eating Donuts to survive I I can't imagine and Hollywood hadn't changed Its Spots chewed you up and spit you out right now as an adult Diana found herself facing a different kind of Danger on set wasn't getting jobs like we said it was more extra gigs and there were creepy guys who would hang around offering massages or dropping sley comments to the beautiful girls there promising them a brighter future if you know you did favorites for them so she could have went further if she wanted to but she had to you know you know you catch the drip sadly Diana wasn't immune to this advances and but she was smart about it she figured out pretty quickly that being seen as an intellectual was like repellent to these creeps she was not down for that life she was like I'd rather go broke I'm not doing this I'm not I've been through enough with my parents no so showing up to work she would come to the sets with a huge book in hand that kept them at Bay whether it was a thesaurus or a book with like 2,000 Pages she would come with her book and just pretend to be reading all the time and they left her alone because to them was like man I want an easier Target and she went out of her way to not look like an easy target I am intellectual I will report you and I am not down for that LE some flowering emojis for her Integrity we love to see it and life for Diana kept turning pages but not all chapters were filled with joy after 10 years with airs their marriage ended in divorce and in the aftermath Diana saw A New Path converting to becoming a Catholic and changing her name once more this time to Diana Sarah a nod to her confirmation name the glimmer of acting had long faded for Diana from the GetGo she wasn't exactly keen on her acting gig But as time passed it went from mild distaste to outright disdain she really started to hate the industry it was like I don't really want to be in Hollywood anymore exciting enough was enough she ditched the acting scene for good rolling up her sleeves to tackle the real world she dabbled in jobs like switchboard operator bookstore assistant and even manage a gift shop but it was her love for books that eventually steered her towards her most rewarding career yet in 1954 tapping into her creative side Diana launched a greeting card company later she found herself managing a bookstore at the University of California in San Diego and throughout the 60s while also carving out a niche as a freelance magazine writer and journalist covering historical and religious topics she tied the knot with artist Robert KY in 1954 adopting his surname to become Diana Sarah Cary together they welome his son and shared a lifetime of memories until Robert's passing in 2001 Adventure called and the couple answered moving to Quan aaka Mexico before settling back in the US in 1970 it was here that Diana's career took yet another intriguing turn back in California Diana dove into the history of the Silver Screen emerging as a respected film historian and author her first book The Hollywood p published in 1975 Drew from her father's Cowboy inment tals but it was her 1978 work Hollywood's children that shed light on the Grim realities child stars faced echoing the horrors she knew all too well the time had come for Diana to confront her own ghost in 1996 she buried her soul in whatever happened to Baby Peggy the autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer child star chronicling her tumultuous childhood her financial misdeeds of her parents writing her Memoir was more than just a trip down memory lane it was a form of healing a way to process the past but Diana's Mission didn't end with sharing her story she championed the cause of child performers rights joining forces with a minor consideration a nonprofit aimed at advocating for young entertainers and Diana took to public speaking hoping to Enlighten audiences at movie screenings about the pitfalls of child stup and despite facing hurdles she remained committed to protecting those following in her footsteps fighting tirelessly to ensure no other child star would have to walk the treacherous path that she did dealing with Stage parents was like walking through a Minefield for Diana having grown up as a child of two such parents you'd think she'd have the inside track on handling them but nope it was just as tough at her talks trying to make these parents see sense was like talking to a wall she throw out zingers like how a toddler can exactly Walt up to a studio door on their own to highlight how absurd some expectations were yet as the years tickled by Diana found herself more open than ever about her roller coaster of a past so can you guys believe that though she was doing the speaking engagements there were still parents of child actors that refused to see the light and they just could not understand and no matter what analogies she used to try to get to these parents a lot of these parents were just seeing the money they all they were doing this makes me think of the whole R Kelly thing in a different light these parents would literally sell their children and people don't talk about this enough I just it's unbelievable instead Diana stepped into the spotlight of documentaries like Turner Classics Movies baby Peggy the elephant in the room and HBO's Showbiz Kids sharing the nitty-gritty details of her life as a child star and I should watch the elephant in the room it's way more detailed than you know obviously what doing her candidness about the highs and lows of being thrust into Fame at such a young age spoke volumes of her growth and acceptance of her path even as the years piled on Diana never hit the breaks celebrating her 99th birthday in 2017 she ventured into new territory by self-publishing her first novel The drowning of the Moon the story whisk Greers away to New Spain unraveling the life of an aristocratic woman this bold step into self-publishing was a crowning moment for Diana when Diana Sarah KY once known to the world as baby Peggy the pints side sensation of the silent film era passed away on February 24th 2020 at the ripe age of 101 she was 101 years old she left behind a legacy just 10 days before her passing she had spoken with silence is platinum a silent film blog still wielding her voice for the cause that had shaped so much of her life and career to the very end she remained dedicated to shedding light on the harsh realities of child's stardom a testament to enduring commitment to making the entertainment world a better place for the stars of tomorrow and I believe that she lived so long because she escaped Hollywood had she stayed there she probably unfortunately would have had the fate of Judy Garland or Shirley Temple because she was already having mental breakdowns and she was having identity crisis by the time she was a teenager if she kept getting work she probably would have ended up on substances like Judy Garland you know cuz Judy Garland was going through similar situations and ended up having to just be on substances until she ended up dying you guys should check out her story also I'll put both Shirley Temple and Judy Garland's videos in the end cards but I'll pin Shirley temples in the comment section for you guys but this is just a very sad beginning but a triumphant end okay I'm very proud of her I'm very happy for her sticking through her guns and this is one of the stories that could have went worse but you know she her story was used as a cautionary tale and wow true definition of not Everything That Glitters Is Gold okay leave some flower emojis in the comments for her and what are your thoughts especially about her Father which is just crazy if you like the music you listen to in the background the link is in the description comment below who else would you guys like for me to do a video for I love you guys so much thank you for tuning in until next time

Channel: Karine Alourde Biographies 🇭🇹

Views: 106,999

Keywords: old hollywood scandals, old hollywood, forgotten old hollywood scandals, hollywood scandals, scandals, hollywood, classic hollywood scandals, scandals of old hollywood, old hollywood scandal, biggest old hollywood scandals of the 1940s, old hollywood scandals you've never heard of, history forgot these old hollywood scandals, old hollywood controversies, 1940s hollywood scandals, hollywood scandals 1970s, hollywood scandals 1980s, golden age of hollywood, Peggy

Id: 9GDG1bMD0TY

Length: 34min 53sec (2093 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2024