Peggy Webber

Margaret "Peggy" Webber (September 15, 1925 – August 15, 2026) was an American actress and writer who worked in film, stage, television, and radio.

Webber was known for her supporting role as Lady Macduff in Orson Welles's 1948 adaption of Macbeth, as Alice Dennerly in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Wrong Man and for her leading role as Jenni Whitlock in the 1958 horror film The Screaming Skull. On television, she was notable for her frequent appearances on M Squad (1957–1960) and Dragnet (1967–1970).

Early years The daughter of a wildcat oil driller, Margaret Webber was born in Laredo, Texas, on September 15, 1925. Before she was three years old, she was entertaining audiences at intermission times in theaters.

Career Following her father's death and her family's loss of wealth, Webber and her mother moved to Hollywood to start her acting career. Her vocal talents for radio were highlighted in Time magazine's August 5, 1946, issue. The Radio: Vocal Varieties article noted, "In three years, her latex voice has supplied radio with 150 different characters on some 2,500 broadcasts."

Programs on which she was heard included The Dreft Star Playhouse, The Woman in My House, Pete Kelly's Blues, Dr. Paul, The Damon Runyon Theater, and The Man Called X. She played the part of Ella McIntyre in the 1956 Quicksand episode of "Cheyenne". She also played abused sister Flora Stancil in the 1957 Gunsmoke episode "Cheap Labor". She had three children.

Recognition Webber received the 2014 Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre, "which celebrates a lifetime of achievement in this sonic art". She was the first woman so honored.

Selected filmography