Dakota Datebook: Peggy Lee’s war with Disney Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Prairie Public

Peggy Lee was born on this date in 1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota. She is known for her singing, movie, and television career. She is not well known for her war with the Walt Disney Company.

The case came about because Disney performers received no additional compensation when a movie was later shown on television and turned into videocassettes. The movie company received all of the profits.

The 1955 animated film “The Lady and the Tramp” became a box office hit for Disney. Peggy voiced several of the characters and wrote six of the songs. The animators even embodied Peggy’s stage performance in the attitude of the dog Peg. Peggy earned a total of $4,500, a respectable amount in 1955. No one imagined the money that would be made in home entertainment.

Read more at: https://news.prairiepublic.org/post/peggy-lee-s-war-disney