Peg LaCentra

Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra (April 10, 1910 – June 1, 1996) was an American contralto LaCentra studied at the Fenway Academy of Dramatic Art and the New England Conservatory of Music and graduated from Katharine Gibbs College.

Radio LaCentra worked as an announcer at WNAC before moving to New York in 1931 to work on network radio broadcasts. In December 1934, she began singing with Harry Reser and his orchestra on a new weekly program on NBC.

In 1935, a group of five radio stars selected LaCentra and Bob Lawrence to star in a new program, The Radio City Party, on NBC-Blue. Also in 1935, she was the leading lady on Max Baer's radio program. She gained her own program, The Peg LaCentra Show, on NBC in 1938, a year in which she also sang on For Men Only on NBC.

LaCentra was one of the stars of the Gulden's Mustard Serenade, a 15-minute variety show broadcast on NBC twice weekly in 1940. She and singer Jerry Wayne co-starred in a twice-weekly musical program on CBS in 1944. As a dramatic actress, she frequently played supporting roles in Mutual's romantic thriller, The Modern Adventures of Casanova (1952).

In addition to her work on network radio, LaCentra recorded programs for NBC's Thesaurus music service.

Stage and television

LaCentra appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Hamilton in The Patriots (1943). In 1957, she appeared in a production of the romantic comedy Janus at the Pasadena Playhouse.

On television, she played Amanda on the CBS comedy series The Marge and Gower Champion Show (1957).

Orchestras and recordings In 1932, LaCentra sang with Phil Spitalny and his orchestra. Her first recording was "The Fortune Teller" (1934) with Johnny Green's orchestra on the Columbia label. She also appeared in short films, and sang in cafe sequences in Humoresque (1946).

Personal life LaCentra married actor Paul Stewart in 1939. For years, they had a commuter marriage, as she worked in New York and he made films in Hollywood.

Death On June 1, 1996, LaCentra died at age 86 of a heart attack at her home in Los Angeles.