Peggy King born 16 February 1930

Peggy King (born February 16, 1930) is an American jazz singer. She was a member of big bands led by Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan, and Ray Anthony. 

Born in Greensburg, Phiadelphia, King began singing at an early age. After her family moved to Ravenna, Ohio, she attended high school and business college, meanwhile singing at clubs around the Cleveland area. She made the move to radio and a hotel band as well. She then joined the big-time when she began touring with the orchestras of Charlie Spivak, Ray Anthony, and Ralph Flanagan. 

Sparked by the national popularity of Flanagan's band, King moved to Hollywood, where she took singing and dancing lessons. Her television debut came on Mel Tormé's show, but her big break came under inauspicious circumstances. In 1952, MGM signed her to a contract, which led to a singing cameo in Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful (recorded with Skip Martin for MGM Records) and a series of commercial jingles for Hunt's tomato sauce. These last brought her to the attention of Mitch Miller at Columbia Records. Miller signed her to a long-term contract, under which she made two best-selling albums - Wish Upon on a Star and Girl Meets Boy and a string of hit singles, including "Make Yourself Comfortable" in 1954. She sang the Oscar-nominated song "Count Your Blessings" on the 1955 Academy Awards telecast, and both Billboard and Down Beat magazine named her Best New Singer of 1955–56. 

                                    

"Pretty Perky Peggy King", as she was called, appeared on The George Gobel Show from 1954 through 1957 and guest-starred on many other TV shows, including Bob Hope's 1956 Chevy Show, American Bandstand, Maverick, Dragnet (series), The Steve Allen Show, The Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle, What's My Line?, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Perry Como Show, The Garry Moore Show, and The Jack Benny Program. 

King sang in the 1955 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and was featured as chief co-star on the poster. She portrayed the stewardess Janet Turner in the suspense thriller Zero Hour! (1957), later the basis for the satirical comedy Airplane!. She starred opposite Tab Hunter in the television musical Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (1958) and in a musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk co-starring Joel Grey, Celeste Holm, and Cyril Ritchard. Her albums include Lazy Afternoon (1959), Oh What a Memory We Made Tonight, and Peggy King Sings Jerome Kern. 

On February 8, 1960, King became one of the first stars to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her star is located on the north side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard. Though her studio recording schedule grew less busy, King made numerous appearances on television during the late '50s and early '60s. Later making her home in Philadelphia, King performed with the acclaimed Philadelphia Orchestra, and co-wrote (and performed) the NFL's "The Men Who Played the Game." 

Peggy has been married three times. She first married trumpeter-trombonist Knobby Lee (born Norbert William Francis Lidrbauch) on February 2, 1953, in Los Angeles County. She met Lee while singing with Ralph Flanagan. Lee had been a trumpeter with the band. Knobby and Peggy divorced October 19, 1956, in Los Angeles County. After ending a two-year engagement to Andre 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) of Philadelphia, with whom she has two children and one granddaughter. Tabloids and biographies suggest that she had once had a love interest with Sammy Davis Jr. 

In 2008 Sepia Records reissued the original cast album of Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, adding sixteen of King's Columbia recordings and four of Hunter's. In 2016, Fresh Sound released her first new album in 36 years. (see comments) 

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010. The success of the movie led to her resuming her singing career in 2013 with the All-Star Jazz Trio, and she received strong notices at 54 Below in New York and the Metropolitan Room. King continues to perform in nightclubs, theatres and at charitable and private events on a regular basis, with Music Director/Pianist Andrew Kahn and accompanied by The All-Star Jazz Trio. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)