{"id":6475,"date":"2025-11-19T06:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T11:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peggylee.com\/?p=6475"},"modified":"2025-11-19T06:07:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T11:07:32","slug":"behind-white-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peggylee.com\/behind-white-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind ‘White Christmas’: Peggy Lee’s Little-Known Connection to Irving Berlin\u2019s Beloved Holiday Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Selections from Irving Berlin\u2019s White Christmas<\/em><\/strong> Now Available on Collectible White Vinyl<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 19, 2025<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 With the recent reissue of the\u00a0Selections from Irving Berlin\u2019s White Christmas<\/em> now available<\/a> on collectible white vinyl from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), fascinating lesser-told stories behind the film and its iconic music and recordings offer a rare insight into one of Hollywood\u2019s most beloved holiday films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When audiences think of 1954\u2019s Irving Berlin\u2019s White Christmas<\/em>, they often picture Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen serenading Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye with the iconic number \u201cSisters.\u201d But, as Variety<\/em> reported, the role played by Clooney was first intended for another timeless voice: Peggy Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Variety<\/em> (March 1953), Paramount had its sights set on Lee \u2014 fresh off her acclaimed role in Warner Bros.\u2019 The Jazz Singer<\/em> (1952) \u2014 to play the female lead opposite Crosby in the role of Betty Haynes. But Warner Bros. declined to loan Lee to Paramount, leading to Clooney\u2019s casting and ultimately to Lee\u2019s off-screen, on-record comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released by Decca Records, the film\u2019s official soundtrack featured Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye \u2014 but not Rosemary Clooney. Clooney\u2019s Columbia Records contract prevented Decca from using her vocals, compelling the label to get creative, bringing in Peggy Lee, one of the label\u2019s brightest stars, to re-record Clooney\u2019s songs, including \u201cLove, You Didn\u2019t Do Right by Me\u201d and the beloved \u201cSisters.\u201d Lee also joined Crosby, Kaye, and Trudy Stevens, who dubbed Vera-Ellen\u2019s singing voice in the film, for the finale of the beloved title song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For \u201cSisters,\u201d Lee pulled off a technical and artistic marvel\u2014duetting with herself through the then-innovative process of double-track recording, creating two distinct personalities and harmonizing in perfect unison. It was a one-woman duet that remains one of the most charming curiosities in the White Christmas<\/em> legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 1954, a month before the premiere of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas<\/em>, Lee performed \u201cLove, You Didn\u2019t Do Right by Me\u201d on a special broadcast of NBC’s Colgate Comedy Hour<\/em> live at the Hollywood Bowl:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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