Biography
Born on 9 February 1892 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, Margaret Wood passed away on 18 March 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. After training vocally under the operatic soprano Emma Calvé, she began performing in musical comedy choruses and slowly progressed into minor parts. Her first appearance on Broadway came in Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta (1910), after which she took on additional productions until her breakthrough performance as Ottilie in Maytime (1917). There, alongside Charles Purcell, she introduced Sigmund Romberg’s duet “Will You Remember?,” a massive success frequently recalled by its opening line, “Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart!” Her vivacious stage persona earned her consistent leading roles in both straight plays and musical comedies, not only in New York but throughout London’s West End as well. Among her London credits, the most celebrated was her portrayal of Sarah Millick in Noël Coward’s Bitter Sweet (1929), where she delivered the standout numbers “Zigeuner” and “The Bitter Sweet Waltz,” the latter also widely recognized by its initial phrase, “I’ll See You Again.” Returning to Broadway, she joined the original American company of Coward’s Blithe Spirit.
Shifting her focus to non-musical parts, Wood later embodied the mother in the long-running American television series Mama, also known as I Remember Mama (1949-57). Her screen career had begun as early as 1919 and encompassed Wonder Of Women (1929), The Right To Live (1935), Jalna (1935, adapted from Mazo De La Roche’s bestselling novel), A Star Is Born (1937), The Housekeeper’s Daughter (1939), Magnificent Doll (1946, in which Ginger Rogers played First Lady Dolly Madison), Dream Girl (1948, starring Betty Hutton), and The Story Of Ruth (1960). Most of these offered only brief appearances, yet her final film role compensated for that limited visibility. Though visible for just a few minutes, her depiction of Mother Superior in the screen adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s The Sound Of Music (1965) earned an Oscar nomination, despite Margery McKay providing the dubbed vocals for “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” on the soundtrack.
Shifting her focus to non-musical parts, Wood later embodied the mother in the long-running American television series Mama, also known as I Remember Mama (1949-57). Her screen career had begun as early as 1919 and encompassed Wonder Of Women (1929), The Right To Live (1935), Jalna (1935, adapted from Mazo De La Roche’s bestselling novel), A Star Is Born (1937), The Housekeeper’s Daughter (1939), Magnificent Doll (1946, in which Ginger Rogers played First Lady Dolly Madison), Dream Girl (1948, starring Betty Hutton), and The Story Of Ruth (1960). Most of these offered only brief appearances, yet her final film role compensated for that limited visibility. Though visible for just a few minutes, her depiction of Mother Superior in the screen adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s The Sound Of Music (1965) earned an Oscar nomination, despite Margery McKay providing the dubbed vocals for “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” on the soundtrack.