Sandra Peabody (born January 11, 1948) is an American acting coach, talent agent, producer, and retired actress. She is primarily known for her roles in
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
s,
stage productions, television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
s, and her subsequent career in producing—earning an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 1992 for the children's television series ''Popcorn'' (1984–92).
Growing up in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...
, Peabody began acting in the mid 1960s, appearing on stage in ''
Enter Laughing
''Enter Laughing'' is a 1963 play by Joseph Stein.
A farce in two acts, it is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner. The action centers on the journey of young aspiring actor David Kolowitz as he tries to extricate himself fr ...
'' (1965) as Wanda and later in the
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
s ''
Misfit'' (1965) and ''
The Horse Killer'' (1966). In 1966, Peabody began studying drama at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
and
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a full-time professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of th ...
with acting teacher
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Grou ...
. After appearing in stage plays such as ''
The Odd Couple'', ''
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off'' (both 1969), and ''Tarot'' (1970), which opened at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
, Peabody shifted her focus to acting in feature films.
After appearing in the critically panned
sexploitation film
A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...
, ''
The Filthiest Show in Town
''The Filthiest Show in Town'' is a 2007 studio album by industrial music, industrial disco band My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.
Recording
''The Filthiest Show in Town'' was the band's second album recorded for Rykodisc. It was recorded and ...
'' (1971), Peabody found success when
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
cast her as the lead,
Mari Collingwood
Mari Collingwood is a fictional character in ''The Last House on the Left'' films. She first appears in ''The Last House on the Left'' (1972) as a hippie girl abducted on her seventeenth birthday by a fugitive family. Conceptualized by Wes Crave ...
, in his directorial debut ''
The Last House on the Left
''The Last House on the Left'' is a 1972 American exploitation horror film written, directed and edited by Wes Craven in his directorial debut. The film follows Mari Collingwood ( Sandra Peabody), a hippie teenager who is abducted, raped, and ...
'' (1972). She later appeared in films such as ''
Voices of Desire
''Voices of Desire'' is a 1972 horror film directed by Chuck Vincent under the stage name Mark Ubell. The film stars Sandra Peabody, Gus Thomas, and Marlene Willoughby. The plot concerns a young woman named Anna Reed (Peabody) who recounts he ...
'' (1972), ''
Massage Parlor Murders!
''Massage Parlor Murders!'' is a 1973 American exploitation- crime- horror film directed by Chester Fox and Alex Stevens. The film stars George Spencer, John Moser, Sandra Peabody, Brother Theodore and George Dzundza, who respectively portray Ri ...
'' (1973), ''
Legacy of Satan
''Legacy of Satan'' is a 1974 horror film written and directed by Gerard Damiano. It stars John Francis, Lisa Christian, Paul Barry, Deborah Horlen and Sandra Peabody, who respectively portray Dr. Muldavo, Maya, George, the High Priestess, and a ...
'' (1974), and ''
Teenage Hitchhikers
''Teenage Hitchhikers'' is a 1975 exploitation comedy road movie written, directed, and produced by Jerome S. Kaufmann. Kathie Christopher and Sandra Peabody star as Mouse and Bird, two teenage girls who embark on a journey West in search of fr ...
'' (1975)—all
exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
s.
After starring in the musical ''
Annie Get Your Gun'' (1973-74), opposite
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and producer best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom '' I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965-1970). Other notable roles include Roslyn Pierce opp ...
, and appearing sporadically on television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
s, Peabody decided to retire from acting and pursue a different career—becoming an acting coach and children's television producer, and has worked as a talent agent.
Life and career
Early roles
Sandra Lee Peabody was born on January 11, 1948. The daughter of M. O. Peabody, she grew up in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...
, where she pursued acting at a young age while attending
Stranahan High School.
In 1965, she portrayed Wanda in the stage production ''
Enter Laughing
''Enter Laughing'' is a 1963 play by Joseph Stein.
A farce in two acts, it is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner. The action centers on the journey of young aspiring actor David Kolowitz as he tries to extricate himself fr ...
''.
Peabody made her film debut as the lead actress in ''
Misfit'' (1965), a
faith-based
Faith-based may refer to:
* Faith-based organization
* Faith-based community organizing
* Faith-based school
* White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
* Faith Based (film)
''Faith Based'' is a 2020 American comedy film ...
film that delved into drug abuse, which was released into local churches. Peabody wasn't the original choice for the role; she replaced an actress who had become sick and had to leave the production. She later had a supporting role in Luke Moberly's
lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
mystery film
A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...
''
The Horse Killer'' (1966), another Florida production.
In search of broader acting opportunities, in 1966, Peabody got accepted into
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
to study drama and was selected to do
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...
at the
Priscilla Beach Theater.
