Maggie is a Cherry Blossom favorite. She has attended almost every year since 2008 and we love her gentle spirit, her happy personality and her beautiful voice. The role Maggie is probably best known for on television is Charlene Darling on The Andy Griffith Show, but she also played a character named Doris in the 1968 episode “A Girl for Goober”. Maggie grew up in a family that loved music and says her earliest memories were of music. When she graduated from high school she traveled to New York with her small group called the Ja-Da Quartet. They played several times on The Perry Como Show and The Pat Boone Show. Later Maggie was part of a group that performed in resort areas in Las Vegs, Lake Tahoe and Reno. Maggie read for the part of Ellie Walker on The Andy Griffith Show, but that part went to Elinor Donahue. Then she was selected to play the role of Charlene Darling, the daughter of Brisco Darling and sister to four brothers who were played by the bluegrass band members The Dillards. Maggie met her husband Gus Mancuso, a jazz musician, in 1968 while singing as an opening act for Andy Griffith in Lake Tahoe.
At the 3rd Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in April 2008, The Darlings received a star on the Missouri Walk of Fame in Marshfield, MO. Dean Webb, Maggie Peterson Mancuso and Mitch Jayne were on hand to accept their star.
