Just Patty

There's a story flying around that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts portrayed Peppermint Patty in an all-boys high school production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. I believe it was first reported in the Washington Times. The claim is almost certainly false.

In fact, there is no Peppermint Patty in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. There is part for Patty, who was an earlier Peanuts character--a precursor to Lucy, who, with pal Violet, could be pretty cruel. The highly successful off-Broadway production opened in March 1967, while Peppermint Patty herself didn't appear in the Peanuts comic strip until late 1966--she was hardly known to the public when the show opened, much less when it was being written.

Patty is probably the dullest character in the show (and wasn't much better in the strip--that's why she disappeared). In the 1999 Broadway revival, the part was replaced by Charlie Brown's kid sister, Sally. Kristin Chenoweth played that role and received the best notices in the show.

P.S. I have rewritten the Wikipedia entry on Peppermint Patty to reflect this.