Phyllis Avery

Intro

Phyllis Avery built a long career across the stage, films and television, becoming especially familiar as Peggy opposite Ray Milland in the early CBS comedy Meet Mr. McNutley. The series was later known as The Ray Milland Show, and the family surname also appeared as McNulty. Avery's continuing television work was complemented by supporting film roles and earlier Broadway experience. The photographs here show three different contexts: publicity associated with George Gobel's program, a scene with Milland, and a 1946 magazine photograph with her then-husband, actor Don Taylor.

Career snapshot

Avery was born in New York City on November 14, 1922, the daughter of screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery. She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began appearing on Broadway while still young. Her stage work included Orchids Preferred in 1937. In the 1940 revival of Charley's Aunt, IBDB records her as Amy Spettigue opposite Jose Ferrer's Lord Fancourt Babberley, in a production staged by Joshua Logan. She also played Sally Jackson in Letters to Lucerne. These theatrical credits preceded the television roles that later brought her into living rooms across the country.

The entry point

Her film work included Queen for a Day in 1951, an anthology feature whose segment The Gossamer World cast her as Marjorie Watkins opposite Darren McGavin's Dan Watkins. Rudy Lee played their son Pete. In Ruby Gentry in 1952, directed by King Vidor, she played Tracy McAuliffe within a cast led by Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston and Karl Malden. The parts placed her in very different dramatic settings, from a family story built around a child's imagination to a Southern melodrama. Neither should be confused with the professor's wife she would soon play in her continuing television comedy.

Screen identity and style

Meet Mr. McNutley ran from 1953 to 1955. Milland played a professor and Avery his wife Peggy, with the couple's domestic exchanges providing a regular centre for the comedy. The 1954 CBS photograph shows Milland at left and Avery at right at a table, preserving their screen partnership. The changes in the program's title and the spelling of the surname can make its credits look like separate series, but they belong to the same television vehicle. Avery also appeared with George Gobel, playing the on-screen Alice associated with his comedy persona; the portrait selected here comes from that later publicity context.

Collaborations and patterns

Avery returned to the musical-film world as Maggie Henderson in The Best Things in Life Are Free in 1956. Michael Curtiz directed the Fox production about the songwriting partnership of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. Gordon MacRae played DeSylva, Ernest Borgnine played Brown and Dan Dailey played Henderson, with Avery as Henderson's wife. The film combined dramatized professional relationships with performances of the team's songs. Her supporting role belongs to that specific biographical musical, rather than to a television appearance with the similarly named Ray Milland.

Era reflection

Television continued to provide a wide range of assignments. Avery co-starred in the CBS daytime drama The Clear Horizon and appeared in shows including Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, Rawhide and Have Gun - Will Travel. During the mid-1960s she began working in West Los Angeles real estate while continuing to act. Later credits included All in the Family, Maude, Charlie's Angels and Baretta, followed by Coach and the film Made in America in the 1990s. The spread of these appearances shows a working career that continued well beyond the two-season sitcom most often associated with her name.

Legacy and rediscovery

Avery and Don Taylor were married from 1944 until their divorce in 1955, as recorded by IBDB. The 1946 photograph preserves that personal association and is not presented as a still from one of her films. Avery died in Los Angeles on May 19, 2011, aged 88. Her career can be followed through Broadway records, the early film ensembles and the recurring television partnerships with Milland and Gobel. Looking across those forms gives a fuller account than a single sitcom credit, while the separately credited images keep the performance history and the personal photograph clearly identified.

Selected screen roles

• Charley's Aunt: Amy Spettigue — 1940 Broadway
• Queen for a Day: Marjorie Watkins — 1951
• Ruby Gentry: Tracy McAuliffe — 1952
• Meet Mr. McNutley / The Ray Milland Show: Peggy — 1953-1955
• The Best Things in Life Are Free: Maggie Henderson — 1956
• The George Gobel Show: Alice — 1950s
• The Clear Horizon: Anne Shelby — 1960-1962

A career in pictures

Separate NBC and CBS publicity images and a personal magazine photograph document distinct contexts.

George Gobel Show publicity portrait (1958-1959)

Portrait

Phyllis Avery, cropped from NBC publicity with George Gobel; the uncropped photograph is not repeated as another gallery image.

The Ray Milland Show (1954)

Peggy

Ray Milland at left and Phyllis Avery at right in CBS series publicity.

Phyllis Avery with Don Taylor (1946)

Personal publicity

Don Taylor at left and Phyllis Avery at right in a magazine photograph; not a production still.

Rewatch notes

• She played Amy Spettigue in the 1940 Broadway revival of Charley's Aunt.
• Meet Mr. McNutley and The Ray Milland Show are titles associated with the same series.