Sandra Peabody

Sandra Peabody (born January 11, 1948) is an American producer, writer, acting coach, talent agent, and retired actress. Peabody is best known for portraying Mari Collingwood in Wes Craven's directorial debut horror film The Last House on the Left (1972) and Bird in the comedy film Teenage Hitchhikers (1974), both cult films. The former earned her recognition as a scream queen. Peabody retired from acting in 1977 and became a pioneer producer in children's cable television. She received accolades during her producing career, including an Emmy Award and a CableACE Award.

Peabody began her career as a teen actress in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. First appearing in the professional stage production Enter Laughing (1965) as Wanda during her senior year of high school, Peabody later forayed into acting in feature films, such as Misfit (1965) and The Horse Killer (1966). In 1966, Peabody began studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University and trained in the Meisner technique directly from acting teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.

Additionally, Peabody had roles in films such as the drama film Love-In '72 (1971), and the horror films Voices of Desire (1972) and Massage Parlor Murders! (1973). Peabody appeared on stage in The Odd Couple, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (both 1969), the off-Broadway folk rock musical Tarot (1970), which opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and most notably Minnie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1973). Peabody made her final acting appearance in the play Tunnel of Love (1977).

Subsequently, Peabody taught theatrical training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before moving to Portland, Oregon and launching a successful career in cable television as a children's television producer beginning in 1982. Her producing credits include Get Movin' (1982) and the award-winning Popcorn (1984-1992). Peabody has been an acting coach and talent agent for children since the 1980s.

1948–1969: Early life and career beginnings
Sandra Lee Peabody was born on January 11, 1948, in Portland, Oregon. As a teenager, Peabody lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she attended Stranahan High School, in which she succeeded in academics, was a varsity cheerleader, and developed an interest in acting—becoming involved in school plays and began to get cast in local professional theatre productions.

In 1963, she participated in a Stranahan High School Play Festival, It's Cold in Them Thar Hills, a one-act play. In the summer of 1964, she was enrolled in the Southeastern Summer High School Speech Institute at Florida State University and placed third in a speech contest. The same year, she got cast in another one-act play, Riders to the Sea, which opened at Florida State University in July. Burgeoning as a teen actress, Peabody got cast in a leading role as a drug-addicted teenager in Bob O'Donnell's religious educational film Misfit (1965), which was her feature film debut. The film got produced by a New York-based production company and although Peabody wasn't the original choice for the role, she got cast after the leading actress became sick before filming began.



During her senior year, Peabody got cast in another professional play Enter Laughing (1966), as Wanda, the girlfriend of the main character. The play opened in January 1966 at the Hollywood Little Theater in Florida to favorable reviews, with her acting in the cemetery scene highlighted. Peabody subsequently portrayed Beauty in a play adaptation of Beauty and the Beast and Katie Brown in the play Calamity Jane (both in 1966). Peabody's next film role was in Luke Moberly's mystery film The Horse Killer (1966), in which she portrayed the best friend to the main character. In a retrospective interview, Peabody described the film as having an unusual story and her scenes involving a lot of horseback riding.

After graduating high school in 1966, Peabody had a scholarship in dramatics to attend Florida State University. However, she decided to attend Carnegie Mellon University to study drama. In 1967, she was selected to do summer stock at the Priscilla Beach Theater in Plymouth, Massachusetts as an actress-in-training. The same year, Peabody was selected to study the Meisner technique with acting teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. In 1969, she had a role as Gwendolyn Pigeon in Neil Simon's The Odd Couple. Critic Mariruth Campbell of The Journal News described her as being a "competent" actress. Peabody was later a part of the stage plays Celebration, Little Mary Sunshine, and Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (all in 1969).

1970–1971: Tarot and feature films
In 1970, Peabody had a supporting role as The Sun in the Robert Kalfin and The Rubber Duck directed Off-Broadway production Tarot, which ran at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. An experimental folk rock-mime musical based on tarot cards, it opened to a lackluster reception: a review for The New York Times describes the show as "pompous, inefficient and amateurish," although the music received praised.

