歌手Peggy King逝世享年96岁：1950年代电视黄金时代歌星、1960年首批在好莱坞星光大道留星
美国歌手、1950年代电视黄金时代的代表人物之一Peggy King，于10月25日在Pennsylvania州Montgomery县Wynnewood的Saunders House安养机构逝世，享年96岁。她的公关代表Alan Eicher向《Variety》证实，她生前长期与阿尔茨海默病抗争。King生于1930年2月16日，出生地是Pennsylvania州Greensburg，父母为Floyd Henry King与Mary Margaret Finan；她早年在Cleveland的电台唱歌，先后随Charlie Spivak、Ralph Flanagan与Ray Anthony等大乐队巡演。
1952年，King与米高梅签约，在Vincente Minnelli执导的《玉女奇男》（The Bad and the Beautiful）中献唱，后又出演《木乃伊历险记》（Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy，1955年）与惊悚片《Zero Hour!》（1957年，后被喜剧片《Airplane!》戏仿），在后者饰演空姐Janet Turner。她为Hunt's番茄酱唱的广告歌被哥伦比亚唱片高管Mitch Miller听到，由此签约哥伦比亚唱片，推出畅销专辑《Wish Upon a Star》与《Girl Meets Boy》（均与Percy Faith乐团合作），1954年的单曲《Make Yourself Comfortable》成为她的代表作。
1954年至1957年，King是NBC当红综艺节目《The George Gobel Show》的常驻歌手，主持人George Gobel给她起的绰号「Pretty Perky Peggy King」伴随了她整个演艺生涯。她于1955年获艾美奖最佳女歌手提名（据《Variety》报道），同年在奥斯卡颁奖礼上演唱提名最佳原创歌曲的《Count Your Blessings》；《Billboard》与《Down Beat》两家行业杂志都把她评为1955至1956年度最佳新歌手。1958年她共同主持艾美奖颁奖礼。1960年2月8日，她在好莱坞星光大道落成之初即留下一颗星，星位在Hollywood Blvd 6563号，是首批获此荣誉的演艺人之一。
据《JazzTimes》报道，作曲家Arthur Hamilton专门为她写了歌曲《Cry Me a River》，但Mitch Miller拒绝让她录制，这首歌后来成为他人的经典。King婚后定居Philadelphia地区并抚养家庭，2010年入选Philadelphia广播先锋名人堂。2013年，83岁的她与All-Star Jazz Trio重返舞台，在New York的54 Below与Metropolitan Room演出并获好评；2016年她发行了36年来的第一张新专辑《Songs a la King》。她身后留下女儿Suzy Rudofker。
Singer Peggy King, a Star of Television's Golden Age, Dies at 96
Peggy King, the American singer who was one of the signature voices of television's golden age in the 1950s, died on October 25 at the Saunders House assisted living facility in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She was 96. Her publicist, Alan Eicher, confirmed to Variety that she had lived with Alzheimer's disease. King was born on February 16, 1930, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, to Floyd Henry King and Mary Margaret Finan. She began singing on radio in Cleveland and toured with the big bands of Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony.
In 1952 King signed with MGM and sang in Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful. She went on to appear in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) and played stewardess Janet Turner in the 1957 thriller Zero Hour!. Her jingles for Hunt's tomato sauce brought her to the attention of Columbia Records executive Mitch Miller, who signed her to the label. She released the best-selling albums Wish Upon a Star and Girl Meets Boy, both with Percy Faith and His Orchestra, and scored a hit with the 1954 single "Make Yourself Comfortable."
From 1954 to 1957, King was the resident vocalist on NBC's hit variety program The George Gobel Show, where host George Gobel's nickname for her, "Pretty Perky Peggy King," stuck for the rest of her career. She was nominated for an Emmy Award as best female singer in 1955, according to Variety, and sang the Oscar-nominated song "Count Your Blessings" at that year's Academy Awards. Billboard and Down Beat both named her Best New Singer of 1955-56, and she co-hosted the Emmy Awards telecast in 1958. On February 8, 1960, she received one of the first stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6563 Hollywood Boulevard.
According to JazzTimes, composer Arthur Hamilton wrote "Cry Me a River" specifically for King, but Mitch Miller would not let her record it; the song later became a standard for others. King settled in the Philadelphia area after her marriage and raised a family. She was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2013, at 83, she returned to the stage with the All-Star Jazz Trio, winning strong notices at 54 Below and the Metropolitan Room in New York, and in 2016 she released Songs a la King, her first new album in 36 years. She is survived by her daughter, Suzy Rudofker.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：1955年的Peggy King（右）与专栏作家Sidney Skolsky（公共领域，Wikimedia Commons）。Image: Peggy King (right) with columnist Sidney Skolsky in 1955 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons).
