child film star shares her experiences growing up and offers insight into the lives of child stars, the burdens she carried, Hollywood's beginnings, and the forgotten world of the vaudeville circuit.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Baby Peggy was Cary's (Hollywood's Children) moniker as Hollywood's first major child star; by the time she was three, in the early 1920s, she was already a millionaire. Cary "grew up in Hollywood, having entered films in 1920, a mere eight years after it became the hub of movie-making. Its infancy was my own." Here, she recounts her youthful enchantment with Tinseltown and the disillusionment that came as she aged and as her career, stymied by the advent of the talkies, crashed and burned. Although Cary doesn't dwell on her emotional scars, she's frank about the demanding side of being a child star, and about the difficulties of adjusting to everyday trials?which later in her life included dire poverty?after life as a celebrity. She also portrays the changes Hollywood underwent between the wars, when it became an American institution, and describes numerous encounters with the rich and famous (Cecil B. DeMille, Ronald Colman, etc.). Her honest, well-told account of her unusually rich life, as well as of Hollywood during its formative years, should interest even those who have never heard of Baby Peggy. Photos, not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Numerous tales of 1920s Hollywood exist, but this autobiography of child-actor Baby Peggy-turned-freelance writer Cary (Hollywood Children, LJ 12/15/78) stands out. Born in 1918, Peggy became a silent-movie star at 19 months and was a "has been" by the age of six. She was "discovered" when she went on a studio tour with her mother and someone noticed how well she minded and sat still?that's all it took for Baby Peggy to become a movie star. The course of this intelligent child, able to emote and take direction well, was steered by her driven parents, who used her as their cash cow for her entire childhood. She never played with other children, not even her sister, whose own life was colored by Peggy's shadow. Happily, Peggy was a self-directed child who educated herself and would later take acting jobs only to please her parents and, eventually, get away from the abnormal life she had always despised. Baby Peggy's stormy life from movie star to vaudeville star to early maturity is expertly interwoven with vintage Hollywood tidbits and stories of her interesting, yet misguided, family. Along the way, present-day child stars' tales of drugs, violence, and family problems are revealed to have long roots. Highly recommended for general biography collections and performing arts collections.?Judy Hauser, Oakland Schs. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating,
By M "ireland19" (Lighthouse Pt, FL United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star (Hardcover)
This is one of the best biographies I have ever read. Diana Serra Cary was well known in the 1920's as Baby Peggy.This is her story. Beginning with her discovery while visiting a movie studio with her Mother and older sister, this book shows how a child not yet 2 years old becomes the family bread winner. It also lends insight into the unscrupulous abuse of children and animals in the motion picture industry. This book will move you to tears as you follow along this child stars life until she comes full circle to find the childhood that was once destroyed in show business.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Supreme Child Star of Silent Screen Writes Her Own Story,
By A Customer
This review is from: What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star (Hardcover)
This book was a big surprise, probably the best and most intimate story of an ex-child star. Baby Peggy was indisputably the top child actress in movie during the 1920's, the Shirley Temple of the silent screen (Shirley even remade some of her films.) Her stardom was naturally short-lived and Miss Cary quickly went from everybody's darling to "who?" Her lack of bitterness is remarkable and her outstanding writer's instincts give us a clearer picture of the life of a fallen ex-child star than we have ever had before. She writes beautifully (also the author of two other notable books) and deserves credit for bringing her often painful personal story to light. Most eyeopening for me was a rare look at how some of the powerful of Hollywood treat "nobodies" (which included the post-teenage Baby Peggy.) John Ford, Cecil B. DeMille, Hal Roach, Adela Rogers St. John - all written about in admirable prose by most journalists; here we get a new view when the press is away and the mighty abuse their power or either show a complete lack of concern for the extras and others who are viewed as of no more value than "a used Dixie cup" as Ms. Cary puts it. She also notes the struggles of other ex-child stars including Spanky McFarland and Darla Hood. Happily, after years of personal struggle Ms. Cary found happiness in a second marriage and a career as a writer. This is a book every person who ever thought of making a couple of bucks getting their kids into show business should read first.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RARE TREAT! Glorious history of the Silver Screen!,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star (Hardcover)
Doesn't leave out any of the gory details. Very informative. The author is very intelligent, likeable and has a great sense of humor. Fabulous writer. I only wish she had written more books.
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