Peggy Hill
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Peggy Hill (née Platter) is the wife of Hank Hill and the mother of Bobby Hill in the animated series King of the Hill, voiced by Kathy Najimy. She is also the paternal aunt of Luanne Platter. She is a substitute Spanish teacher at Tom Landry Middle School and a freelance writer for the local newspaper, the Arlen Bystander.
[edit] Biography
Born Margaret J. Platter in Montana to cattle ranchers in 1956, she moved to Texas for high school. Her mother was extremely critical of her, while her father was aloof and spoke in obtuse nature metaphors. These portrayals of her parents, from the episode "A Rover Runs Through it", are actually a retconned version differing quite noticeably from the homemaker mother – and presumably equally suburban father – displayed in flashbacks in earlier episodes, I Remember Mono and Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy's Magic Sex Feet. In early episodes, "I Remember Mono", being one, Mrs. Platter is seen visiting in the Hill's home, implying that she lives in or near Arlen, TX, and is on speaking terms with her daughter. These appearances are discarded by "A Rover Runs Through It" In fact, the suggestion in the later episode is that Peggy left her parents behind when she went to Texas, which is a significant alteration. A commonality is that in both versions her mother tends to be critical of her, albeit for different reasons.
As a child, she was teased constantly for her unusually large feet and she remains insecure about them to this very day. Although she has a very normal height for a woman, her feet are abnormally large for someone of her height. She has great difficulty shopping for shoes, to the point where she often has to resort to men's shoes. Very big men's shoes. There was even a joke on the show when Minh and Kahn showed up to the Hill's for a housewarming party, Minh walked around in Peggy's shoes, pretending to be a little girl walking around in her mother's shoes. Peggy was enraged. Hank tried to comfort her, but accidentally stepped on her feet, even though they were standing nearly 12 inches apart. In one particular episode, it was revealed that Peggy's feet are even bigger than Hank's. In one episode she has to drive to Lubbock (which it seemed was a long way from Arlen) to buy a new pair of size 16 shoes, but in another she just went to a specialty store nearby. In that episode, after being informed by a clerk that she now needs a size 16 and 1/2, and that she quite possibly could reach the "Big 2-0," she is approached by a woman (who is a sister of the "bigfoot gals" club, apparently) who gives her the card of a man who will make her feel "secure" about her huge feet. The man helps her to realize that her incredible feet are responsible for her athletic ability, great confidence and perfect posture (she has no back problems). He even makes movies about her considerable feet, promising to make her a star. It turns out he is a pornographer specializing in foot fetishes, displaying her feet on the internet. By episode's end, Peggy comes to accept her large feet.
Peggy unseated Cissy Cobb (voiced by Laurie Metcalf) as the Boggle champion of Texas. Peggy claims high intelligence, though she is often naive. Interestingly, Peggy's intelligence swings wildly, depending on the situation. Her Spanish (she mispronounces the 'favor' in "por favor" as in 'do me a favor') is one of the series' running jokes, and would make her appear to be something of a simpleton. However, in several episodes, Peggy has saved the day through some quick thinking, as in the episode where she finds the loophole in Robert's Rules of Order that allows Hank to filibuster a town meeting to prove his point about low-flow toilets. Similar scenes occur in the aforementioned Cissy Cobb episode, when Peggy wins with a 16-letter Boggle word, and in an episode where she gets the Alamo beer company (a series staple) to recall a batch of tainted beer.
As the series progressed, increased emphasis was put on Peggy's superiority complex and her egotism. She frequently aggrandizes her own accomplishments which is often unintentionally fueled by others (such as her continual recognition as substitute teacher of the year). Her belief that someone can do anything if they put their mind to it often leads her into trouble when she takes the philosophy too literally; she often believes she can do something which she has no skill or background in doing. It is perhaps not the fact that Peggy thinks so highly of herself, but in her assumption (and expectation) that everyone else thinks equally highly of her, which leads her into predicaments. In one episode, Peggy assumes that an actor, Eduardo Phillipe, star of TV's Monsignor Martinez is madly in love with her and wants to have an affair with her not because of anything he does, but because of her presumption that she herself is irresistible. She also has the habit of using the phrase "in my opinion" when stating well known facts. Such as, "In my opinion, the day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year." She also has a problem of stating facts that are not true in any way such as "Swiss Cheese is not Mexican, its American".
Proud and egocentric, in later episodes she tends to come off as arrogant and a know-it-all, and quite often has to be taken down a peg (no pun intended). Although she once became extremely jealous that Hank kissed another girl (from whom he caught mono) in high school before they were married, she was forced to confess in a later episode to have lost her virginity to a gay male friend. She also was the last on the block (except for Dale Gribble and Joseph Gribble) to realize Joseph's true parentage, and would have told him, but for a last-minute change of heart upon seeing Dale and the boy interact and realizing that sperm may make a man a father, but a heart makes him a dad.
Her song lyrics were "stolen" by country singer Randy Travis, though Mr. Travis (who was a guest star on the same episode) claims to have written them independently. Although, we later find out this was the case.
Peggy Hill is incapable of riding a bicycle as seen in the "Bill's House" episode.
Peggy once ran for the school board, along with Minh Souphanousinphone and Nancy Gribble to save the after-school program. However, as the episode continued, Peggy, Minh, and Nancy began to turn on each other to win. In the end, they all lost to a Christian zealot, who plans to get rid of biology, geometry, the after-school program, and all "offensive" encyclopedias.
After not having seen her parents for years, Peggy went to Montana at the request of her mother to see her childhood home one last time. To save the ranch from Henry Winkler, and in an attempt to win her mother's favor, Peggy was able to locate an old law that allowed them to transfer their cattle through the main street of town. Afterwards, Winkler allows them to use his land for their cattle drive. In what appears to be a moment between mother and daughter, Peggy expects a warm thank you from her mother but is instead blamed for the whole thing, her mother saying it would have never happened had she stayed on the farm. Peggy leaves accepting the fact the her relationship with her mother is moot, realizing instead that she should be focusing on her relationship with Bobby.
[edit] Trivia
- Won the Substitute Teacher of the Year Award three years in a row (although, the third time, she technically claimed an award that was really for Hank).
- Although she has a very large ego, her self-esteem is easily shattered and she is often driven to tears.
- Peggy is a big fan of Rob Reiner.
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| Hills and Platter: | Hank | Peggy | Bobby | Luanne Platter | Cotton | Tilly | Ladybird |
| Gribbles: | Dale | Joseph | Nancy |
| Souphanousinphones: | Kahn | Minh | Connie |
| Other characters: | Boomhauer | Bill | John Redcorn | M. F. Thatherton | Chuck Mangione | Monsignor Martinez |
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| Miscellaneous: | Alamo Beer | Manger Babies | Mega Lo Mart | Strickland Propane |
| Media: | King of the Hill DVDs | List of King of the Hill episodes |
