Peggy King, a singer and actress who became a fixture of 1950s television variety, died Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, at the Saunders House Assisted Living facility in Wynnewood, Pa., after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 96. Her publicist, Alan Eicher, confirmed her death.
King was a regular on “The George Gobel Show” from 1954 to 1957. The humorist George Gobel, who hosted it, dubbed her “Pretty Perky Peggy King,” and the billing followed her everywhere she sang afterward.
An Emmy Nod and an Oscar Stage
The Gobel exposure made her one of the era’s most visible young vocalists almost overnight.
She was recognized at the Emmy Awards for best female singer in 1955, though trade accounts differ on whether the recognition was a nomination or a win. At the 1955 Academy Awards, she sang “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep),” the song from the 1954 film “White Christmas.” She co-hosted the Emmy Awards show in 1958.
Denied the Song Written for Her
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,” along with a string of hit singles. Composer Arthur Hamilton wrote “Cry Me a River” for her, but Miller would not let her record it. She sang it on stage for years anyway.
The industry noticed her regardless. Billboard named her the best new singer for 1955-56, and DownBeat handed her the same distinction.
Hollywood came first, in fact. King signed a talent contract with MGM in 1952, which led to a singing cameo in director Vincente Minnelli’s “The Bad and the Beautiful,” for which she performed “Don’t Blame Me” on the soundtrack album. She appeared in the 1955 horror-comedy “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy,” then played a stewardess in the 1957 thriller “Zero Hour!” alongside stars Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell.
Television kept her busier. King turned up across the decade’s variety circuit, singing on “American Bandstand,” “The Steve Allen Show,” “The Perry Como Show,” “The Jack Benny Program,” “The Garry Moore Show,” “What’s My Line?,” “The Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle,” Bob Hope’s “Chevy Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” She took dramatic turns on “Maverick” and “Dragnet,” starred with actor Tab Hunter in the television musical “Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates,” and headlined a TV musical version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with Joel Grey, Celeste Holm and Cyril Ritchard. She was a regular on “The Mel Tormé Show” for CBS, and her jingle for Hunt’s Tomato Sauce was a hit of its own.
Among the Walk of Fame’s First Honorees
She was born Feb. 16, 1930, in Greensburg, Pa., to Floyd Henry King and Margaret Finan. She graduated from Ravenna High School in Ohio, sang on radio in Cleveland and worked with the bands of Charlie Spivak, Ray Anthony and Ralph Flanagan before the cameras found her.
King received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Feb. 8, 1960, among the first group of celebrities honored there. In 2010, she was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
She never really stopped working. King performed regularly in the Philadelphia area, New York and Los Angeles as late as 2014, and her last released recording, the album “Songs a la King,” arrived in 2016. She is survived by her daughter, Suzy Rudofker, and her son-in-law, Dwain Goforth.