Peggy King | |
|---|---|
 Peggy King onThe Jack Benny Program | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1930-02-16)February 16, 1930 (age 95) Greensburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, traditional pop |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1950s |
Peggy King (born February 16, 1930) is an Americanjazz singer. She was a member of big bands led byCharlie Spivak,Ralph Flanagan, andRay Anthony.
Peggy King was born on February 16, 1930, to Floyd Henry King (1902–1978) and Mary Margaret Finan (1908–2001).
"Pretty Perky Peggy King", as she was nicknamed, appeared onTheGeorge Gobel Show from 1954 through 1957 and guest-starred on many other TV shows, includingBob Hope's 1956Chevy Show,American Bandstand,Maverick,Dragnet (series),The Steve Allen Show,[1]The Kraft Music Hall withMilton Berle,[2]What's My Line?,[3]The Tonight Show StarringJohnny Carson,The Perry Como Show,[4]The Garry Moore Show, andThe Jack Benny Program.[5]
In 1952,MGM signed her to a contract, which led to a singing cameo inVincente Minnelli'sThe Bad and the Beautiful (recorded withSkip Martin forMGM Records) and a series of commercial jingles forHunt's tomato sauce. These last brought her to the attention ofMitch Miller atColumbia Records. Miller signed her to a long-term contract, under which she made two best-selling albums,Wish Upon on a Star andGirl Meets Boy[6][7] and a string of hit singles, including "Make Yourself Comfortable" in 1954. She sang the Oscar-nominated song "Count Your Blessings" on the 1955Academy Awards telecast,[8] and bothBillboard andDown Beat magazine named her Best New Singer of 1955–56.[9]
King sang in the 1955 comedyAbbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and was featured as chief co-star on theposter. She portrayed the stewardess Janet Turner in the suspense thrillerZero Hour! (1957), later the basis for the satirical comedyAirplane!. She starred oppositeTab Hunter in the television musicalHans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (1958) and in a musical version ofJack and the Beanstalk co-starringJoel Grey,Celeste Holm, andCyril Ritchard. Her albums includeLazy Afternoon (1959),[10]Oh What a Memory We Made Tonight, andPeggy King Sings Jerome Kern.[11] In 2008 Sepia Records reissued the original cast album ofHans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, adding sixteen of King's Columbia recordings and four of Hunter's.[12] In 2016, Fresh Sound released her first new album in 36 years.[13]
TheBroadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010.[14][15] The success of the movie led to her resuming her singing career in 2013 with the All-Star Jazz Trio,[16] and she received strong notices at54 Below in New York[17] and the Metropolitan Room.[18] King continues to perform in nightclubs, theatres and at charitable and private events on a regular basis, with Music Director/PianistAndrew Kahn and accompanied by The All-Star Jazz Trio.[19]
On February 8, 1960, King became one of the first stars to be honored on theHollywood Walk of Fame. Her star is located on the north side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard.[20][21]
King has been married three times. She first married trumpeter-trombonist Knobby Lee (born Norbert William Francis Lidrbauch) on February 2, 1953, inLos Angeles County. She met Lee while singing withRalph Flanagan; he had been a trumpeter with the band. Lee and King divorced October 19, 1956, in Los Angeles County. After ending a two-year engagement toAndre Previn in 1958, she married Bill Kirkpatrick in 1959. At the time, Kirkpatrick was a publicist with Bill Doll. Then, in the early 1960s, she married Samuel Rudofker (1921–1994) ofPhiladelphia, with whom she has two children and one granddaughter. Tabloids and biographies suggest that she had once had a relationship withSammy Davis Jr.[22][23]
Release Date April 24, 2012
...we have added four songs performed by Hunter...and another sixteen songs by songbird Peggy King
Vocalist Peggy King, one of the best-loved stars of TV's Golden Age, as well as stage, screen and nightclubs, continues her resurgence after nearly a 30-year absence, with a series of performances at the Metropolitan Room, starting Sunday, Feb. 23 at 4 PM, just a few days after celebrating her 84th birthday.
North side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard
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