Sally Brown

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Sally was first mentioned on May 26, 1959, when Charlie Brown received a telephone call from the hospital and dashed out of the house yelling that he had a new baby sister. (Note: The strip shows Charlie Brown receiving the call on that date, not that she was born that day.) Her name was announced as 'Sally' in the strip on June 2, 1959. 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 25, 1959, that she finally made her first appearance in the strip. 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. Sally went to kindergarten for the first time in a three-week sequence from August 20 to September 7, 1962. 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?' 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. In September 1973, Sally started talking to her school building, expressing her fears and concerns about going to school. The building would answer back in thought bubbles, although Schulz's intention was that Sally could not hear these replies.

In Their Own Story

Sally is younger than most of the other kids in the series, and thus has very few friends her exact age. Because of her youth, she often has a greater sense of naïveté and dimwittedness, and tends to get mixed up over the smallest things (for example, assuming the phrase 'Santa and his reindeer' was actually 'Santa and his Rain Gear'). Like the other kids, Sally sometimes looks down on her older brother, Charlie Brown. At the same time though, she admires him greatly as her sibling and often goes to him for advice. Charlie Brown, meanwhile, loves her greatly but is often exasperated at her eccentricities and lack of intelligence. Besides her brother, her other most significant relationship is with Linus Van Pelt. Sally has an infatuation with Linus that she does not hide, often referring to him as 'My Sweet Babboo' and trying to make the claim that the two are already in a relationship, usually with cartoon hearts forming around her. Linus, meanwhile, is overwhelmed and at times angered by this, usually yelling her down or hiding from her under his blanket, to no avail.

Reader's Guide

Cathy Steinberg was the first to voice Sally Brown in *A Charlie Brown Christmas* in 1965. Various actresses have voiced her since. Linda Jenner voiced her from *It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown* (1974) to *Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown* (1975). In *It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown* (1984), *Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown* (1985), and the 1983 season of *The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show*, Sally was voiced by Stacy Ferguson, better known as Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. Other voice actresses who have played Sally include: 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*.

Did You Know?

• Sally was first mentioned in May 1959 but did not appear in the strip until August 25, 1959.
• Cathy Steinberg, who first voiced Sally in 1965, was five years old at the time.
• Sally was diagnosed with amblyopia ex anopsia (lazy eye) in a storyline beginning November 29, 1965, and had to wear an eye patch.
• In September 1973, Sally started talking to her school building, which answered back in thought bubbles she could not hear.
• Kristin Chenoweth won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for playing Sally in the Broadway revival of *You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown*.