Gail Fisher was, apparently, an incredible pool player. When she wasn't on TV as Peggy Fair in Mannix, Ms. Fisher was quite the accomplished hustler at green-topped tables all over. 

"I call her Bella Barracuda," said Marilyn Reiss, Ms. Fisher's agent. "She's also a tennis nut and a bowler."

At the time, Gail Fisher was the cool-as-could-be Peggy Fair, the real brains behind Mannix's private eye enterprise. It was a role that would win her an Emmy and two Golden Globes. And it was a role that she truly enjoyed.

"I love working," said Ms. Fisher. Particularly, this regular part in a television series allowed Fisher the freedom to organize her life around a consistent schedule. "The great thing about it is that I can be with my children a lot. That's important." At the time of the interview, Fisher's two daughters, Samama, 13, and Jole, 7, lived with her in Beverly Hills. The role also allowed Gail Fisher to bring her mother out from Plainfield, New Jersey, to the much more amenable California weather. 

"Some people think I should be overjoyed at how well I'm doing on Mannix, and I suppose I am, but not for the same reason," Fisher told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1972.

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Gail FisherMannix

Gail Fisher loved playing Peggy Fair on Mannix, but the character wasn't her style

"They didn't cast me on the show because I'm black. It isn't even necessarily a black role. They cast me because I'm a darn good actress and I know I am," she explained.

"So why should I be surprised that I've succeeded?"

Fisher looked at her past trials and tribulations to contextualize her success. 

"I was forced to struggle for my very existence at first," she said. "So now, I take advantage of every situation and learn something from it for the perfection of my art. All the advice I had never worked for me. I had to work everything out for myself."

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