Gale Storm, actress on "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show" (AKA "Oh, Susanna") and singer with six top ten cover records in the '50s, died Saturday (June 27) at a convalescence center in Danville, California at the age of 87. Born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas in 1922, she won a radio contest that brought her to Hollywood, where she appeared in movies for RKO, Monogram and Universal, including three pictures with Roy Rogers. In 1952, she starred in "My Little Margie," a summer replacement for "I Love Lucy"on CBS-TV. It was so popular that NBC-TV picked it up for airing that fall and Dot Records offered Gale a recording contract. All told, 126 episodes of the sitcom aired until 1955. The following year, Gale moved on to her eponymous series, which ran until 1960, with 143 episodes. Like many singers in the mid-'50s, Gale covered the hits of the day, striking gold with "I Hear You Knockin'" (#2-1955), "Memories Are Made Of This" (#5-1956"), "Teen Age Prayer" (#6-1956), "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (#9-1956), "Ivory Tower" (#6-1956) and "Dark Moon" (#4-1057). All told, she charted twelve times between 1955 and 1957. She has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame-- one each for radio, TV, music and movies.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Gale Storm Has Died At Age 87
Gale Storm, actress on "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show" (AKA "Oh, Susanna") and singer with six top ten cover records in the '50s, died Saturday (June 27) at a convalescence center in Danville, California at the age of 87. Born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas in 1922, she won a radio contest that brought her to Hollywood, where she appeared in movies for RKO, Monogram and Universal, including three pictures with Roy Rogers. In 1952, she starred in "My Little Margie," a summer replacement for "I Love Lucy"on CBS-TV. It was so popular that NBC-TV picked it up for airing that fall and Dot Records offered Gale a recording contract. All told, 126 episodes of the sitcom aired until 1955. The following year, Gale moved on to her eponymous series, which ran until 1960, with 143 episodes. Like many singers in the mid-'50s, Gale covered the hits of the day, striking gold with "I Hear You Knockin'" (#2-1955), "Memories Are Made Of This" (#5-1956"), "Teen Age Prayer" (#6-1956), "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (#9-1956), "Ivory Tower" (#6-1956) and "Dark Moon" (#4-1057). All told, she charted twelve times between 1955 and 1957. She has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame-- one each for radio, TV, music and movies.
