Sandra Peabody | |
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![]() Peabody in 1965 | |
Born | Sandra Lee Peabody January 11, 1948 |
Other names | Sandy Peabody Sandra Cassell Liyda Cassell Sandra Cassel Sandra Stubelek |
Alma mater | Carnegie Mellon University |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1965–present |
Spouse | Timothy Stubelek |
Children | 1 |
Sandra Peabody (born January 11, 1948) is an American producer, writer, acting coach, talent agent, and retired actress. Peabody is best known for her role as Mari Collingwood in Wes Craven's directorial debut horror film The Last House on the Left (1972), as well as her subsequent career as a producer of children's programming on cable television, which earned her accolades 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 the South Florida shot films Misfit (1965) and The Horse Killer (1966). In 1966, Peabody began studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University and began training in the Meisner technique directly from acting teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
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), starring opposite of Barbara Eden. Peabody had roles in films such as the drama film Love-In '72 (1971), the horror films Voices of Desire (1972) and Massage Parlor Murders! (1973), and the cult sex comedy Teenage Hitchhikers (1974).
Peabody retired from acting by the mid-1970s and taught theatrical training for children 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 and writing credits include the show Get Movin' (1982) and the award-winning series Popcorn (1984-1992).