resting_place death_date death_place birth_place name birth_date yearsactive article_title birth_name occupation
cremation 30 october 2004 las vegas , nevada , u.s. long beach , california , u.s. peggy ryan august 28 , 1924 1930 -- 1983 peggy ryan
 margaret o'rene ryan actress , dancer
peggy ryan

margaret o'rene `` peggy '' ryan -lrb- august 28 , 1924 -- october 30 , 2004 -rrb- was an american dancer , best known for starring in a series of movie musicals at universal pictures with donald o'connor and gloria jean .
she joined her parents ' vaudeville act , `` the merry dancing ryans , '' before she was two years old .
her singing , acting , and dancing skills were noticed by song-and-dance actor george murphy , who helped her get a role in 1937 's `` top of the town '' .
she continued working in small roles until 1942 , when she had a solo number in the feature film `` what 's cookin ' ? '' .
the gloria jean-donald o'connor-peggy ryan team were a great hit with audiences and exhibitors , and the three teens made five features together .
her screen character in these films was usually brash , wisecracking , and boy-crazy .
in 1944 , ryan advanced to more elaborate productions , in support of jack oakie and abbott and costello .
she left universal in 1945 and married james cross that same year ; they were divorced in 1952 .
she returned to the screen with dancer ray mcdonald for 1949 's `` there 's a girl in my heart '' and `` shamrock hill '' , and 1953 's `` all ashore '' .
they wed in 1953 and toured together in a nightclub act before being divorced in 1957 .
her third marriage , in 1958 , was to hawaii columnist eddie sherman , following which she left movies for choreography and semi-retirement .
sherman adopted her two children from her previous marriages .
on television , she played a recurring role as secretary jenny sherman in `` hawaii five-o '' from 1969 -- 76 .
in later years she trained las vegas showgirls in tap dancing .
her last public performance , at her 80th birthday party , was a hilarious song-and-dance routine for her former universal studio colleagues .
she continued to teach tap until two days before her death at the age of 80 from the effects of two strokes .
she was survived by two children and five grandchildren .
one of her children is retired actress kerry sherman .
