Peggy King, ‘George Gobel Show’ Singer of TV’s Golden Age, Dies at 96

Peggy King, the singer who became one of the familiar voices of 1950s television as a regular on NBC’s “The George Gobel Show,” died on Sunday, October 25, at the age of 96. Her publicist, Alan Eicher, confirmed her death to Variety. King died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease at Saunders House, an assisted living facility in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, where she had been living.

King was a regular on “The George Gobel Show” from 1954 to 1957, serving as the program’s resident vocalist. In his introductions of her musical numbers, host George Gobel nicknamed her “Pretty Perky Peggy King.” Variety reported that the nickname stayed with her for the rest of her career.

In 1955, King performed “Count Your Blessings” at the Academy Awards; the song, from the film “White Christmas,” was a nominee for best original song. She returned to the Emmy Awards in 1958 as the broadcast’s co-host. The accounts of her 1955 Emmy recognition differ: Variety reported that she was nominated for an Emmy Award for best female singer in 1955, while The Hollywood Reporter and several other outlets carrying the announcement reported that she won an Emmy in 1955. Both versions are in print, and they cannot both be right.

The announcement coverage noted that “The George Gobel Show” was NBC’s No. 1 series during King’s years on it, and that she remained based in the Philadelphia area in her later years, performing locally for decades. The Hollywood Reporter also carried the announcement of her death from Eicher.

Mitch Miller signed King to a long-term contract with Columbia Records, where she made two best-selling albums, “Wish Upon a Star” and “Girl Meets Boy,” and had a string of hit singles. DownBeat and Billboard named her best new singer for 1955–56. Composer Arthur Hamilton wrote “Cry Me a River” for her, but Miller would not let her record the song. She performed it throughout her career afterward.

King’s screen work began under a contract she signed with MGM in 1952, which led to a cameo in Vincente Minnelli’s “The Bad and the Beautiful,” in which she sang on the soundtrack album. She also appeared in “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.” She starred with Tab Hunter in the television musical “Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates,” and in a television musical version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with Joel Grey, Celeste Holm and Cyril Ritchard. She played a stewardess in the 1957 thriller “Zero Hour!”

Across the decade, King appeared on Bob Hope’s “Chevy Show,” “American Bandstand,” “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.” Her dramatic credits included guest roles on “Maverick” and “Dragnet.”

King was born on February 16, 1930, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, to Floyd Henry King and Margaret Finan. She graduated from Ravenna High School in Ohio and began her career singing on radio in Cleveland. She sang with the bands of Charlie Spivak, Ray Anthony and Ralph Flanagan before moving to Hollywood. She is survived by her daughter, Suzy Rudofker.

Sources: Variety; The Hollywood Reporter; the family announcement via her publicist, Alan Eicher.