Peggy Lee (1920 – 2002) 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.

Born as Norma Deloris Egstrom on 26 May 1920 in Jamestown, Stutsman, North Dakota, USA and dying on 21 January 2002 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA, she took on the professional name of Peggy Lee, possibly as young as age 17. (Wikipedia, citation needed.)

Parents: the seventh of eight children of Marvin Egstrom (1874-1950), a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad, and Selma Anderson (1885-1924). Her family was of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry.

Married:

1. Musician Dave Barbour (1943–1951); divorced
2. Actor Brad Dexter (1953); divorced
3. Actor Dewey Martin (1956–1958); divorced
4. Actor Jack Del Rio (1964–1965); divorced

Children of Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour:

1. Nicki Lee Foster (born 1943)

Notes

• On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."
• She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever," to which she added her own, uncopyrighted lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet ... " "Captain Smith and Pocahontas ... ").
• Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee passionately insisted that musicians be equitably compensated for their work. Although she realized litigation had taken a toll on her health, Lee often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson on the topic: "God will not have his work be made manifest by cowards."
• Lee was a mainstay of Capitol Records when rock 'n 'roll came onto the American music scene. She was among the first of the "old guard" to recognize this new genre, as seen by her recording music from the Beatles, Randy Newman, Carole King, James Taylor and other up-and-coming songwriters.

Links

• Peggy Lee Youtube search
• Peggy Lee Google images
• Official Peggy Lee Website
• Peggy Lee on Wikipedia
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6107216
• http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21052480/person/1021036042