Connie Kunkle


Connie Leigh Kunkle was an American television personality and singer who was best known as a host on the home shopping channel Evine.

Early life

Connie grew up in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to parents Ruth Miller Kunkle and Thomas L. Kunkle. She started developing her musical talent in public schools and performed in the school musicals, choirs, orchestra and band. And later in her life she became Queen Evergreen, a famous pageant hosted in Pennsylvania. After graduating from Ohio University with a BS in communications, Kunkle's first job was at Walt Disney World as one of the Kids of the Kingdom. A few years later she became an original cast member for Top of the World, also at Disney World.

Career

Kunkle went on to have an extensive career on stage and television. Her career spanned forty years, including touring with the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, starring opposite Tim Curry in Me and My Girl, starring opposite Donny Osmond in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and starring as Fontine in Les Misérables. Her concerts include many performances with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the Queen’s Royal Marine Band in England. In addition to many television hosting opportunities, which included hosting infomercials, she spent the past 12 years as an on-air host for ShopNBC. In December 2010, Kunkle released her own Christmas album titled Connie Kunkle Christmas.

Personal life

Kunkle had three sisters, Judy Kunkle King Skelton of College Station, Texas; Patti Kunkle of Atlanta, Georgia; and Debbie Kunkle-Bramblett of Huntsville, Alabama. She also had nieces and nephews as well as a “chosen family” made up of a number of close friends.

Death

In 2015, Kunkle was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. In the last few months of her life, she transitioned to a memory care facility in College Station where she received loving care by her family. Kunkle died in her sleep on December 14, 2016, due to complications from the disease. She was 58 years old.

Discography