Miriam Seegar was born on September 1, 1907, to Frank and Carrie (née Wall) Seegar, both teachers, in Greentown, Indiana. She was the fourth of five daughters, known as the Seegar Sisters, which included educator Helen Seegar-Stone, stage actress and opera singer Dorothy Seegar-Hatch, Mildred Seegar, and actress Sara Seegar.
Raised in the Seegar-Sewell home on 404 S. Main Street, Miriam was exposed to the performing arts from a young age. Her sisters started acting and singing, and Frank Seegar left teaching to open a hardware store to support their pursuits. After his death at the age of 14, Miriam's two older sisters invited her to spend summers with them in their Upper West Side apartment in New York City.
Miriam began appearing on stage in minor, uncredited roles after her sisters sent her to an agent. She would return to Greentown in the winter to complete her schooling with her younger sister, Sara. After finishing school, Seegar acted in her first Broadway production and went on to appear in five more stage stints.
At the age of 18, Miriam accepted an offer to star in the London West End production of the hit show "Crime" alongside Ernest Truex. She moved to London, followed by her mother and sister Sara, and lived in the Park Lane Hotel. She acted in her first two films, "The Price of Divorce" and "The Valley of Ghosts," both released in 1928.
Miriam then co-starred with Nelson Keyes in "When Knights Were Bold" (1929) and began a romantic relationship with director Tim Whelan, 14 years her senior. The couple moved to Hollywood in 1929 and married in 1931. They had two sons, Tim Junior and Michael, born with Down's syndrome.
Miriam retired from acting in 1932 to raise her children and found her career at odds with her husband's. She received her ASID certification in 1953 and began working as an interior decorator. She continued to work in the field until her retirement in 1995.
Miriam's husband died in 1957, and her sons died within a span of nine months. Tim Whelan, Jr. died from cancer in 1997, and Michael died in 1998. Miriam appeared in the documentary "I Used to Be in Pictures" in 2000 and made guest appearances at film festivals, culminating in an award for her screen work from the Memphis Film Festival when she was 95.
Miriam Seegar had two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren at the time of her death on January 2, 2011, at the age of 103.
