Baby Peggy Montgomery, last star of silent film era, dies aged 101

The last surviving film star of the silent era, Diana Serra Cary, has died aged 101 according to the Niles Film Museum.

Known by her stage name Baby Peggy, Cary starred in over 100 short films and was one of the highest paid Hollywood stars of the 1920s, earning upwards of $1.5 million a year.

Director Fred Fishbach cast Cary opposite Brownie the Wonder Dog after being impressed with her good manners during a film set visit.

Her career as a child actor was brought to a sudden end in 1924 when her father, stuntman Jack Montgomery, got into a pay dispute with producer Sol Lesser. She was blacklisted and performed in only one more silent film, a minor role in Nat Ross's April Fool.

In later life, Cary achieved success as a silent film historian and author, and as a campaigner for better working conditions for child actors.

The vast majority of Cary's film have not survived. Many were destroyed in the 1926 Century Studios fire, not long after her retirement, while others were lost to celluloid decay. Some are stored in museum archives and the United States Library of Congress, including Playmates (1921), Miles of Smiles (1923), Helen’s Babies (1924) and Captain January (1924).