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Another star from Texas: Gale Storm
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Gale Storm ca. 1970. AP file photo.
Popular 1950s television star and movie actress Gale Storm died at the age of 87 this past Saturday, June 27, 2009.
In 1922, Gale Storm was born Josephine Owaisso Cottle, the youngest of 5 children, in the town of Bloomington, Texas in Victoria County. Her father died in 1923, and the family later moved to Houston. At the age of 17, she entered a contest, Gateway to Hollywood and won first prize: a one-year movie contract with RKO Radio Pictures. She later worked for Monogram Pictures, making more than 35 films for the studio.
From 1952-1955, she starred in My Little Margie as Margie Albright which featured the silver-haired actor Charles Farrell as her father. From 1956-1960, she again had her own show, The Gale Storm Show, which I watched as reruns under the title Oh! Susanna, with the lovely ZaSu Pitts and actor Roy Roberts (who resembled the dignified Charles Farrell) as Captain Huxley. The sitcoms of the 1950s usually dealt with the main character scheming themselves and their sidekick, who sometimes served as the voice of conscience, into trouble. The I Love Lucy show followed that formula successfully with Lucille Ball as the schemer to Vivian Vance’s role as sidekick, and it worked well for Gale Storm and ZaSu Pitts.
Gale Storm has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recognizing her contributions to radio, music, and television. Her recording career lasted from 1956 through 1960, with several top 40 hits. She guest starred occasionally in such popular television programs as The Love Boat and Murder She Wrote. She tells her life story in her autobiography, I Ain’t Down Yet.
For more info: Gale Storm website
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