Sally Brown is a fictional character in the comic stripPeanutsbyCharles Schulz. She is the younger sister of main character Charlie Brown.[1] She was first mentioned in May 1959 and throughout a long series of strips before her first appearance in August 1959.[2] Cathy Steinberg was the first to voice Sally in 1965 for the CBS special A Charlie Brown Christmas; she was six years old at the time.[3][4]
Sally was born on May 26, 1959, with Charlie Brown receiving a telephone call from the hospital and dashing out of the house yelling that he had a new baby sister.[5] She was given the name "Sally" on June 2, 1959.[5] Although Sally was often talked about and was the cause for a celebration that included Charlie Brown passing out chocolate cigars, it was not until August 23, 1959, that she finally made her first appearance in the strip.[5]
Like other characters, such as Linus and Schroeder (who were also introduced to the strip as babies), Sally grew up quickly. The week of August 22, 1960, she took her first steps, and developed a lasting crush on Linus.[6]
Sally went to kindergarten for the first time in a three-week sequence from August 20 to September 7, 1962.[7]
It was originally Linus who expressed a possible romantic interest in Sally. In a strip appearing shortly after Sally's birth, Linus is seen scribbling calculations on a fence. When Charlie Brown wanders by, Linus asks him, "When I'm 22 and Sally is 17, do you think she'll go out with me?"[5]
In a storyline which began on November 29, 1965, Sally was diagnosed with amblyopia ex anopsia (lazy eye) which required her to wear an eye patch for a while.[8][9]
In September 1974, Sally started talking to her school building, expressing her fears and concerns about going to school.[10] The building would answer back in thought bubbles, although Schulz's intention was that Sally could not hear these replies.[11]
Kristin Chenoweth played Sally in the Broadway revival of the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. The character of Sally had not been in the original production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. In the revival Sally replaced Patty (not to be confused with the later character Peppermint Patty) who had long since disappeared from the comic strip. Sally was most recently played by Milly Shapiro in the 2016 revival of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.
^Schappell, Elissa (2019). "Je suis Sally Brown". In Blauner, Andrew (ed.). The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life. Library of America. ISBN978-1598536164.
^Farago, Andrew (2017). The Complete Peanuts Family Album: The Ultimate Guide to Charles M. Schulz's Classic Characters. Weldon Owen. p. 137. ISBN978-1681882925.
^Mendelson, Lee (2013). A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition. It Books. p. 23. ISBN978-0062272140.
^Groth, Gary (2000). "Schulz at 3 O'Clock in the Morning". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. p. 223. ISBN9781578063055. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
