39 Facts About Peggy Gilbert

Peggy Gilbert, born Margaret Fern Knechtges, was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.

Peggy Gilbert lived until the age of 102 and died in Burbank, California.

Peggy Gilbert was born Margaret Fern Knechtges Gilbert on January 17,1905, in Sioux City, Iowa.

Peggy Gilbert "was raised to respect all types of music and to love all kinds of music".

Peggy Gilbert began to take piano lessons at age eight, and frequently accompanied her father to stage shows, playing piano in her first performance with his band.

Peggy Gilbert and her brother Oral Lloyd Knechtges, who was born in 1900, were always encouraged to listen to music, and they lived a very comfortable life.

At age seven, Peggy Gilbert landed her first professional job as a dancer for the touring group of the Scottish cultural ambassador Sir Henry Lauder.

From a young age, Peggy Gilbert was aware of the injustice that came along with gender preference, and she learned that she would have to work hard in order to achieve what she wanted.

Peggy Gilbert attended Sioux City High School where she took secretarial courses, as well as weekly piano lessons.

Part of this decision was based on the fact that in the 1920s, her father became ill, so Peggy Gilbert was needed to help support her parents.

Peggy Gilbert organized her first band in Sioux City, a group that was composed of Peggy Gilbert on the saxophone and clarinet, Marjorie Kelley on piano, Dorothy Kelley on banjo and accordion, Orval Knechtges on drums, Ruth Dubnoff on violin, and two other men on trumpet and bass.

When Peggy Gilbert's father died in November 1927, she decided she needed to start a career in the entertainment business in order to support her mother and grandmother.

The move to Los Angeles, and the promise of fame, prompted Peggy Gilbert to adopt her mother's maiden name because "Knechtges" was too difficult to pronounce.

Peggy Gilbert spent the spring and summer of 1929 as a saxophone player for an all-female group performing at El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs.

Peggy Gilbert started promoting herself as a bandleader, using connections to appear in several movies with her all-female band.

In 1932, Peggy Gilbert traveled throughout California, taking up various jobs with various bands.

Peggy Gilbert traveled with them for about three months, then returned to Los Angeles, where the rest of the women from the band joined her a few months later.

Peggy Gilbert then returned home in order to live a "normal life," but, quickly realizing that she couldn't stay in Sioux City, returned to Los Angeles.

Peggy Gilbert said that women musicians faced a double standard: they had to look beautiful while playing their instruments.

In 1941, Peggy Gilbert began to work for Local 47 where she helped the union operate the Hollywood Canteen as a place to entertain troops, host blood drives, sell war bonds, help place male musicians into military bands, and more.

Peggy Gilbert's band began playing as The Victory Belles on a radio show geared toward servicemen.

In 1944, Peggy Gilbert did a six-month tour of Alaska with the United Service Organization with Thelma White, an actress and comedian.

In October 1944, before she left for Alaska, Peggy Gilbert met Kay Boley, and the two instantly became close, lifelong friends.

Peggy Gilbert was forced to organize a band of men and women after the war because there was a lack of female musicians.

In 1951, Peggy Gilbert received permission from Local 47 to perform with Ada Leonard on KTTV television for a year.

The late 1950s brought the rise of free jazz, and many of the women in Peggy Gilbert's generation were no longer performing.

Peggy Gilbert continued to play when she was asked, but she realized that she was too old to be performing live on a regular basis.

Peggy Gilbert had to ask for approval from Local 47 to perform outside her office job.

Peggy Gilbert has appeared in films with her all-female groups, including The Second Time Around.

Peggy Gilbert was in charge of orientation sessions for new members, as well as served on the Trial Board and Board of Directors for many years.

Peggy Gilbert was discouraged from performing while working there, but was seen on occasional TV shows and motion pictures.

Peggy Gilbert retired from Local 47 in January 1970, on her sixty-fifth birthday, but she continued to serve on the Trial Board of Local 47 until 1984, and in 1985, she was elected to be a Trustee of the Union.

Peggy Gilbert founded a senior citizen Dixieland jazz group, The Dixie Belles, in the early 1970s, and they immediately had great success and began to perform regularly.

In 1975, Peggy Gilbert put a group together to appear in the film Long Last Love, and she continued to promote the band for film and TV appearances.

In July 1981, Peggy Gilbert received a "Live Music Award" in recognition of her service to Local 47.

In 2005, Peggy Gilbert celebrated her 100th birthday at Local 47 in an auditorium that she helped to build in 1949.

Peggy Gilbert died on February 12,2007, at the age of 102, after suffering complications from hip surgery.

Peggy Gilbert's ashes were buried a few weeks later in the Hollywood Hills, and Kay, who died only a few months later, is buried next to her.

Peggy Gilbert's archives are held in the University Library at California State University, Northridge.