Margaret Kerry - my 107th choice as a Disney Legend

My 107th pick for the Disney Legend honor is Margaret Kerry. Kerry, formerly known as Peggy Lynch, is an American actress, motivational speaker and radio host best known for her 1953 work as the model for Tinker Bell in the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.

Kerry answered an audition call during the planning stages of the film. The audition, supervised by Disney animator Marc Davis, required her to pantomime the motions that would eventually be animated as Tinker Bell, such as preening in a mirror at her feet. She won the audition and spent the next six months at the Disney Studios on a mostly empty sound-stage pantomiming the role on film. The studios provided props as well, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as well as a pair of giant scissors, later used in the scene in which Tinker Bell became trapped in a jewelry box.

Kerry also provided the basis of the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon scenes. She is the author of the book Tinker Bell Talks, Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life.

Since Disney released the film at about the time Marilyn Monroe had begun to make an impact, an urban legend immediately sprung up attributing the role to her.