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Peggy King .. born 16 February 1930, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, is a jazz and pop vocalist and former TV personality. She got her start with the bands of Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony and was featured on an early TV series with Mel Torme. ... She is best remembered as "pretty perky Peggy King" on The George Gobel Show, on which she appeared for three seasons from 1954-57. She was also a frequent TV guest-star, including on Bob Hope's 1956 Chevy Show (filmed during his USO show in Alaska), American Bandstand, Maverick, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, The Perry Como Show, The Garry Moore Show, and The Jack Benny Show. .. Following her early band appearances, she was signed to a contract by MGM in 1952, and she had a singing cameo in Vincente Minnelli's classic film The Bad and the Beautiful. Peggy also recorded with Skip Martin for MGM Records and drew attention singing a series of commercial jingles for Hunt's tomato sauce. Mitch Miller then signed her to a long-term contract with Columbia Records, which led to two bestselling albums, "Wish Upon on a Star" and "Girl Meets Boy" (both reissued on CD by Collectables), and a string of hit singles. She sang the Oscar-nominated song "Count Your Blessings" ("Instead of Sheep") on the 1955 Academy Awards telecast and was named "Best New Singer" of 1955-56 by both Billboard (Magazine) and Down Beat. .. She appeared in the 1955 cult comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and portrayed the stewardess Janet Turner in the suspense thriller Zero Hour! (1957), co-starring Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell, which later became the basis for the disaster spoof Airplane!. She starred opposite Tab Hunter in the original television musical Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (1958) directed by Sidney Lumet and in a musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk co-starring Joel Grey, Celeste Holm and Cyril Ritchard. Her more recent albums include "Lazy Afternoon" (recently reissued on CD by EMI), "Oh What a Memory We Made Tonight" and "Peggy King Sings Jerome Kern." The original cast album of Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates was reissued by Sepia Records with the addition of 20 of her classic Columbia recordings. .. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010, and she hosts a two-hour interview program on WYYR.com. She is featured in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning HBO film Behind the Candelabra via a 1955 TV clip in which she sings "When Liberace Winks at Me" accompanied by the real Liberace. The success of the movie led to her resuming her singing career in 2013 with the Philadelphia-based All-Star Jazz Trio, and she received strong notices at 54 Below in New York and at the Metropolitan Room. .. Peggy was among the first stars to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and her star is located on the 6500 block of Hollywood Blvd. t The foregoing biography of Peggy is courtesy of her manager and publicist Mr. Alan Eichler, who also maintains the Peggy King Facebook page: . 
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| We wish to extend our sincere appreciation to a good friend of this website and devoted Peggy King fan Anne Scrivner for the contribution of her expertise in creating this iMovie depicting highlights in the life and career of Peggy King. .. |