Editing Gale Storm

{{Short description|American actress, singer (1922–2009)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Gale Storm
| image         = Gale Storm pin-up, Yank, The Army Weekly, March 10, 1944.png
| caption       = Storm pin-up from ''[[Yank, The Army Weekly]]'', 1944
| birth_name    = Josephine Owaissa Cottle
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1922|04|05|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Bloomington, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2009|06|27|1922|04|05}}
| death_place   = [[Danville, California]], U.S.
| resting_place =
| occupation    = Actress, singer
| years_active  = 1940&ndash;1989
| label_name    = {{plainlist|
* [[Dot Records|Dot]]
* [[London Records|London]]
}}
| website       = {{URL|galestorm.tv}}
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Lee Bonnell|1941|1986|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Paul Masterson|1988|1996|end=died}}
}}
| children      = 4
}}

'''Josephine Owaissa Cottle''' (April 5, 1922 &ndash; June 27, 2009),<ref name="NYT"/> known professionally as '''Gale Storm''', was an American actress and singer. After a film career from 1940 to 1952, she starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, ''[[My Little Margie]]'' and ''[[The Gale Storm Show]]''. Six of her songs were top ten hits. Storm's greatest recording success was a [[cover version]] of "[[I Hear You Knockin']]," which hit No. 2 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]] chart in 1955.

==Early life==
Storm was born in [[Bloomington, Texas]], United States.<ref name="NYT"/> The youngest of five children, she had two brothers and two sisters. Her father, William Walter Cottle, died after a year-long illness when she was only 17 months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to raise the children alone.{{Citation needed |date=November 2023}} 

Storm attended Holy Rosary School in what is now [[Midtown, Houston]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Gabriel, Cindy|url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/heights-news/article/Holy-Rosary-Catholic-School-alums-to-gather-for-2108796.php|title=Holy Rosary Catholic School alums to gather for 'Last Hurrah' Sunday|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2003-04-24|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref> She performed in the drama club at both [[Albert Sidney Johnston]] Junior High School and [[San Jacinto High School (Houston, Texas)|San Jacinto High School]].{{Citation needed |date=November 2023}} 

When Storm was 17, two of her teachers urged her to enter a contest on ''[[Gateway to Hollywood]]'', broadcast from the [[CBS Radio]] studios in [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]].<ref name=Sun>{{cite news|title=Notable Deaths Elsewhere: Gale Storm, 87|date=June 30, 2009|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|page=16}}</ref> First prize was a one-year contract with a movie studio, which she won, and was immediately given the stage name Gale Storm. Her performing partner (and future husband), Lee Bonnell from [[South Bend, Indiana]], became known as Terry Belmont.{{Citation needed |date=November 2023}}

==Career==
[[File:Gale Storm My Little Margie 1953.jpg|thumb|Storm in ''My Little Margie'' in 1953]]
Storm had a role in the radio version of ''[[Big Town#Radio|Big Town]]''.<ref name="ig103041">{{cite news|last1=Wolf|first1=Tom|title=Television Promises to Create New Market for 'Etheral' Beauty|newspaper=The Indiana Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1938223/television_promises_to_create_new/|agency=The Indiana Gazette|date=October 30, 1941|page=32|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 7, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> After winning the contest in 1940, Storm made several films for the [[RKO Radio Pictures]] studio. Her first was ''[[Tom Brown's School Days (1940 film)|Tom Brown's School Days]]'', playing opposite [[Jimmy Lydon]] and [[Freddie Bartholomew]].<ref name=Sun/> She worked steadily in low-budget films released during this period. In 1941, she sang in several [[soundies]], three-minute musicals produced for "movie jukeboxes".