She later studied with acting teacher
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Grou ...
at the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a full-time professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of th ...
.
[ ] In 1969, she had a role as
Gwendolyn Pigeon in
Neil Simon
Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...
's ''
The Odd Couple''. Mariruth Campbell of ''
The Journal News
''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett.
''The Journal News'' was created through a merger of ...
'' described her as being a "competent" actress.
She was later a part of the stage plays ''
Celebration'', ''
Little Mary Sunshine
''Little Mary Sunshine'' is a musical that parodies old-fashioned operettas and musicals. The book, music, and lyrics are by Rick Besoyan. The original Off-Broadway production premiered November 18, 1959 at the Orpheum Theatre in New York Cit ...
'', and ''
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off'' (all in 1969).
In 1970, Peabody had a supporting role in
Robert Kalfin
Robert Zangwill Kalfin (April 22, 1933 – September 20, 2022) was an American stage director and producer who has worked on and off Broadway and at regional theaters throughout the country. He was a former artistic director of the Cincinnati Pl ...
's
Off-Broadway production ''Tarot'' which ran at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
.
Additionally, in the early 1970s, she appeared sporadically on the television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
s ''
All My Children'', ''
As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...
'', ''
The Edge of Night
''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.
It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that netwo ...
'', and ''
One Life to Live''.
''The Last House on the Left''
Discovery (1972)
Her
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
career in New York City would mark a stark contrast to her ingenuous roles in ''Misfit'' and ''The Horse Killer''. In 1970, one of the first roles she signed onto was for the critically panned
sexploitation satire film ''
The Filthiest Show in Town
''The Filthiest Show in Town'' is a 2007 studio album by industrial music, industrial disco band My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.
Recording
''The Filthiest Show in Town'' was the band's second album recorded for Rykodisc. It was recorded and ...
'' (1970), a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of
dating game show
Dating game shows are game shows that incorporates a variety of matchmaking systems and services in the form of a game with clear rules. Human matchmaking is involved only in selecting the game's contestants, who are usually selected more for the ...
s. She appeared in the commercial segments. After this role, she went on a cross-country trip across the
West Coast. Upon returning home, she responded to a casting notice in the trade publication ''Backstage'' for a film under the working title ''Night of Vengeance''. She was originally asked to audition for the supporting role of Phyllis Stone. After meeting with producer
Sean S. Cunningham, she got the role of the seventeen-year-old protagonist
Mari Collingwood
Mari Collingwood is a fictional character in ''The Last House on the Left'' films. She first appears in ''The Last House on the Left'' (1972) as a hippie girl abducted on her seventeenth birthday by a fugitive family. Conceptualized by Wes Crave ...
. The film was originally planned to be a
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
pornographic horror film but, the filmmakers promised her it would just focus on the horror elements. It would ultimately be released as ''
The Last House on the Left
''The Last House on the Left'' is a 1972 American exploitation horror film written, directed and edited by Wes Craven in his directorial debut. The film follows Mari Collingwood ( Sandra Peabody), a hippie teenager who is abducted, raped, and ...
'', a loose remake of
Ingmar Bergman's ''
The Virgin Spring
''The Virgin Spring'' ( sv, Jungfrukällan) is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was a ...
'' (1960). Director
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
thought highly of Peabody, describing her as "pretty" and "plucky," but acknowledged she lacked the confidence required for the gritty shoot.
Production and aftermath
![Last House on the Left trailer screenshot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Last_House_on_the_Left_trailer_screenshot.jpg)
''The Last House on the Left'' was a difficult production for Peabody. The film did not have a complete script at the time of filming, and Peabody was in a vulnerable mental state due to the lack of preparation for her scenes. She has expressed contempt towards her overall performance. Peabody spent a lot of time on the set with Craven, who often encouraged her throughout filming her scenes. She endured an excessive amount of abuse from the lead actors
David A. Hess and Marc Sheffler throughout the shoot.
Sheffler, who portrayed Junior, revealed in an interview that he grabbed Peabody, held her over a cliff, and threatened to throw her off if she didn't reach the level of desperation needed for the scene, stating "She wasn’t getting the scene. She wasn’t at the anxiety level that she needed to be. So, we’d done it I don’t know how many times … everybody was getting annoyed. So, I said to Wes, 'Give me a minute with her.' What I did was... you can’t see it in the shot but I took her over to the cliff, and I put her over the cliff and just grabbed her and said, ‘If you don’t get this fucking scene right now, I’m going to drop you and Wes will shoot it, and we’ll get a different scene, but it’ll work because you’ll be fucking mangled.”
Additionally,
method actor
Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to:
*Scien ...
