Peggy Lee

Acting

Peggy Lee

Born 1920-05-26 · Jamestown, New York, USA

Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress, in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and performer. She wrote music for films, acted, and created conceptual record albums—encompassing poetry, jazz, chamber pop, and art songs. In 1952 Lee starred in The Jazz Singer, a Technicolor remake of the early Al Jolson part-talkie 1927 film of the same name. In 1955, she played an alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1955 she did the speaking and singing voices for several characters in Disney's Lady and the Tramp: she played the human "Darling", the dog "Peg", and the two Siamese cats "Si and Am". In 1957, Lee guest starred on the short-lived ABC variety program, The Guy Mitchell Show. Lee continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes using a wheelchair. After years of poor health, she died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81.

Acting credits

Lady and the Tramp poster
7.1

Lady, a golden cocker spaniel, meets up with a mongrel dog who calls himself the Tramp. He is obviously from the wrong side of town, but happenings at Lady's home make her decide to travel with him for a while.

Lady and the Tramp

1955

Stage Door Canteen poster
6.3

A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.

Stage Door Canteen

1943

Night of 100 Stars III poster
4.3

A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.

Night of 100 Stars III

1990

Pete Kelly's Blues poster
6.3

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Pete Kelly's Blues

1955

The Jazz Singer poster
6.0

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.

The Jazz Singer

1953

Disney's Halloween Treat poster
6.5

Contains memorable scenes from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Fantasia," "Lady and the Tramp," "Peter Pan," "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," and "The Sword in the Stone."

Disney's Halloween Treat

1982

Mr. Music poster
6.5

A golf-crazy songwriter tries to avoid the long, solitary hours of concentration needed to produce a hit musical. His producer and his secretary conspire to get him back on track.

Mr. Music

1950

The Powers Girl poster
7.0

Two small-town sisters who've come to New York City for very different reasons find themselves competing for the affections of a brash magazine photographer. Comedy.

The Powers Girl

1943

Judy Garland Duets poster
NR

Judy performs beloved musical numbers with Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, and more in this series of classic duets from The Judy Garland Show.

Judy Garland Duets

2005

No artwork available
6.6

In this entertaining Puppetoon animated short film, a young boy, Jasper, gets trapped inside a pawnshop at midnight. All the musical instruments come to life and play jazz. A whooping wooden Indian chief self-animates as well, and goes on the warpath.

Jasper in a Jam

1946

No artwork available
7.0

Man lives with his best friend, Cat, to defend others from big bad.

Man and Cat

2001

President Kennedy's Birthday Salute poster
7.8

President Kennedy's birthday celebration was held at the third Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, and more than 15,000 people attended, including numerous celebrities. The event was a fundraising gala for the Democratic Party. Features Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK.

President Kennedy's Birthday Salute

1962

…Sings Musicals poster
7.0

BBC archive performances from musicals, including Ella Fitzgerald singing Mack the Knife, Captain Sensible performing a classic from South Pacific and Jay Z taking on Annie.

…Sings Musicals

2012

Dean Martin: That's Amore poster
8.0

Like his fellow Rat Packers, pop crooner Dean Martin was more than just an accomplished singer--he also enjoyed success as a movie star, comedian, and host of a popular television series. THAT'S AMORE pulls rare gems from the Dean Martin archive, carefully compiling the star's greatest pop hits, including "Young and Foolish," "Pennies from Heaven," and of course, "That's Amore."

Dean Martin: That's Amore

2001

Jasper and the Beanstalk poster
6.7

The Scarecrow trades Jasper a handful of beans for his harmonica. Jasper plants the beans and climbs up the resulting beanstalk and, at the top, finds a beautiful girl in a golden cage playing a golden harp. Jasper rescues her from the Scarecrow, brings her down the beanstalk, and spends the rest of his days dancing to the music his girlfriend plays on the harp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with UCLA Film & Television Archive in 2009.

