Peggy Rea

Acting

Peggy Rea

Born 1921-03-31 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Peggy Jane Rea was a Los Angeles-born American actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters. Before she became an actress, Rea left UCLA to attend business school. She landed a job as a production secretary at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s. Later, she was an assistant to writer-musician Kay Thompson until Thompson dropped her in April 1948. Some of the points of discord apparently included Rea's insistence on staying at the Algonquin Hotel (rather than Essex House, where Thompson was staying), and disappearing, on at least one occasion, on the eve of their New York opening to see Born Yesterday on Broadway without telling Thompson. The time had come for Peggy to make her mark as the character actress she was born to be. She quickly landed on her feet with a supporting role in the National Road Company production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (as Eunice Hubbell, 1948–1949) starring Anthony Quinn. Thompson severed ties with Rea, however the younger woman kept in touch with other members of Thompson's family, including Thompson's mother, brother and younger sister, with whom she enjoyed cordial relations.

Acting credits

Valley of the Dolls poster
6.0

Lured by their dreams of fame and fortune, three ambitious young women enter the world of show business and discover how easy it is to sink into a celebrity nightmare of ego, alcohol and pills — the beloved "dolls."

Valley of the Dolls

1967

Devil in a Blue Dress poster
6.5

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

Devil in a Blue Dress

1995

Made in America poster
5.5

A young black woman discovers that her father was a sperm donor, and if that wasn't bad enough, he's white.

Made in America

1993

The Night Stalker poster
6.9

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

The Night Stalker

1972

Love Field poster
6.1

Dallas housewife Lurene Hallett's life revolves around the doings of Jacqueline Kennedy. She is devastated when President Kennedy is shot a few hours after she sees him arrive in Dallas. Despite her husband Ray's prohibition, she decides to attend the funeral in Washington, D.C. Forced to travel by bus, she befriends Jonell, the young black daughter of Paul Couter. Sensing something wrong, her good intentioned interference leads the mixed race threesome on an increasingly difficult journey to Washington with both the police and Ray looking for them.

Love Field

1992

7 Faces of Dr. Lao poster
6.9

An old Chinese man rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the citizens see themselves reflected in the mirror of Lao's mysterious circus of mythical beasts.

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

1964

In Country poster
5.6

Samantha Hughes, a teenaged Kentucky girl, never knew her father, who died in Vietnam before her birth. Samantha lives with her uncle Emmett, who also served in Vietnam. Emmett hangs around with Tom, Earl, and Pete, three other Vietnam vets who, like Emmett, all have problems of one kind or another that relate to their war experiences. Samantha becomes obsessed with finding out about her father.

In Country

1989

Strange Bedfellows poster
6.0

After a hasty wedding, Carter and Toni find that they disagree on everything. They separate and seven years later, on the eve before their divorce, meet again and spend the night together. Reality sets in when morning comes and they begin arguing again. Once again, divorce proceedings are on — until Carter finds out that an important promotion hinges on whether he's married.

Strange Bedfellows

1965

Lipstick poster
5.4

A top fashion model seeks justice after getting sexually assaulted by her teenage sister's obsessive music teacher.

Lipstick

1976

The Cracker Factory poster
9.3

Drama depicting the problems of a suburban housewife suffering from fits of depression and alcoholism, and her stay in a psychiatric center after a feeble suicide attempt.

The Cracker Factory

1979

Cold Turkey poster
6.3

Reverend Brooks leads his small Iowa town in a contest to stop smoking for a month. But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will win a huge prize.

Cold Turkey

1971

The Learning Tree poster
6.8

The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.

The Learning Tree

1969

Hamburger: The Motion Picture poster
4.5

Russell has been expelled from several schools for lewd, crude and nude conduct. Busterburger University is his last chance at education and satisfying his disappointed parents.

Hamburger: The Motion Picture

1986

Fun and Games poster
7.0

A divorcee decides to fight back after her hopes of gaining a promotion are dashed by her rejection of the advances of her boss, and it is only after he actually attacks her that her company and her union take notice.

Fun and Games

1980

Angel of Death poster
6.5

Escaped convict Gary Nicholson falls in love becomes obsessed with artist Laura Hendricks. He vows to protect her and her six-year-old son from any and all antagonists.

Angel of Death

1990

What's the Matter with Helen? poster
5.9

Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood, California after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.

What's the Matter with Helen?

1971

Looking for Love poster
5.8

An aspiring young singer unexpectedly gets her big break by inventing a specialized clothes rack.

Looking for Love

1964

A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion poster
7.3

The fourth Waltons reunion TV movie is set in the 1960s , with John-Boy still living in New York, trying to persuade his fiancée to marry him. Meanwhile, Ben and Cindy's daughter Virginia has died, and Cindy is finding life very lonely without her. She tells Ben that she would dearly love to adopt another baby, but Ben feels that it is not a good idea. Ben argues with his father about buying a new truck for their lumber company, but John keeps insisting that they can't afford it. Elsewhere, Erin now has three children and is separated from Paul. Her decision to start seeing another man causes some indignation among the other Walton family members. Ike and Corabeth become grandparents when Aimee has a daughter, while Elizabeth returns from Europe and reunites with Drew, her old beau.

A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion

1993

The Gift of Love poster
6.7

Inspired by O. Henry's short story about a young bride and groom, each of whom foolishly--but quite lovingly--sacrifices a treasured possession to buy the perfect Christmas gift for their mate.

The Gift of Love

1978

Nothing But the Truth poster
10.0

A polygraph examiner has an affair with a murder suspect after her test clears him, but new evidence then suggests that he's guilty after all.

Nothing But the Truth

1995

Blood Sport poster
7.9

A searing commentary on the "win at all costs" mentality of American high school sports. David Lee Birdsong is the smalltown quarterback hoping to escape with a college scholarship and a pro career. David's father is the overbearing taskmaster vicariously living through his son. The third side of the triangle is Coach Marshall, a hypercritical and cruel man who sees David as the key to his future success. David's lockstep commitment to his father and coach is altered when he witnesses a teammate die after a grueling practice.

Blood Sport

1973

Win, Place or Steal poster
8.0

Three friends have two things in common: (1) they like to bet on the horses at the track, and (2) they invariably lose. One day they hit upon a scheme to steal one of the track's betting machines, so that they'd be able to print winning tickets and recoup the money they've lost over the years. However, things don't go exactly as planned.

Win, Place or Steal

1975

Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid poster
7.0

A turn-of-the-century investigator named Kate Bliss goes to the wide-open spaces of the wild west to capture a gang of outlaws led by a charming "Robin Hood of the plains," leading a band of dispossessed ranchers against a stuffy English land baron who has cheated them out of their property.

Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid

1978

Curfew poster
5.2

Two brothers whose grisly killing spree has landed them on death row plot a daring escape, breaking free from prison with vengeance in mind, and setting targets in the form of the key witnesses against them.

Curfew

1989