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| Peggy Howard |
| born: 14 July 1903 Paola, Kansas, United States of America |
died: 06 March 1999 (last residence) El Dorado, California, United States of America (age 95) |
| Brown-haired, grey/blue-eyed American actress. She lived in Kansas City, San Diego and Los Angeles and was educated at Imperial Valley High School. As per the October 13, 1928 edition of Motion Picture News, she was signed to Universal, to make her first appearance in The Collegians (likely the 1926-29 series of shorts with George Lewis, Dorothy Gulliver and Eddie Phillips). Jesse Brisson research: Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep 1928: ". . . 21 years of age [really 25 years] . . . was given a contract by Carl Laemmle, president of Universal Pictures. . . . Miss Howard is a native of Paola, Kan., and resides here at 817 South Hobart Boulevard. She crashed the extra line two months ago." Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec 1929: Actress Florence "Peggy" Howard is getting a divorce from Floyd Roy Howard; Mr. Howard himself "obtained an interlocutory divorce a year ago on grounds of desertion, when Mrs. Howard did not appear in court to contest the suit. He did not show a disposition to have the final decree entered, however, and Mrs. Howard attended to that matter herself. So her friends in Hollywood are asking each other if she does not have further matrimonial prospects in mind." The 1929 divorce article in particular gave me two important leads: "Peggy's" real first name was Florence, and "Howard" was her married name. I took to Ancestry to look up anyone named Florence, born 14 July (the date we have for her from the Blue Book/Almanac bios) in the 1900s in Paola, Kansas, USA. A match was found in the Social Security Applications and Claims Index at Ancestry for a Florence S. Roberts, born 14 July 1903 in Paola, Kansas to Jesse R. Turley and Lola L. Blanchard, died 06 March 1999; the "notes" revealed her middle initial of "S" stood for Samantha. A further Find a Grave match revealed she was interred at Placerville Union Cemetery in Placerville, California, USA. Eventually, I was able to determine Florence married a Philip Vincent "Phil" Roberts (b. Nevada, 1902-1974) sometime during the 1930s and had a son, James Philip Roberts, in 1941 in Fresno County, California, USA. In continuing my search, I found two records which are important as they give Florence's name as "Peggy," all but completely linking the two. In the 1940 Census (taken 29 April 1940), the Robertses, Phil V. (age 36, b. Nevada) and Peggy (age 36, b. Kansas) are living at 936 Simpson Ave., Fresno, California, USA. Phil lived in the "same place" in 1935, while Peggy lived in Los Angeles at that time. Phil is an accountant for "wholesale oil & gas," while Peggy is a photography retoucher. Next was Phil's obituary in the Reno Gazette-Journal, 14 Sep 1974: "Phil V. Roberts, 72, of Pollock Pines, Calif., died Thursday in a Placerville, Calif. hospital. He was born in Winnemucca [Nevada], May 14, 1902, and attended schools there. Roberts worked for the Winnemucca Post Office and the City of Winnemucca. He also worked for Shell Oil Co. in Fresno, Calif. Surviving are his widow, Peggy, of Pollock Pines; sister, Rose Arant of Reno, two grandchildren and several nieces and nephews." Given that the birth date and birth place match the ones given in her Blue Book/Almanac bios, that the 1929 L.A. Times article gives her name as "Florence," and finally, that the 1940 Census and husband's obituary call her "Peggy," I am convinced that "Peggy Howard" and Florence Samantha (Turley) Roberts are one in the same... |
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Real name: Florence Samantha Turley Height: 5'2" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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