Peggy Hyland


Peggy Hyland was an English silent film actress who after a brief period on the stage had a successful career as a silent film actress, appearing in at least 40 films in Great Britain and the United States between 1914 and 1925. In 1925 she returned to Britain after making her last film following which she lived a life of obscurity.

Education

She was born in South Africa in 1884, the daughter of Johanna Maria née Philpott and William Henry Craven. By 1901 she and her mother were living in England. She was educated in Britain and at convents in Europe. The first convent she attended was Seroule in Verviers, on the frontier of Belgium. It was the first town entered by the German Army in World War I.

Film career

Hyland began acting after consulting a who foretold great success for the diminutive English girl. Once she played in support of Cyril Maude who is known for his Grumpy and The Basker. In 1914 she married Owen Grant Evan-Thomas, and on sailing to the United States in 1916 he was named as her next-of-kin. The marriage was later dissolved.
According to an interview in the magazine The Red Letter, the first film she appeared in was The Love of an Actress in 1914, in which she is thrown into the Thames. This was followed by John Halifax, Gentleman, in which she played Ursula March. The same year she appeared in Infelice, directed by L.C. MacBean and Fred Paul. In 1916 she was Olette in The Sixteenth Wife and co-starred with E.H. Sothern in The Chattle. In 1917, she appeared in the drama Her Right to Live as the head of a brood of orphans destined for the poorhouse.
In The Merry-Go-Round Hyland plays Gypsy/Susie Alice Pomeroy. Newspapers of the era described the romance as one of the actress' best performances. In the Debt of Honour she sacrifices her good name to shield the reputation of a U.S. Senator who has taken her into his home as an orphan.
Hyland's film credits number forty. She remained active in films until 1925. Among her many appearances are roles in The Honeypot, Faith, Love Maggy, Shifting Sands and Forbidden Cargoes. Black Shadows was a 1920 Fox Film feature in which Peggy portrayed Marjorie Langdon. The production starred Allan Roscoe and was directed by Howard M. Mitchell.

Later life

Hyland married the Universal film producer Fred LeRoy Granville in Marylebone in London in March 1923. They later divorced and her last film was released in 1925, in which year she sailed to Liverpool having previously resided in the United States. In 1948 she was living at 32 Paddington Street in London.

Gladys Lucy Granville died on 19 September 1973 in Tunbridge Wells in Kent and was cremated there on 26 September 1973.

Gallery

Select filmography