Jasper and the Beanstalk

1945

Jazz Ball poster
8.0

A made-for-TV musical revue, compiled from soundies and film and TV performances by jazz greats from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Jazz Ball

1956

Julie's Christmas Special poster
NR

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without some traditional Christmas favourites such as Julie’s Christmas Special. This special aired on ABC-TV on December 14, 1973 and featured special guests Peter Ustinov and Peggy Lee. Most memorably, Andrews and Lee duet on a trippy, campy medley that delightfully careens from hit to hit over the most fun 8 and a half minutes you'll ever have with your pants on. Andrews plays a TV Hostess whose wandered into a cardboard forest and stumbles across Lee as the Sugar Plum Fairy lazing on a divan and ready for some fun - complete with ultra soft-focus and a bedazzled microphone.

Julie's Christmas Special

1973

Disney's Greatest Lullabies Volume 2 poster
10.0

What better way to say goodnight than with Disney's Greatest Lullabies? Soothing refrains from masterfully crafted shorts and features you come to know and love. The most poignant, precious moments from the vast Disney library presented in this enchanted series. Certain to turn any child into a Sleeping Beauty--the best lullabies in the world--from Disney!

Disney's Greatest Lullabies Volume 2

1986

Nat King Cole & Friends Unforgettable Hits poster
NR

Some marvelous late-fifties memories of the one and only Nat King Cole. Singing (and occasionally playing) all-time Cole classics, like When I Fall In Love, The Christmas Song, Sweet Lorraine, and A Blossom Fell. Plus, there is a stellar list of other top tunes - including Stardust, Autumn Leaves, and Makin' Whoopee - each bearing his unmistakeable imprint. Nat, in solo performance, of course, but assisted, on occasion, by fellow greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Peggy Lee - and even the legendary Jazz at the Philharmonic.

Nat King Cole & Friends Unforgettable Hits

Petula poster
NR

In a staggering example of lacking imagination, Petula Clark's third US TV Special was given the exact same name as her first. Unbelievably, a third special also had that exact same title a few years later! Guests: Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, the Everly Brothers, David Frost. Songs: Beautiful Sounds, duet w/ Peggy Lee (I'm A Woman/Wedding Bell Blues), Games People Play (w/ The Everly Brothers), duet medley w/ Dean Martin on a horse (Hey Good Lookin'/Detour/Things/I Walk The Line/Just A Little Lovin'), medley (Come Together/Great Come And Get It Day), When Johnny Comes Marching Home (w/ Lee), Fool On The Hill.

Petula

1970

Lady and the Tramp: A Lesson in Sharing Attention poster
NR

The film stresses the importance of sharing attention when a new baby joins a family.

Lady and the Tramp: A Lesson in Sharing Attention

1978

Big Night Out: The Peggy Lee Show poster
NR

Peggy Lee hosts an all-star cast and sings a number of her signature songs.

Big Night Out: The Peggy Lee Show

1961

Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook poster
NR

Bette Midler performs four songs from her recording "Bette Midler Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook". Selections include "I'm A Woman," "He's A Tramp," "Fever," and an alternate take version of "Is That All There Is?" The program also includes interviews with Bette, along with Nicki Lee Foster and Holly Foster Wells (Peggy Lee's daughter and granddaughter.) along with never before seen vintage home movies from the Peggy Lee estate. A highlight is a home movie montage scored to Bette's recording of "Folks That Live on the Hill." This program was created as the exclusive DVD content for the Dual Disc release of Bette's Peggy Lee tribute.

Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook

2005

Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas poster
NR

The documentary tracks the diva's difficult progress as she emerges from the tough, testosterone-fuelled world of the big bands of the 30s and 40s, to fill nightclubs and saloons across the US in the 50s and early 60s as a force in her own right. Looking at the lives and careers of six individual singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Annie Ross), the film not only talks to those who knew and worked with these queens of jazz, but also to contemporary singers who sit on the shoulders of these trailblazing talents without having to endure the pain and hardship it took for them to make their highly individual voices heard above the prejudice of mid-century America.

Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas

2013