She acted and sang in [[Monogram Pictures]]' [[Frankie Darro]] series, and played ingénue roles in other Monogram features with the [[East Side Kids]], [[Edgar Kennedy]], and [[the Three Stooges]], most notably in the film ''[[Swing Parade of 1946]]''. Monogram had always relied on established actors with reputations, but in Gale Storm, the studio finally had a star of its own. She played the lead in the studio's most elaborate productions, both musical and dramatic. She shared top billing in Monogram's ''[[The Crime Smasher]]'' (1943), opposite Edgar Kennedy, [[Richard Cromwell (actor)|Richard Cromwell]], and [[Frank Graham (voice actor)|Frank Graham]] in the role of Jones, a character derived from network radio.

Storm starred in a number of films, including the romantic comedies ''[[G.I. Honeymoon]]'' (1945) and ''[[It Happened on Fifth Avenue]]'' (1947), the Western ''[[Stampede (1949 film)|Stampede]]'' (1949), and the 1950 film-noir dramas ''[[The Underworld Story]]'' and ''[[Between Midnight and Dawn]]''. U.S. audiences warmed to Storm and her fan mail increased. She performed in more than three dozen motion pictures for Monogram, experience which made possible her success in other media.

In the 1950s, she made singing appearances on such television variety programs as ''The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.''<ref name=tvcom>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/pat-boone-chevy-showroom/show/2193/episode.html?tag=list_header;paginator;1&season=1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205031939/http://www.tv.com/pat-boone-chevy-showroom/show/2193/episode.html?tag=list_header;paginator;1&season=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 5, 2013|title=Episode Guide, ''Pat Boone Chevy Showroom''|website=Tv.com|access-date=November 17, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.researchvideo.com/footage-libraries/pat-boone-chevy-showroom.html|title=''The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom''|website=Researchvideo.com|access-date=November 17, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715175256/http://www.researchvideo.com/footage-libraries/pat-boone-chevy-showroom.html|archive-date=July 15, 2011}}</ref>

In 1950, Storm made her television debut in ''[[Hollywood Premiere Theatre]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. From 1952 to 1955, she starred in ''[[My Little Margie]]'', with former [[silent film]] actor [[Charles Farrell]] as her father. The series began as a summer replacement for ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' on [[CBS Television]],<ref name=Sun/> but ran for 126&nbsp;episodes on [[NBC]] and then CBS. The series was broadcast on [[CBS Radio]] from December 1952 to August 1955 with the same actors. Her popularity was capitalized on when she served as hostess of the ''NBC Comedy Hour'' in the winter of 1956. 

In 1956, Storm starred in a [[situation comedy]], ''[[The Gale Storm Show]]'' (''Oh! Susanna''), featuring another silent movie star, [[ZaSu Pitts]]. The show ran for 143 episodes on CBS and ABC between 1956 and 1960. Storm appeared regularly on other television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957 she was both a panelist and a "mystery guest" on CBS's ''[[What's My Line?]]''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S7vezUGa5k What's My Line? - Gale Storm; Robert Monkhouse (panel) (Nov 10, 1957)]</ref>

==Recording artist==
[[File:Gale Storm Billy Vaughn The Gale Storm Show 1958.JPG|thumb|180px|Storm with [[Billy Vaughn]].  The two wrote "You're My Baby Doll" and performed it on Storm's television show in 1958.]]
In [[Gallatin, Tennessee|Gallatin]], [[Tennessee]], in November 1954, a 10-year-old girl, Linda Wood, was watching Storm on a Sunday night [[television]] variety show, [[NBC]]'s ''[[Colgate Comedy Hour]]'', hosted by [[Gordon MacRae]], singing one of the popular songs of the day. Linda's father asked her who was singing and was told it was Gale Storm from ''My Little Margie''. Linda's father [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]] was president of [[Dot Records]], and he liked Storm so much that he called to sign her before the end of the television show. Her first record, "[[I Hear You Knockin']]", a [[Cover version|cover]] of a [[rhythm and blues]] hit by [[Smiley Lewis]], sold over a million copies.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book| first=Joseph| last=Murrells| year=1978| title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London, UK|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/77 77]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/77}}</ref>

