The Andy Griffith Show’s Peggy; The Tragic Life of Joanna Moore
6 min readJul 20, 2021
You’d be hard-pressed to find a TV show more beloved and enduring than the Andy Griffith Show. Over six decades after the show debuted, it is still popular in syndication. Dialogue lines and characters from the show have become part of the fabric of popular culture. One of the most fondly remembered roles is Peggy McMillan, a girlfriend of Andy’s, played by actress Joanna Moore. Even though she only appeared on four episodes in 1962, many fans still consider her a favorite of all of Andy’s love interests. She had over 80 film and television credits and was once married to Hollywood’s number one heartthrob. She co-starred with the most successful entertainer in history. Her daughter even won an Academy Award. Many may not know the challenging path Moore had to travel before her arrival on our screens and the horrific life that followed.
Joanna Moore was born as Dorothy Joanne Cook in Americus, GA, in 1934. Her name change was not as is often seen in Hollywood, attempting to create a more marketable moniker; hers was from tragedy. When she was seven years old, her family was involved in a serious car accident that killed her mother and younger sister and seriously wounded her father. He passed a year later from his injuries. Dorothy was sent to live with her grandmother until she became too feeble to care for her. Dorothy was placed for adoption and soon placed with a local family, who changed her name to Joanna.
Click here to read about James Gregory, the funniest man in America.
In her 2004 book “A Paper Life,” her daughter, Tatum, recalls rumors that a member of Joanna’s adoptive family had molested her. At 16, Joanna married and quickly divorced another teenager, Willis Moore. Not long after, she enrolled in Agnes Scott College, near Atlanta. Winning a local beauty contest led her to decide to move to Hollywood. There she met a producer from Universal Studios at a cocktail party, and her career path was set into motion.
A brief second marriage came and went. In late 1957, Moore began appearing in TV and film roles, including Maverick, Perry Mason, The Rifleman, The Untouchables, and Studio One. She was injured when shooting an in-water scene on the set of Route 66. It left her with a six-inch scar on her leg. Nonetheless, she continued working steadily in numerous series.
Moore suffered from a genetic hearing disorder, otosclerosis, which is a bone growth in the inner ear. Her hearing had declined to the point that directors had to tap her on the shoulder when it was time to shoot her parts, and she went through her lines without hearing them and had to read her co-star's lips to complete a scene. Despite that, in 1961, she was able to travel to Florida to film Follow That Dream with Elvis Presley. The gossip columnists of the day relayed stories of Elvis once trying to break down her door, but it seems there was never any romantic connection.
In the summer of 1962, she underwent surgery to correct the hearing issue, and it was successful. Leaving the hospital after the procedure, she heard a truck horn honk. “I was thrilled,” she later said. Soon after, she filmed her first Andy episode, entitled “Andy’s Rich Girlfriend.” Her third episode was one of the most famous, “Barney Mends a Broken Heart,” which is the first appearance of the Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot.
Rumors later surfaced that a relationship was brewing between Moore and Griffith, which may explain her exit. Still, she enjoyed her experience there. “I liked the Griffith show better than anything else I’ve ever done. Everyone on the program is so nice. The show is well organized, and there is no rush. The people discuss their problems openly, and the difficulties just seem to disappear.” she later said.
In 1963, Moore married her third husband, actor Ryan O’Neal, and months later, delivered their first child, Tatum. Son Griffin followed in 1964. O’Neal’s career exploded that year when he landed a role on the nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. Moore’s career seemed too slow, and amphetamines and alcohol became more present in her life. She continued acting but became affected by depression. In early 1966, the couple separated, with their divorce became final in 1967. The court awarded custody of the children to Moore.
Moore’s alcohol and drug use escalated after the divorce. Still getting acting roles, her personal life suffered from substance abuse, she moved the family to a run-down ranch, where she had the misguided idea of providing care for troubled youths. Her downward spiral continued. Tatum describes an environment with rampant drug abuse, unsanitary conditions, beatings at the hands of her mother’s sixteen-year-old boyfriend, and being locked in the garage for so long that she and her brother resorted to eating dog food. A DUI with her children in the car resulted in a loss of custody of her children. Another DUI was from a wreck in which she lost three fingers. In 1970, she checked herself into rehab but continued to struggle with her addictions. Other DUIs followed.
Another marriage quickly ended in divorce. By the late 1970s, Joanna’s life had gotten to the point that her daughter had to provide support for her. Tatum later said of her mother, “She was extraordinarily beautiful, with blond hair, a perfect heart-shaped face, huge green eyes, lush, full lips. She had a smoky, seductive voice (which my daughter Emily and I both inherited) warmed by her southern lilt
Moore still landed the occasional acting role and did some theater in Palm Springs. Her last television appearance was the TV movie Scout’s Honor in 1980. A lifelong smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996 and died in 1997. She is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Americus.
