Peggy Lee's Little-Known Connection To 'White Christmas'

11-20-2025

(LPC Media) With the recent reissue of Selections From Irving Berlin's White Christmas, now available 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's most beloved holiday films.

When audiences think of 1954's Irving Berlin's White Christmas, they often picture Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen serenading Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye with the iconic number "Sisters." But, as Variety reported in March 1953, the role Clooney played was initially intended for another timeless voice: Peggy Lee.

According to Variety, Paramount had its sights set on Lee, fresh off her acclaimed role in Warner Bros.' The Jazz Singer (1952), to play the female lead opposite Crosby in the role of Betty Haynes. But the studio declined to loan Lee to Paramount, leading to Clooney's casting and ultimately to Lee's off-screen, on-record comeback.

Released by Decca Records, the film's official soundtrack featured Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye - but not Rosemary Clooney. Clooney's Columbia Records contract prevented Decca from using her vocals, compelling the label to get creative, bringing in Peggy Lee, one of the label's brightest stars, to re-record Clooney's songs, including "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" and the beloved "Sisters." Lee also joined Crosby, Kaye, and Trudy Stevens, who dubbed Vera-Ellen's singing voice in the film, for the finale of the beloved title song.

For "Sisters," Lee pulled off a technical and artistic marvel-duetting with herself through the then-innovative double-track recording process, 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 legacy.

The White Christmas soundtrack wasn't Lee's first time filling in for another female vocalist. Just a year earlier (1953), she substituted for Dorothy Lamour on Decca's The Road to Bali soundtrack, recording Lamour's solo "Moon Flowers" and joining Crosby and Bob Hope on "Merry-Go-Runaround."