The follow-up was a two-sided hit, with Storm covering [[Dean Martin]]'s "[[Memories Are Made of This]]" backed with her cover of [[Gloria Mann]]'s "[[Teen Age Prayer]]". That was followed by a hit cover of [[Frankie Lymon]]'s "[[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)|Why Do Fools Fall in Love]]". Storm's subsequent record sales began to slide, but soon rebounded with a cover of fellow [[Dot Records]] recording artist [[Bonnie Guitar]]'s haunting ballad "[[Dark Moon (song)|Dark Moon]]" that went to No. 4 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} Storm had several other hits, headlined in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] and appeared in numerous stage plays. Storm recorded for five years with Dot Records,  then gave up recording because of her husband's concerns with the time she had to devote to that career.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

==Personal life==
Storm was married and widowed twice. In 1941, while still a teenager, she married Lee Bonnell (1918–1986), then an actor and later a businessman. They had four children: Peter, Phillip, Paul, and Susanna. In 1988, two years after she was widowed, she married Paul Masterson (1917–1996), who also predeceased her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|title=RootsWeb: Database Index|website=Ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=2014-08-20}}</ref>

In her fifties, Storm struggled with [[alcoholism]]. She later said:
{{blockquote|During the 1970s I experienced a terribly low and painful time of dealing with alcoholism. I had Lee's unfailing support through the entire ordeal. My treatment and recovery were more than rugged. At that time, there was such a stigma attached to alcoholism, particularly for women, that it could be hazardous to your reputation and career. I thank God daily that I have been fully recovered for more than 20 years. During my struggle, I had no idea of the blessing my experience could turn out to be! I've had the opportunity to share with others suffering with alcoholism the knowledge that there is help, hope, and an alcohol-free life awaiting them.<ref name=StormBio>{{cite web | url=http://www.galestorm.tv/bio | title=Gale Storm Biography | website=Galestorm.tv | access-date=August 21, 2017}}</ref>}}

Storm later became an active member of the South Shores Baptist Church. She once said: "Life has been good and I thank God for His many blessings and the happy life He has given to me."<ref name=StormBio/> Storm was a registered [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and campaigned for U.S. Senator [[Barry M. Goldwater]] in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfI0AgAAQBAJ&q=Gale+Storm+Republican&pg=PA173 | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics | first=Donald T. | last=Critchlow | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | location=New York, New York | date=2013 | isbn=9781107650282}}</ref>

==Later years==
Storm appeared on two episodes of ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]],'' 1964 and 1965. Storm made occasional television appearances from 1979 to 1989, such as ''[[The Love Boat]]'' and ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]''.<ref name=Sun/>

In 1981, she published her [[autobiography]], ''I Ain't Down Yet'', which described her battle with [[alcoholism]]. She was also interviewed by author David C. Tucker for ''The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms'', published in 2007 by McFarland and Company.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1kKCs1QNkSsC&q=gale+storm | title=The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms | first=David C. | last=Tucker | chapter=Chapter 9: Gale Storm: ''My Little Margie'' and ''The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna'' | pages=141–156 | publisher=McFarland & Company | date=2007 | isbn=978-0-7864-2900-4 | access-date=August 21, 2017}}</ref>

Storm continued to make personal appearances and autographed photos at fan conventions, along with Charles Farrell from the ''My Little Margie'' series. She also attended events such as the Memphis Film Festival, Cinecon, the Friends of Old-Time Radio and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

==Death==
After the death of her second husband in 1996, Storm lived alone in [[Monarch Beach, California|Monarch Beach]], California, near two of her sons and their families, until failing health forced her into a convalescent home in [[Danville, California]]. She died there on June 27, 2009, aged 87.<ref name="NYT">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/arts/television/29storm.html "Gale Storm, 87, Is Dead; Earned Television Fame for Her Wholesome Roles"], Nytimes.com, June 29, 2009; accessed December 14, 2015.</ref>

