Peggy Lee (born Norma Deloris Egstrom May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an American Grammy award winning Jazz and Popular Music singer, songwriter, composer and actress. She first came to prominence in the 1940s with her #1 hits Somebody Is Taking Your Place and Mañana, having a string of successful albums and top 10 hits in three consecutive decades. However, Peggy Lee is today internationally recognized for her signature song Fever. Lee was also an accomplished actress, starring in the hit movies The Jazz Singer, Disney's Lady and the Tramp and Pete Kelly's Blues, for which she received the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Peggy Lee is also widely regarded as one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time, being cited as a mentor to diverse artists such as; Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Madonna and Dusty Springfield.
In her 60 year long career, Peggy has been the recipient of three Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, an Academy Award nomination, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award; the Presidents Award, the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Living Legacy Award, from the Women's International Center. In 1999 Peggy Lee was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2]
Peggy Lee had Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. She was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, the seventh of eight children of Marvin Egstrom, a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad. Her mother died when she was four years old.[3] Lee found music to provide an escape from the abusive rampages of her cruel stepmother, Min, who tormented and beat young Norma. She first sang professionally with KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She soon landed her own series on a radio show sponsored by a local restaurant that paid her "salary" in food. Both during and after her high school years, she took whatever jobs she could find, waiting tables and singing for paltry sums on other local stations. Radio personality Ken Kennedy (actual name: Ken Sydness) of WDAY in Fargo (the most widely listened to station in North Dakota) changed her name from Norma to Peggy Lee. Tired of the abuse from her stepmother, she left home and traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 17.
