Margaret Kerry (born May 11, 1929) is an American actress and radio
host, best known for her work as the model for Tinker Bell in the 1953
Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.Born as Peggy Lynch,
in Los Angeles, California to John Riley and Mary Eleanor (Henderson)
McCarty, she was quickly adopted. Her first role, at age 4, was as a
fairy in the 1935 film A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Max
Reinhardt. She worked under her real name as a dancer and actor in
three of the Our Gang comedy shorts. She attracted the attention of
Eddie Cantor, who cast her in the role of his teenage daughter in the
film If You Knew Susie. Cantor thought Lynch needed a more
theatrical-sounding name to be more noticeable as an actor, so she
officially became Margaret Kerry. She graduated from high school with
honors while working on the film and would later graduate cum laude
from Los Angeles City College.Still a teenager, Kerry played the role
of "Sharon" in the first network sitcoms, The Ruggles, on ABC-TV. The
show's farewell episode at the end of its three-year run featured
Sharon's wedding and honeymoon. Kerry also appeared in two episodes of
The Andy Griffith Show, and a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger. A
voiceover performer with twenty-one dialects and forty-eight character
voices, Kerry provided voices on 52 episodes of the groundbreaking
children's television show, Clutch Cargo, including characters
"Paddlefoot" and "Spinner". She provided numerous voices and
live-action lead-ins for The New Three Stooges and Space Angel
animated series for Cambria Productions.Kerry answered an audition
call during the planning stages of the animated feature film Peter
Pan. The audition, supervised by animator Marc Davis, required her to
pantomime the motions that would be used as live-action reference for
the animation of Tinker Bell. As Tinker Bell was to be non verbal, her
movements would be integral, and Davis sought a dancer that could help
embody the character. Kerry won the part and spent six months at the
Disney Studios on a mostly empty sound stage pantomiming the part. The
studios provided props, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as
well as a pair of giant scissors, used in the scene where Tinker Bell
became trapped in a jewelry box. Kerry also provided the voice and
reference movements of the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon
scene.
host, best known for her work as the model for Tinker Bell in the 1953
Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.Born as Peggy Lynch,
in Los Angeles, California to John Riley and Mary Eleanor (Henderson)
McCarty, she was quickly adopted. Her first role, at age 4, was as a
fairy in the 1935 film A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Max
Reinhardt. She worked under her real name as a dancer and actor in
three of the Our Gang comedy shorts. She attracted the attention of
Eddie Cantor, who cast her in the role of his teenage daughter in the
film If You Knew Susie. Cantor thought Lynch needed a more
theatrical-sounding name to be more noticeable as an actor, so she
officially became Margaret Kerry. She graduated from high school with
honors while working on the film and would later graduate cum laude
from Los Angeles City College.Still a teenager, Kerry played the role
of "Sharon" in the first network sitcoms, The Ruggles, on ABC-TV. The
show's farewell episode at the end of its three-year run featured
Sharon's wedding and honeymoon. Kerry also appeared in two episodes of
The Andy Griffith Show, and a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger. A
voiceover performer with twenty-one dialects and forty-eight character
voices, Kerry provided voices on 52 episodes of the groundbreaking
children's television show, Clutch Cargo, including characters
"Paddlefoot" and "Spinner". She provided numerous voices and
live-action lead-ins for The New Three Stooges and Space Angel
animated series for Cambria Productions.Kerry answered an audition
call during the planning stages of the animated feature film Peter
Pan. The audition, supervised by animator Marc Davis, required her to
pantomime the motions that would be used as live-action reference for
the animation of Tinker Bell. As Tinker Bell was to be non verbal, her
movements would be integral, and Davis sought a dancer that could help
embody the character. Kerry won the part and spent six months at the
Disney Studios on a mostly empty sound stage pantomiming the part. The
studios provided props, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as
well as a pair of giant scissors, used in the scene where Tinker Bell
became trapped in a jewelry box. Kerry also provided the voice and
reference movements of the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon
scene.
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