- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRosemarie Dianne Waggner
- Leah Waggner was born Rosemarie Dianne Waggner in 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Her parents were Glenn S. Waggner, manager of Harris Dental, a dental supplies company, and Rose E. Waggner. Following graduation from St. Gertrude's High School (Richmond, Virginia), she entered Longwood State Teachers College (Farmville, Virginia) as a freshman in 1943 to study drama. In January 1944 she was pledged to a woman's sorority, Mu Omega. She moved with her family to California in 1948.
She became an actress, known as Leah Waggner. Among her eighteen film and television appearances she is known for The Twilight Zone (1959), Gunsmoke (1955), and two appearances each on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) and The Patty Duke Show (1963). She wed actor William Schallert, former president of The Screen Actors Guild, on February 26, 1949 in Santa Barbara, California, and had four sons: William Joseph (born 1949), Edwin G. (born 1952), Mark M. (born 1954), and Brendan C. Schallert (born 1961). Leah Waggner died in 2015, aged 88, predeceasing her husband by one year.
- IMDb mini biography by: SAGE STEPS
- SpouseWilliam Schallert(February 26, 1949 - September 3, 2015) (her death, 4 children)
- She appeared with her husband William Schallert in two episodes of The Patty Duke Show (1963), in which he played Martin Lane.
- In reflecting on once being fat, Leah reported in a Richmond newspaper that in the early 1950s she put on unwanted pounds while she and her husband were in England. Bill Schallert was on a fellowship, and to occupy her time, Leah ate. Back in America, despite their tight budget, she became a compulsive eater. To return to her slim figure Leah developed a plan to lose three pounds a week. The plan had to be inexpensive and healthy. It consisted of three times a day eating a broiled hamburger, a glass of skim milk, an orange, and raw carrots.
- After arriving in California in 1948, Leah studied for three years with Dennis Weaver's workshop for actors. Her first tutor was Mme. Maria Ouspenskaya.
- Erskine Johnson introduced Leah in his nationally syndicated column, "In Hollywood," in January 1951. He announced that she was about to make her screen debut in Paramount's My Favorite Spy (1951), a new comedy co-starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr.
- Among the many Virginians present at the 1951 Oscar Awards Ceremony were Leah Waggner and her husband, William Schallert. Leah was reported to be a contrasting beauty to Ava Gardner, also in attendance. It was that Leah was a screen newcomer with "flaxen charm" by Hollywood writer, Carol Leh. Leah wore an aqua brocade satin with a slip top and matching top. She wore her hair in a simple page-boy style, and had a black and silver stole with silver sandals. The writer noted that her husband, Bill Schallert, was the son of the Los Angeles Times drama editor, Edwin Schallert.
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