page_title: Diana Serra Cary
section_title: Films
hierarchical_section_title: Diana Serra Cary / Films
caption_attribution_description: English: Poster for the American short film Circus Clowns (1922) featuring Baby Peggy and Brownie the dog; directed by Fred Fishback (as Fred Hibbard)
context_page_description: Diana Serra Cary, known as Baby Peggy, was an American child film actress, vaudevillian, author and silent film historian. She was the last living film star of the Silent Era of Hollywood and the last person with a substantial career in silent films. Cary was also the last living person to have met President Calvin Coolidge during his presidency.
  Baby Peggy was one of the three major American child stars of the Hollywood silent film era along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie. Between 1921 and 1923, she made over 150 short films for the Century Film Corporation. In 1922, she received over 1.2 million fan letters and by 1924, she had been dubbed The Million Dollar Baby for her $1.5 million annual salary. Despite her childhood fame and wealth, she found herself poor and working as an extra by the 1930s.
  Having an interest in both writing and history since her youth, Montgomery found a second career as an author and silent film historian in her later years under the name Diana Serra Cary. She was the author of several books including her historical novel, The Drowning of the Moon. She was also an advocate for child actors' rights.
context_section_description: The vast majority of Cary's Baby Peggy films have not survived and records related to their production have been lost as well. Century Studios burned down in 1926. In addition, another older actress named Peggy Montgomery (1904–1989) was active in Hollywood Western films between 1924–29; her credits are occasionally confused with those of Baby Peggy. Filmographies at major websites are incomplete, and sometimes incorrect, because of these factors.
  A handful of Baby Peggy shorts, including Playmates, Miles of Smiles and Sweetie, have been discovered and preserved in film archives around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The full-length movies The Family Secret, April Fool, Captain January and Helen's Babies have also survived, are currently in the public domain, and have been restored and made available for sale by several independent film dealers. A full copy of The Law Forbids is also rumored to exist, but it has not surfaced publicly. In addition, fragments of some works, including The Law Forbids, The Darling of New York and Little Red Riding Hood have surfaced and been restored.
  In 2016, it was announced that her lost film Our Pet had been re-discovered in Japan.
caption: Poster for Circus Clowns, directed by Fred Fishback (1922)
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