One of the first feature film roles Peabody signed onto was for the critically panned low budget sexploitation satire film The Filthiest Show in Town (1970), a parody of dating game shows. Peabody appeared in the films' fictitious commercial segments as a character named Olga. In 1971, Peabody got cast in Love-In '72, which was a retooled sexploitation version of a drama film revolving around the then-topical issue of draft evasion in the Vietnam War released in 1970 entitled Cowards. Peabody portrayed the hippie Linda living in a commune of people that fled to Canada to avoid the draft opposite Daniel Nugent, Linda Southern, and Lucy Grantham.

Peabody's subsequent role was in Chuck Vincent's Manhattan set horror film Voices of Desire (1971). Peabody portrays meek heroine Anna Reed, a young woman recounting her claims to a detective that she escaped a sex cult that attempted to kill her before committing mass suicide.

1972: Breakthrough with The Last House on the Left
Peabody's breakthrough role would occur when she got cast as the protagonist Mari Collingwood in Wes Craven's directorial debut The Last House on the Left (1972), a controversial exploitation horror film and a loose remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960). Peabody responded to a casting notice for the film in the New York industry trade publication Backstage and set up an audition at Sean S. Cunningham's office. Craven and Cunningham originally wanted Peabody to read for the role of the world-weary Phyllis (portrayed by Lucy Grantham); after they met her, they decided to cast her as the more naïve Mari.

Craven's original script for The Last House on the Left was a hardcore pornographic horror film. Peabody did not want to sign on for the production based on this version of the script, and he promised her that it would instead be a traditional horror film without any of the porn. Filming was challenging for Peabody as a young actress because a lot of the violent sexual assault scenes in the forest were difficult for her to think about, and she had little preparation for her role due to a constantly changing script. According to Peabody, the shoot was spontaneous, with several scenes written while they were working, such as the ice cream parlor scene.

Peabody reflects she struggled to channel her off-camera emotions into her scene work for the forest scenes despite being genuinely upset, resulting in her dissatisfied with her acting in the film. Although she was uncertain how her scenes would turn out, she trusted Craven and Cunningham and their vision for the film. Craven stated he liked Peabody a lot, describing her as "plucky" and "pretty."

Assistant producer Steve Dwork attested that Craven often reassured her on the set. Upon release, the film was a critical and commercial success, earning more than $2 million at the American box office. Peabody believes Craven and Cunningham succeeded with the film given their limited resources and that it is an advanced violent film of its era. Besides acting in the film, she also performed her stunts.

1973–1977: Annie Get Your Gun, Teenage Hitchhikers and other endeavors
In 1973, Peabody had a leading role as masseuse Gwen in the New York shot Massage Parlor Murders! (1973) and a non-speaking bit part as a cult member in Legacy of Satan (1973)—both exploitation horror films. Peabody had a sporadic television career in the early 1970s, appearing on the soap operas All My Children, As the World Turns, The Edge of Night, and One Life to Live in supporting roles, along with various commercial appearances for products such as breakfast cereal.

Additionally, she also worked as a model. However, she was not fond of these fields of work. In an interview, she described models as being a "bitchy lot" and stating soap operas do not allow people to develop their skills as professionals, believing it to be entirely about pursuing jobs. During this time frame, while pursuing casting calls, Peabody struggled to get acting jobs for characters her age, so she signed with a children's agent.

Peabody would later have another career-defining role in 1973 when she returned to acting on stage as Minnie Oakley in Jay Harnick's acclaimed musical comedy Annie Get Your Gun (1973-1974), acting alongside Barbara Eden as the titular Annie Oakley. Peabody's portrayal received praised: writer Jonathan Takiff of Philadelphia Daily News stated that she was believable as an actress.

