Archives West Finding Aid

Margaret Draper was born to Delbert M. and Mary Rogers Draper on November 20, 1916 in Spanish Fork, Utah. She attended and graduated from East High School and the University of Utah.

Margaret's professional life started with her participation in theatre while she attended East High School and the University of Utah. Upon graduation from the University of Utah she moved to New York where she worked as an actress in theatre, radio, and television during 1940s-1950s. However, from 1943-1946 she served in the American Red Cross in the Middle East and Germany. When she returned to New York, some of her more prominent acting roles included playing Liz Dennis in The Brighter Day from 1949-1954 and Linda Pepper in Pepper's Young Family in 1954. She worked for several theatres and theatre companies including the Chekhov Players, Corning Theatre, and Barter Theatre. During the 1960s, she worked as an actor and model in commercials and advertisements. In 1966, she became a disc jockey for the all-women FM radio station, WNEW-FM. From 1969-1979, she worked for the United Seamen's Service until she moved to Washington where she worked for the National Alliance of Business PSIP Clearinghouse in the early 1980s. She retired in 1985 and was later married to Wesley Brown in 1997 and traveled before returning to live in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1949, Margaret married Joe DeSantis, with whom she had her son, Christopher Desantis in 1951. They later divorced in 1957. She then had a marriage (1959) with Niccol Bissel and then she married (1972) J. Norman Messer. In 1997, she was married to Wesley Brown until his death in 2001. She died October 14, 2011.