Plain Beautiful: The Life of Peggy Ann Garner

by Sandra Grabman, Margaret O'Brien (Contributor)

Peggy Ann Garner first won the hearts of Americans everywhere with her performance as the title character in the 1943 film adaptation of "Jane Eyre." Twelve-year-old Peggy Ann then gave an Oscar-winning performance in the 1945 film "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," going on to appear in many other films over the course of her career. After the studio system broke up, she guest-starred on many of television s top shows from the 1950s to the 70s, including "Studio One," "The US Steel Hour," "Bonanza," "Naked City," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Untouchables," "Batman," and "Police Woman."

In "Plain Beautiful," Sandra Grabman has painted a loving but evenhanded portrait of Peggy Ann Garner through family letters and communication with friends Carol Burnett, Gregory Peck, Johnny Sheffield, Margaret O Brien, and others. This audiobook is read by the author, whose other BearManor Media books include "Spotlights & Shadows: The Albert Salmi Story" and "Pat Buttram: The Rocking-Chair Humorist." She is also the coauthor of "No Retakes!""

Genres: Nonfiction

7 pages, MP3 CD

First published February 2, 2005

About the author

I formerly authored biographies of Albert Salmi, Peggy Ann Garner, and Pat Buttram, while also collaborating with retired actor Wright King on "No Retakes!" about the era of live television and with radio-man Joel Blumberg on "Lloyd Nolan: An Actor's Life With Meaning." Once my publisher hired me as his secretary, I wrote one more book, Petrocelli: San Remo Justice (aka An Episode Guide and Much More), then retired from writing to concentrate on processing book orders and handling the company's phone calls.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author drank the stage-mom's Koolaide before she wrote this book. According to Graham, Peggy's mother was a trusting, loving soul who only had her daughter's best interests at heart. Never mind that she was in jail several times for writing bad checks, drank heavily, and spent money they didn't have - she has no idea what happened to the money Peggy earned, and can't understand why her daughter ran away to New York at age 17! Plot holes and unverified statements abound, since the author would quote mom's letters full of paranoia and blame as gospel truth. A waste of what could have been a good story.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terribly interesting, even though "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" is one of my favorite movies. The author should have co-credited Peggy's mother; a pretty good chunk of the book is made up of her letters. Overall, a pretty sad life for Peggy, her mother, her daughter, and her ex-husband.

[Britt · Rating 1 out of 5]

For old Hollywood books, this one is pretty dull, but it does involve an actress I don't really care much about. I was surprised that there was so much scandal if you want to call it that. Peggy seemed like such a wholesome child actor so I was surprised to hear her mom was constantly in jail and such.