Hess singled her out from the rest of the cast and treated her differently than female co-stars Lucy Grantham and
Jeramie Rain. Peabody stated that he would chase after her with a knife at night and that she genuinely thought he was a serial killer at some point in his life. Hess revealed that he started roughly grabbing her breasts and threatened to rape her during the filming of her assault scene. During this particular shot, assistant director Yvonne Hannemann described it as an upsetting shoot with her in tears and walking off the set. Peabody would ultimately detest the film. During a cast screening, Peabody brought her mother to watch the film with her. Unhappy with the
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...
that she watched, Peabody ultimately walked out. Upon release, the film was a critical and commercial success, earning more than $3 million at the American
box office. She attests that while she was horrified while filming it, viewing it in modern times, it is likely considered a "funny film."
Final roles and later career
Chuck Vincent cast her as Anna Reed in the
X-rated
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
erotic-horror film ''
Voices of Desire
''Voices of Desire'' is a 1972 horror film directed by Chuck Vincent under the stage name Mark Ubell. The film stars Sandra Peabody, Gus Thomas, and Marlene Willoughby. The plot concerns a young woman named Anna Reed (Peabody) who recounts he ...
'' (1972). Peabody's next role was Gwen in ''
Massage Parlor Murders!
''Massage Parlor Murders!'' is a 1973 American exploitation- crime- horror film directed by Chester Fox and Alex Stevens. The film stars George Spencer, John Moser, Sandra Peabody, Brother Theodore and George Dzundza, who respectively portray Ri ...
'' (1973). It was shown in
grindhouse
A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fil ...
theaters and didn't have a
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
release until
Vinegar Syndrome
Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...
restored it on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in 2013. Peabody returned to acting on stage when she was cast as Minnie Oakley in Jay Harnick's musical comedy ''
Annie Get Your Gun'', from 1973 to 1974 alongside
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and producer best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom '' I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965-1970). Other notable roles include Roslyn Pierce opp ...
and
John Bennett Perry
John Bennett Perry (born January 4, 1941) is an American actor, singer and former model. He is the father of actor Matthew Perry.
Life and career
Perry was born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of businessman, bank dir ...
.
Jonathan Takiff of ''
Philadelphia Daily News'' stated, "Clinched up in a shapeless bag of a dress, carrying on in a raggle-taggle performing style, Sandra Peabody is totally believable as an adolescent hick from the sticks. This is why, obviously, she was selected for the role from a literal army of teenage competitors."
In 1974, she had a non-speaking
cameo role in the horror film ''
Legacy of Satan
''Legacy of Satan'' is a 1974 horror film written and directed by Gerard Damiano. It stars John Francis, Lisa Christian, Paul Barry, Deborah Horlen and Sandra Peabody, who respectively portray Dr. Muldavo, Maya, George, the High Priestess, and a ...
''. The following year, she had a lead role in Gerri Seddley's
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...
''
Teenage Hitchhikers
''Teenage Hitchhikers'' is a 1975 exploitation comedy road movie written, directed, and produced by Jerome S. Kaufmann. Kathie Christopher and Sandra Peabody star as Mouse and Bird, two teenage girls who embark on a journey West in search of fr ...
'' as a teenage runaway. In a review for ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', Linda Gross stated that Peabody's performance was "ingenious."
Her last acting credit is the stage production ''Tunnel of Love'' (1977).
In 1983, Peabody moved from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
and began to distance herself from the exploitative films that she was becoming known for and began to transition into television producing and writing Portland based programming aimed at children and youth. Peabody served as producer for the
KATU
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP (channel 16). Both stations share studios on N ...
syndicated
Emmy-award-winning children's television series ''Popcorn'' (1984–92).
In 1988, Peabody developed ''A Time to Care'' (1988), a television documentary series that focused on local nursing homes and the positive effects that community volunteerism had on the residents.
She stated that it's "a neat idea for a series because what they're basically saying is that more than ever people are reaching out to help others."
The
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
division
Group W picked up the series for distribution and syndication.
Peabody wrote and produced the educational series ''Zone In'' (2001) which dealt with "tough issues for kids." , Peabody is an acting coach and agent in areas around Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles. She has mentored a variety of actors including
Alicia Lagano
Alicia Lagano is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Cristina Castelli on the NBC Saturday morning series '' All About Us'' (2001) and Selena on the Lifetime television drama ''The Client List'' (2012–13).
Early lif ...
.
Filmography
Film
Stage productions
Television
Notes
References
Works cited
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Sandra
American film actresses
Actresses from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Actresses from Portland, Oregon
Living people
Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni
20th-century American actresses
Writers from Portland, Oregon
American film producers
American female models
American women film producers
1948 births