The brain – or more specifically, the memory – is a magnificent thing.

A few weeks ago, I saw mention of singer Peggy “Is That All There Is?” Lee and it flashed me back to childhood and the 1960s.

“There she is – there’s Peggy!”

They pointed at the television excitedly. Mom and Dad were proud of their classmate, who had graduated from St. Mary’s High School in New Haven and went on to perform on stage and screen (large and small).

But their Peggy wasn’t Peggy Lee. Her last name was not as simple as “Lee,” and I couldn’t for the life of me remember it.

Google, for once, was no help. (To be fair, the search term “Peggy actress New Haven” isn’t very specific.)

Thankfully, a few nights later as I drifted off to sleep, Mom whispered in my ear: “Mondo.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I whispered heavenward.

Here she is, Peggy Mondo. Born August 12, 1927. Graduated high school in 1945:

Once I had a last name, I checked with my brothers, but if they had any memories of our parents’ classmate Peggy, they were even foggier than mine.

Now that we had Peggy’s last name, though, Google was happy to provide all sorts of details.

First of all, she was in several episodes of McHale’s Navy. That’s the show we’d watch to see Peggy on TV, so Mom and Dad could cheer on their friend. (The show’s star, Ernest Borgnine, also grew up in New Haven.)

In all, Peggy was in six episodes. During their fourth season, Peggy was featured in “The McHale Opera Company” episode.

We even get to hear her sing – twice!

A bit earlier in her career, Peggy Mondo was the original Ethel Toffelmeier in The Music Man – on both the Broadway stage and in the 1962 film with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.

Here she is in the movie, at the end of the song “Shipoopi,” sitting on Buddy Hackett’s knee. That’s Shirley Jones and Robert Preston to their right:

Peggy Mondo appeared in lots of television shows (The Addams Family as a love interest for Uncle Fester, My Three Sons, The Doris Day Show, Get Smart, and Adam-12, to name just a few) and several movies.

And … be still my heart … she appeared on The Jack Benny Show and the Hollywood Palace. In this 1968 photo, she’s part of the Smithers Sisters comedy trio:

A series regular on To Rome With Love in 1969 and 1970, Peggy played John Forsythe’s Italian landlady, Mama Vitale. One day, the actress treated the 60-member cast and crew to lunch.

The menu? Her homemade lasagna.

This newspaper clip shows her character Mama Vitale on the right, in a dark wig. Peggy’s regular look was lots of curly blond hair.

Peggy married business executive Jack Stevens in 1962. Not sure if this was the start of fudging on her age, but their marriage-license notice in the North Hollywood newspaper stated she was 21 years old in 1962 (she was 10 weeks away from turning 35). Even her grave marker at Forest Lawn states she was born in 1940.

Another of my rather vague childhood memories is that Dad talked of performing on stage with Peggy. I dug out my copies of their high school publication to see if there might be more details.

Sure enough, on the cover of the March 1945 Orange Peal (the school was located on Orange Street, and … well, the Bells of Saint Mary’s, right?):

My final memory regarding Peggy Mondo was Mom teasing Dad with a wink: “Wasn’t Peggy a little sweet on you?”

Dad’s reply never waivered, “Perhaps. But I only had eyes for you, Joanie!”

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