Actress Gail Fisher
I've been watching the third season of Mannix on DVD. I liked this show as a kid, I was especially fond of Mannix' secretary Peggy played
Gail Fisher (1935-2000) was among the first first black actors to have a major role on television.
From 1968 to 1975, Fisher appeared in "Mannix." (In the early 1960s, Fisher was the first black actor to be speak and act in a national television commercial: "All Laundry Detergent.) Fisher won an Emmy for the "Mannix" role of Peggy, the first black actress to do so.
She would be nominated another four times. Fisher was nominated for a Golden Globe four times; she became the first black actress to win that award. She won it twice. Unfortunately, Fisher was never able to get another big television part.
After "Mannix" was cancelled in 1975, she disappeared from television. Fisher's personal life impacted her: failed marriages and drugs probably influenced ,Hollywood's decisions.
In 1978, Fisher arrested for possession of pot and coke and for using an illegal phone device. In 2000, Gail Fisher died of kidney failure; she was 65.
James E. Brunson
