[INTERVIEW] Margaret Kerry Is Bringing Disney Magic To DFW

ILID was able to catch up with everyone’s favorite pixie, and you can do the same without having to travel to The Second Star on the Right. Margaret Kerry, the real-life inspiration behind one of Disney’s most iconic characters, Tinkerbell, is scheduled to make an appearance at this year’s Dallas Fan Festival. Luckily, we were able to speak with Mrs. Kerry ahead of time to give our readers a glimpse into the life of this Disney legend.

As an actress, Margaret Kerry grew up in Hollywood around some of show biz’s greatest legends. Today, she still displays that same outgoing personality and excitement that was so evident on film. Take a look below as we explored the life and career of the woman who helped define timeless characters for generations of fans to enjoy.

You are literally the image of Tinkerbell, who has been a Disney staple since before the parks opened. At what point did the magnitude of being Tinkerbell sink in?

Oh, that is a good question! At first, I thought little about it because I was working at ABC (we used to call it the Almost Broadcasting Company because it was the newest one). I’d fallen in love with television; that was for me. I was doing The Ruggles show and somebody told me that they were going to be portraying Tinkerbell in their Peter Pan play at school. They had some party going on as well and I said, “Oh, I’d love to come.” They told me they would pick me up, so I went over and you should have seen the expression on their faces! I did a lot of the mannerisms of Tinkerbell and they loved it. I thought, “Isn’t that interesting? What a reaction.” Then I gave a talk and got the same reaction. Then I did another talk and started to get phone calls from my friends in Hollywood (I grew up there and started with Our Gang). They began to ask if I could go talk or if they could see me. I was invited to do a show with the fan club, Disneyana, and the it started to build. More and more people came. I suddenly realized, “How great would it be if I could be somebody because of a character I played?” I don’t have to go around saying that my name is Margaret and explain that I play Tinkerbell. She was out there first. Instead, people say, “You know Tinkerbell? Well, did you know that Margaret Kerry was the one who her figure and movements were modeled after?” Then, they get curious and we go from there! I could have just been the woman who had her throat slashed in Psycho, but Disney did a wonderful thing for me. Then, Disney invited me to come to their studio for a party because they wanted me to see what they were coming up with for Tinkerbell. They said they had created a group of other fairy characters to be her friends and that they were going to make movies with them. In each movie, Tinkerbell and the audience learn a great lesson, like how to take care of friends. From that moment on, I was big stuff.

That’s awesome! My daughters love those Tinkerbell movies. Going back to people linking Tinkerbell to being based off of you, I read that your marriage began by a similar conversation.

Oh, yes! My darling husband, who is a veteran of World War II (who fought in both theaters of the war), just turned 100. He is just great. We’ve only been married six years. We had dated 70 years in the past. Being a veteran, he was invited to go and be honored at the 75th D-Day celebration and he was over in Amsterdam to take a ship to all the different ports. He decided, with his friends, to drive down the main street there. He looked across the street and there was a sign that said “Tinkerbell’s Toys”. He turned to his friends and said, “Did I ever tell you about the time I dated Tinkerbell?” They decided to get in touch with me and called me from France. Boy, was I impressed. I was about 90 years old and went years a widow. I had never thought about dating anybody again. So, he called me and we went back and forth. I said, “I am going to be over in Mount Airy, North Carolina, for the Andy Griffith Show‘s Mayberry Days. You are living in South Carolina, could you get there?” Three weeks later, he drove up for eight hours and found me. We talked and, later on, he decided to marry me. So, I booked the little brown church in Burbank, California, and that’s where we were married.

You must have really left an impression on him. That’s a great story.

I think he is so special, and he is. We were both actually honored at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans. He was honored there for being a veteran and I was honored beside him, having been in the USO. How many people these days can say that one of them fought in World War II while the other danced and celebrated with the USO?

I’m not sure I can think of any at all. I didn’t realize you were part of the USO; that is great. So, circling back, we are here still discussing Tinkerbell around 70 years after Peter Pan was released. That’s a pretty impressive statement in itself.

I just did a show at a theater in Wilmington. They filled the theater and showed the movie. Afterwards, the little ones who had dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell came up and paraded around. What do you think that does for my heart?

I’ve done some research, but some of our readers may not be familiar with your stint modeling for Tinkerbell. Can you talk about that for a bit?

Marc Davis is the man who did it all, incredible artist. He was so sweet and so nice. He’s the one who cast me in the role. I walked into his office, looked up on the wall, and saw this out of balance pixie. Too much tummy and shorter legs… she was adorable. Well, I did the interview and he said, “Can you come back next Tuesday?” I tell you, I have never had anyone since that day ask me whether it would be convenient. I went back to see him and I wore a one-piece bathing suit. That was my costume because they wanted to see the outlines of my figure as I did all this work. So, I turned her into a little ballerina. She moves like a ballerina just enough so you know that she is different in what she does.

