Background
She was the great-granddaughter of Albert Tallichet, an antebellum emigre from Switzerland who settled in the western Alabama town of Demopolis, where he ran a grocery store.
She was the great-granddaughter of Albert Tallichet, an antebellum emigre from Switzerland who settled in the western Alabama town of Demopolis, where he ran a grocery store.
Margaret graduated from Southern Methodist University.
Her best-known leading role was with Peter Lorre in the film noir Stranger on the Third Floor (1940). Her parents, David Compton Tallichet and Margaret Tallichet, moved from Alabama to Dallas, Texas, before her birth. Tallichet came to California from her native Texas in 1936 seeking a career in the movie business.
According to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times, she was working in the publicity department at Paramount Pictures when she was befriended by actress Carole Lombard.
She was introduced to producer David O. Selznick, who gave her a screen test for the role of Scarlett O"Hara in Gone with the Wind. She was initially cast for the role of Scarlett"s sister Careen O"Hara, but the role was ultimately given to Ann Rutherford.
Selznick also cast her in a minor uncredited role in A Star is Born (1937). At the outset of her acting career, she also appeared in A Desperate Adventure (1938) and Girls" School (1938).
She died on May 3, 1991, at age 77.
According to her New York Times obituary, the cause of her death was cancer.
She appeared in Stand Up and Fight (uncredited, 1939), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), lieutenant Started with Eve (1941), and The Devil Pays Office (1941).
She was an active member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.