In 1974, Peabody starred in the exploitation comedy road movie Teenage Hitchhikers opposite Kathie Christopher. The story is about a duo of teenage runaways traveling West. She played Bird, one of the quick-witted girls. Her performance received positive reviews: one critic, Linda Gross, wrote for Los Angeles Times that her performance was "ingenious," while a review written for DVD Talk praises her comic timing capabilities. It has since become a cult film and is one of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino's favorite films. It was included in the QT Six Lineup at the Quentin Tarantino Film Festival in 2005—shown in 35 mm movie film. Peabody later worked as the script supervisor for the sex comedy Video Vixens (1975). Peabody's last acting credit is the stage production Tunnel of Love (1977).

1978–2001: Broadcast television
After retiring from acting, Peabody taught theater techniques to children at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts until 1982. In 1982, Peabody conceptualized the Cablesystems Pacific local late-night talk show Portland Tonight. She was heavily inspired by The Tonight Show (1962-1992) with Johnny Carson and wanted to make it Portland-oriented.

Peabody wrote, directed, and produced the variety show Get Movin' (1982), which earned her a CableACE Award in 1983. Peabody conceptualized the series at a time when networks began to decrease funding for children's programming. Peabody wanted the series to prominently involve children's ideas, asking them to submit their interests in a survey conducted in the November 1982 issue of the Portland Children's Museum newspaper Boing!, in addition to holding auditions at the cable company's studio to showcase local talent. The series lasted for a 26-episode season.

Subsequently, Peabody produced the children's public broadcasting series Popcorn (1985–92) for the television station KATU, which debuted as a prime-time special in 1985 before being picked up as a weekly series in September 1986. For this series, Peabody signed a contract with KATU. The series received critical acclaim, with writer Judy McDermott of The Oregonian stating it is "an unabashed celebration of children." Peabody said in an interview that the inspiration for the series came from her believing, "There's still a lot of the kid left in me." As a producer, the series earned Peabody an Emmy Award, a NAB award, and two Iris Awards. In 1993, KATU canceled the series, and Peabody was laid off.

In 1988, Peabody developed A Time to Care (1988), a television documentary film that focuses on local nursing homes and the positive effects that community volunteerism has on the residents. She stated that it's "a neat idea for a series because what they're basically saying is that more than ever people are reaching out to help others." The broadcasting division Group W picked up the series for distribution and syndication. In 1994, Peabody served as the casting director for the children's musical home video Wee Sing: Under the Sea. Peabody wrote and produced the educational public television series Zone In (2001) revolving around "tough issues for kids."

2002–present: Acting coach and talent agent
Since the 2000s, Peabody has worked as an acting coach and talent agent at theater schools such as Northwest Children's Theater. Peabody has taught the Meisner technique she was trained with during her youth to a younger generation and has helped launch the acting careers of several child actors such as Bret Harrison and Alicia Lagano and has provided guidance to those studying under her with both entering and navigating the industry. Lagano credits Peabody with getting her to take acting seriously and decided to continue studying with her after graduating high school instead of going to college—later landing roles in projects such as ParaNorman (2012) after Peabody connected her to production company Laika. Harrison reflects, "I met a lady named Sandra Peabody, who teaches through Northwest Childrens Theater. Ever since I met her, she showed me what acting was really about. When I started realizing how much more went into it, that's when I was like, 'I love this, this is a challenge.' She's the one who said, 'Hey, you gotta go to L.A.'" In 2015, Peabody directed the first episode of LTC TV—a series detailing events occurring at Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Personal life
In the early 1970s, she lived in The Village. In the summer of 1971, Peabody embarked on a cross-country road trip from New York to the West Coast. In 1973, Peabody stated that she studied both free-form jazz dance and Transcendental Meditation. While filming The Last House on the Left, Peabody developed a close relationship with cinematographer Victor Hurwitz. She described Hurwitz as being a "fatherly kind of guy" towards her and was saddened by his death on a bicycle a few years after the release of the film. Peabody says, "He told me, 'Have something else in your life besides acting because it's a terrible business." After filming Teenage Hitchhikers, Peabody continued communication with director Jerome S. Kaufmann through letters. Peabody has lived in Portland, Oregon since the 1980s. Peabody is married to Timothy Stubelek. They have a son together.