Grace Keagy

Grace Keagy (née Stambaugh; December 16, 1921 – October 4, 2009) was an American actress who built her career primarily in character roles on the stage. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, she eventually settled in Minneapolis, where she taught voice and piano from 1964 to 1968. Her first professional stage appearance came in 1967, when she played Dame Margery in Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday at the Guthrie Theater, after which she became active in regional theatre.

Keagy made her Broadway debut in 1975, portraying Queen Isabella of Bavaria in the original production of Goodtime Charley, with music by Larry Grossman and lyrics by Hal Hackady. She returned to Broadway in January 1979 to take on several smaller roles in the original production of Jerry Herman's The Grand Tour, which closed in March of that year. She then moved directly into rehearsals for Carmelina, a musical by Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner, which opened on April 8, 1979, at the St. James Theatre. Her performance as Rosa in that production earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, drawing considerable critical praise despite the show's brief run.

Following Carmelina, Keagy joined the original cast of the Richard Rodgers musical I Remember Mama, replacing Dolores Wilson in the role of Aunt Jenny. After that production closed in September 1979, she spent the following year touring the United States as Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!. She returned to Broadway in 1980 for the original production of Tom Savage's Musical Chairs, and again in 1981 for John Kander and Fred Ebb's Woman of the Year.

Beyond the stage, Keagy made her television debut as a guest star on Our Family Honor in 1985. She subsequently appeared in the television films Four Eyes and Six Guns (1992) and Mrs. Santa Claus (1996), as well as on multiple soap operas including As the World Turns, One Life to Live, The Doctors, Ryan's Hope, and Search for Tomorrow.

Keagy was predeceased by her husband, Robert B. Keagy, and her brother William Stambaugh. She was survived by five children and twelve grandchildren. She died on October 4, 2009, in Rochester, New York, at the age of 87, from ovarian cancer.