An Afternoon with Silent Film Star 'Baby Peggy'

(image source: Niles Essanay Silent Movie Museum)

In the 1920s, Diana Serra Cary was known as "Baby Peggy." Signed to a million dollar contract at age five, this child actress was once one of the biggest little film star celebrities in the world. At this special event, Cary will speak about her remarkable life in Hollywood more than 80 years ago, her recent work as a writer and film historian, and her lifelong love of books and reading. A short film is included and a book signing will follow.

This event will be presented on Sunday, August 7, 2011, at 2:00 PM in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library, Level. All programs at the Library are free and open to the public. This program is supported by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

This event is offered in conjunction with the library exhibition "Reading the Stars: The Silent Era." This special exhibit, on display on the in the Steve Silver Room on the Library’s fourth floor, looks at some of the many books about movies and movies stars published more than 80 years ago during the silent film era; the exhibit is part of "Shhhhh! Silents in the Library."

Exhibit organizers Thomas Gladysz, Christy Pascoe and Donna Hill will lead a guided tour of the exhibit from 1:00 to 1:30 preceding An Afternoon with Silent Film Star 'Baby Peggy.'

To learn more about life and career of Diana Serra Cary, read “The Return of Baby Peggy” by Thomas Gladysz.


Books by Diana Serra Cary:

The Hollywood Posse: The Story of a Gallant Band of Horsemen Who Made Movie History (Houghton Mifflin, 1975).

Hollywood's Children: An Inside Account of the Child Star Era / new foreword by Kevin Brownlow (Southern Methodist University Press, 1997).

Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King: A Biography of Hollywood's Legendary Child Star (Scarecrow Press, 2003).

What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy?: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star (St. Martin's Press, 1996).