Margaret Hayes

Margaret Hayes (born Florette Regina Ottenheimer; December 5, 1913 – January 26, 1977) was an American film, stage, and television actress.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Hayes was one of four children born to Clara Bussey and Jacob Lewis "Jack" Ottenheimer, erstwhile songwriter, joke-book writer, radio performer turned real estate broker, who had, at one time, reportedly provided much of the material for the famous magician, Howard Thurston.

While a student at Forest Park High School, she joined the Emerson Cook Stock Company to gain more acting experience. She entered Johns Hopkins University to become a nurse, but stuck to her dramatic ambitions. At the school, she joined "The Barnstormers", a theatrical organization, becoming the first female member of that group.

Using the name "Dana Dale" (reportedly at the suggestion of columnist Walter Winchell), Hayes found work as a model, "featured in the best cigarette, auto, and fashion advertisements". Her screen test for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind was unsuccessful, but she received a movie contract anyway. Publicists at her studio recommended "Dana Edwards" as a better name for movies, so she began using it. Eventually, she changed to Margaret Hayes for public purposes, and was called Maggie by her friends.

Hayes' initial contract was with Warner Bros. Having little success there, she signed with Paramount Pictures.

Hayes was often billed as Maggie Hayes in her film credits. She is perhaps best known for her performance as schoolteacher Lois Judby Hammond in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle. In 1956, she guest-starred as Dora Hand in three episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. She appeared in the episode "The San Saba Incident" (October 18, 1957) of Trackdown, playing a female convict, named Abby Lindon.

Hayes' films included The Glass Key, Sullivan's Travels, and Good Day for a Hanging. In 1958, in the film Damn Citizen, Hayes appeared opposite Keith Andes in the role of a real person, Dorothy Maguire Grevemberg, the wife of the crusading Louisiana State Police superintendent Francis Grevemberg. She made four guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, including as defendant Sybil Granger in 1957 episode "The Case of the Nervous Accomplice". She co-starred on Tombstone Territory season 1 episode 24 'Cave-In' which aired March 26, 1958. In 1961, she portrayed Mrs. North in the episode "Incident of the Night on the Town" on CBS"s Rawhide. In the same year, she also guest-starred in an episode of Bonanza, "The Countess", as Lady Linda Chadwick.

After marrying Herbert Bayard Swope in 1947, Hayes temporarily retired from acting and turned to journalism, eventually becoming assistant fashion editor for Life.