Biography
Peggy Wood was an American actress and singer. Born Mary Margaret Wood in Brooklyn, New York, she began her career in the chorus of the 1910 Broadway production Naughty Marietta and rose to prominence on stage, starring in musicals such as Maytime (1917). She appeared in numerous Broadway and London productions over five decades, including the original New York production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit (1941).
Wood’s film roles were fewer but included Miss Phillips in A Star Is Born (1937). She is best known for playing the title character in the television series Mama (1949–1957), for which she received Emmy nominations, Naomi in The Story of Ruth (1960), and Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music (1965), earning Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for the latter. She died in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1978.