Was that idea your’s or Marc’s?

It was mine. I looked at her and thought, “She has got to be different.” So, I did my foot walk, as you would as a ballet dancer, because I have been dancing since I was four years old. My mind went straight to that. Then, there was all of the drama in her face. Here is a side bit for you. Did you know on the movie screen that you never saw Tinkerbell’s ears?It would have cost thousands of dollars more to draw them in each frame, so they covered them. They didn’t have today’s electronics, so a cameraman rode on a little stool attached to this barrel-type contraption while Marc sat at his desk. I said, “Mr. Davis, would you like her to be ditzy like Betty Boop or would you like her to be above it all, like the queen of the fairies?” He looked at me and said, “Miss Margaret, I would like her to be you.” I said, “Gosh, golly. I think I can do that!” So, I was to go out there and hit my marks and interact with the props that were there. Then, they would take the film and pull the main frames out to work from. It was incredibly laborious, but that is all they knew. From what I remember, I believe it took about six years for them to complete the artwork.

You were actually in another role in Peter Pan that most people may not know about as well. You were the redheaded mermaid?

I was, and oh, I was mean.

One of your characters tried to have Wendy killed by pirates while the other tried to drown her. Man, you must have really had it out for Wendy.

Oh, yes, yes. James M. Barrie (the author of the original Peter Pan) had a Scottish sense of humor. You always had to have a bad guy all over the story. He was telling the story to kids and guessed that they may want to know just a little bit about romance. Well, poor Peter didn’t know a thing about it and, so, he didn’t understand when those things happened.

What were your impressions of Walt Disney?

Mr. Disney came on set one day when we were shooting and stood at the sound stage door with Marc Davis and Buddy Ebsen. They would go to the other wall and Buddy would do a step and they would laugh. Mr. Disney did a step as well. I figured out later on that they were working on animatronics. So, he would come over time to time and see what was going on with Marc and with me. He was just charming. I was stunned though because I was brought up understanding that you never met the head of the studio. If you did, you were to fall down on your knees and bow, but here he was chatting with us. He said, “I understand that you went to school with my daughters.” I hadn’t really realized it until then and then I said, “Oh my goodness, Sharon and Diane!” He stepped away and then he came back and said, “I think they liked you.” I thought, “How sweet of him?” So, he came back about four or five more times. He had his hands and pulse on everything.

I have to ask, what was it like growing up in Hollywood’s Golden Age along stars like Buddy Ebsen, Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney, and so many others?

Oh, it was wonderful! God was absolutely wonderful to me. I started out when my mother died when I was three and a half. I was adopted by two older people who hadn’t a clue about a little kid, and my mother decided I was going to be somebody. I kept thinking, “But, I already am the somebody.” She put me in tap class, and I studied under one of the top tap teachers in Hollywood. The next thing I knew, I was in my first movie, Warner Brothers’ Midsummer Night’s Dream, where I played a fairy. I was having a wonderful time learning what life was all about, and I liked it. It would have been terrible if I didn’t like. Later, I got to work with Charlie Ruggles on The Ruggles, which was quite big although there weren’t a lot of other shows. I also worked with Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis, two wonderful people. I played their daughter in the movie If You Knew Susie. It was great. I did radio too and voiceovers for a lot of cartoons, including Captain Fathom and Clutch Cargo. Of course, I was also on The Andy Griffith Show and will be going to North Carolina in a few weeks for Mayberry Days. People dress up like characters in the show and I get to entertain and dance. It is great! You’re so right; it [growing up in Hollywood’s Golden Era] has been good to me.

You’ve definitely had an amazing career and worked with some of the best actors to grace television, as well as the big screen. I have to circle back to Tinkerbell one more time though. She is still an icon over 70 years after her debut. Why do you think she is so timeless?

I still get fan mail all the time and the preponderance is males that write to me. They often say, “I’m a grandfather and I am teaching my boys to get signatures.” Phooey! These are some of the same people that would walk up to me when I was doing earlier shows, their sleeves rolled up and Tinkerbell tattooed on their arm. She touched the boys almost as much as she did the little girls. I give all the credit for Tinkerbell to Marc Davis; he was brilliant. It is all about how he envisioned what I was doing and how he could put it in the picture.

What was it like when you first watched Peter Pan during its debut?

Oh! That was something! I went in and saw a lot of the production as it was moving along, all the way from the line drawings. They would ask me how I liked it and all that I could say was, “Right on!” I actually cried once because it was exactly what I had in mind. They were brilliant. I am still lighthearted looking back on it today. I never got to be the woman who has “done it all”. It is still great fun.

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