To Kill a Mockingbird

Daisy's story is below the poster.

Working with Gregory Peck was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for Daisy. He was as nice in real life as was his character in the film, and he spent special time with Mary Badham and Phillip Alford, who played his children Scout and Jem, when they weren't filming.

He taught Alford to play chess, which they played between shoots, and Badham was frequently at his house to play with his real daughter who was about the same age.

He was equally considerate and nice to Daisy, letting her snuggle up to him while he was reading his script. Even Harper Lee, who wrote the novel and visited the set, was nice.

The only actor he avoided was James Anderson, who played Bob Ewell. His character was mean, and Anderson, who had a Method actor mentality, tended to be unfriendly whenever he was on the set. He wouldn't even speak to Peck and only communicated through director Robert Mulligan. Daisy totally avoided being anywhere near him.

Daisy normally didn't care much for other non-human actors, but she did admire the acting talent of the dog that in the cameo role of the rabid dog. It staggered very convincingly and did a superb job of falling over on cue and playing dead.

Daisy's role was much less taxing. All she had to do was roam around the house and be nice. She especially liked the breakfast scene in the kitchen because Badham kept screwing up her lines and the scene had to be shot many, many times until she finally got it right.

That meant new servings of bacon for each reshoot and lots of leftovers Daisy could have from the previous shoots.