Peggy King, 'Pretty Perky' singer of The George Gobel Show, dies at 96

Peggy King, the 1950s television and recording star known as “Pretty Perky Peggy King”, has died at 96 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, her publicist Alan Eicher confirmed.

King died on Sunday, 25 October, at the Saunders House assisted living facility in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, Geo News reported, with EntertainmentNow reporting that Eicher confirmed the death to Variety.

King was a regular on The George Gobel Show from 1954 to 1957, when it was one of NBC’s top variety programmes, and Gobel gave her the nickname that stayed with her for the rest of her career. She was nominated for an Emmy for best female singer in 1955, performed “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” at the 1955 Academy Awards, and co-hosted the Emmys in 1958.

Born on 16 February 1930 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, King signed with MGM in 1952, leading to a singing cameo in Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful, in which she performed “Don’t Blame Me”. She also appeared in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) and as a stewardess in the thriller Zero Hour! (1957).

She was named best new singer of 1956 by DownBeat and Billboard, received one of the first stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2010. Her last released recording was the album Songs a la King in 2016. She is survived by her daughter, Suzy Rudofker.

Sources

• Geo News — “Peggy King, ‘Pretty Perky’ singer of ‘The George Gobel Show’, dies at 96”: https://www.geo.tv/latest/688289-peggy-king-pretty-perky-singer-of-the-george-gobel-show-dies-at-96
• EntertainmentNow — “Beloved 1950s TV Star Has Passed Away at 96”: https://entertainmentnow.com/celebrity/singer-peggy-king-passed-away-96/