Margaret Callahan, a convent-educated beauty of Irish ancestry, was a Hollywood ingénue of the 1930s, distinguished from a stage actress of the same name who lived from 1890 to 1947. Born with a penchant for the spotlight, Margaret began her career on stage with the Stuart Walker stock company in Cincinnati, followed by summer stock on Long Island.
Her Broadway debut came in 1934, where she was near top-billed in a couple of short-lived plays. Her performances attracted the attention of talent scouts, leading to her signing with RKO in 1935. Margaret starred in three films that year, including Hot Tip, a racing comedy with Zasu Pitts and James Gleason; His Family Tree, a trite farce that invoked every Irish cliche in the book and flopped at the box office; and Seven Keys to Baldpate, a remake of the classic featuring Margaret as Gene Raymond's love interest.
The following year, Margaret appeared in six films, including Muss 'em Up, a detective mystery and minor film noir directed by Charles Vidor, in which she co-starred opposite Preston Foster as the gal who sends the telegram that puts events into motion. Her other notable film that year was Special Investigator, a crime drama based on a story by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, in which she played the sister of a vicious gangster boss.
Margaret's film career ended abruptly after her swansong in a forgotten second feature western. However, she continued to work on stage, starring in Lillian Hellman's play Cuckoos of the Hearth at the Morosco Theatre in 1941. In 1944, she appeared in Ramshackle Inn, but by then was no longer a headliner. After that, she faded from the scene, leaving behind a legacy as a Hollywood ingénue of the 1930s.
