Margaret Whitton (November 30, 1949 – December 4, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actress. Her first work was on the New York stage, where she worked as a dog walker between parts. Margaret Whitton was married to former Bear, Stearns & Co. executive Warren Spector. Spector was President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Bear Stearns from 2001 to 2007. He was asked to leave the firm in August 2007 after a dispute with CEO Jimmy Cayne. Cayne was removed as CEO by the Board of Directors four months later. Whitton was a fan of the New York Yankees. Whitton died on December 4, 2016 at her home in Florida after a brief battle with cancer. She was survived by her husband, two sisters, Suzy and Marybeth, and two brothers, James and John. She had no children.
Whitton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She first noticeably appeared on the stage in 1973, billed as Peggy Whitton. In the early 1980s, she began to be billed by her birth name and made her Broadway debut in 1982's Steaming. Whitton did her primary film work between 1986 and 1993. Her most visible roles were that of Michael J. Fox's character's under-appreciated aunt-by-marriage in The Secret of My Success (1987), and as the spiteful baseball team owner Rachel Phelps in Major League[4] (1989), and its sequel, Major League II (1994). Whitton also appeared in the Robin Williams-Kurt Russell vehicle The Best of Times (1986) and in Mel Gibson's The Man Without a Face (1993). Her other films roles included parts in National Lampoon Goes to the Movies (1982), Love Child (1982) and 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) as Molly.Whitton worked as a television actress, with appearances in the soap operas One Life to Live and The Doctors. Her first primetime role was in CBS's 1985 dramedy Hometown. In 1989, Whitton played a divorcee in the short-lived ABC comedy series A Fine Romance.[5] She later starred in the 1991 sitcom Good & Evil, playing the good-natured sister opposite Teri Garr as her evil executive sibling. The series was cancelled by after six episodes. Whitton returned to the stage, appearing on Broadway in And the Apple Doesn't Fall... (1995), as Mac in Jeffrey Hatcher's The Three Viewings (1995), and in the original, award-winning musical Marlene (1999), starring Siân Phillips as Marlene Dietrich. The non-theatrical rights to her play A Bird of the Air were acquired by Freestyle Digital Media. It was based upon the novel The Loop as by Joe Coomer and was adapted for film by Roger Towne. At the time of her death, Whitton served as president of an independent-film production company, Tashtego Films.
