Actress Peggy Rea R.I.P.

Actress Peggy Rea, who appeared in shows such as The Waltons and Grace Under Fire, passed on February 5, 2011. She was 89 years old.

Peggy Rea was born in Los Agneles, California on March 31, 1921. She  had attended UCLA, but dropped out to attend business school. She was a production secretary at MGM in the Forties when she started acting in small productions. Eventually she would play in a major touring production of  A Streetcar Named Desire in 1947. She would reprise her role in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway in 1950.

Miss Rea made her debut on television in 1953 on I Love Lucy as one of  "Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League" members among other guest appearances on the show. She also guest starred several times on Have Gun--Will Travel. In the Sixties she guest starred on such shows as Saints and Sinners, Ben Casey, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Burke's Law, Dr. Kildare, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, The Red Skelton Show, The Good Guys, and The Immortal. She made her film debut in The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Loooking for Love (1964), Strange Bedfellows (1965), Walk Don't Run (1966), Valley of the Dolls (1967),  and The Learning Tree.

In the late Seventies, Peggy Rea would be a semi-regular on The Waltons, playing Olivia Walton's cousin Rose Burton. She would also be a semi-regular on The Dukes of Hazzard. She guest starred on such shows as Bonanza, Ironside, Marcus Welby M.D., Love American Style, The Odd Couple, Adam 12, The Doris Day Show, The Magician, Ellery Queen, Maude, All in the Family, Charlie's Angels, Quincy M.E., and Sanford. She appeared in the films What's the Matter with Helen (1971), Win, Place, or Steal (1975), Lipstick (1975), and A Rainy Day (1978).

In the Eighties she guest starred on MacGyver and The Golden Girls. She appeared in the movies Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986), Curfew (1989), and in In Country (1989). In the Nineties she was a regular on the shows Step by Step and Grace Under Fire. She appeared in the movies Love Field (1992), Made in America (1993), and Devil in a Dress (1995).