Storm has three stars on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] for her contributions to television, recordings, and radio.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/28/obit.gale.storm/index.html?iref=mpstoryview|title=TV sitcom pioneer Gale Storm dies|last=Duke|first=Alan|date=2009-06-28|website=CNN|access-date=2009-06-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/gale-storm|title=Gale Storm |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=1960-02-08 |access-date=2015-08-17}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=24em}}
* ''[[Tom Brown's School Days (1940 film)|Tom Brown's School Days]]'' (1940)
* ''[[One Crowded Night]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Let's Go Collegiate]]'' (1941)
* ''[[City of Missing Girls]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Saddlemates]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Gambling Daughters]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Uncle Joe (film)|Uncle Joe]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Red River Valley (1941 film)|Red River Valley]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Jesse James at Bay]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Lure of the Islands]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Freckles Comes Home]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Man from Cheyenne]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Smart Alecks]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Foreign Agent]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Rhythm Parade]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Nearly Eighteen]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Where Are Your Children?]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Revenge of the Zombies]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Campus Rhythm]]'' (1943)
* ''[[The Crime Smasher]]'' (1943)
* ''[[G. I. Honeymoon]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Sunbonnet Sue]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Forever Yours (1945 film)|Forever Yours]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Swing Parade of 1946]]'' (1946)
* ''[[It Happened on Fifth Avenue]]'' (1947)
* ''[[The Dude Goes West]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Abandoned (1949 film)|Abandoned]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Stampede (1949 film)|Stampede]]'' (1949)
* ''[[The Kid from Texas]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Curtain Call at Cactus Creek]]'' (1950)
* ''[[The Underworld Story]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Between Midnight and Dawn]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Al Jennings of Oklahoma]]'' (1951)
* ''[[The Texas Rangers (1951 film)|The Texas Rangers]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Woman of the North Country]]'' (1952)
{{div col end}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1952–1955
| ''[[My Little Margie]]''
| Margie Albright
| 126 episodes
|-
| 1955
| ''[[Ford Theatre#Television|The Ford Television Theatre]]''
| Hope Foster
| 1 episode
|-
| 1956–1960
| ''{{sortname|The|Gale Storm Show}}''
| Susanna Pomeroy
| 143 episodes
|-
| 1964–1965
| ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]''
| Honey Feather Leeps<br />Dr. Nonnie Harper
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1979
| ''{{sortname|The|Love Boat}}''
| Rose
| 1 episode
|-
| 1989
| ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]''
| Maisie Mayberry
| 1 episode
|}

==Recordings==

===Singles===

{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Single (A-side, B-side)<br /><small>Both sides from same album except where indicated</small>
! width="45"| <small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US<br />Hot 100]]</small>
! Album
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1955
| align="left"|"[[I Hear You Knocking]]"<br /><small>b/w "Never Leave Me" (from ''Gale's Great Hits'', not on ''Gale Storm'')</small> 
| align="center"| 2
| align="left" rowspan="3"|''Gale Storm'' ([[Dot Records|Dot]], 1956)
|-
| align="left"|"[[Memories Are Made of This|Memories Are Made Of This]]" ''Gale Storm'' (Dot, 1956)
| align="center"| 5
|-
| align="left"|"[[Teen Age Prayer]]" ''Gale Storm'' (Dot, 1956)
| align="center"| 6
|-
| rowspan="6"|1956
| align="left"|"[[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)|Why Do Fools Fall In Love]]"<br /><small>b/w "I Walk Alone" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"| 9
| align="left" rowspan="2"|''Gale's Great Hits'' (Dot)
|-
| align="left"|"[[Ivory Tower (1956 song)|Ivory Tower]]" ''Gale's Great Hits'' (Dot)<br /><small>b/w "I Ain't Gonna Worry" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"| 6
|-
| align="left"|"[[Tell Me Why (1956 song)|Tell Me Why]]"<br /><small>b/w "Don't Be That Way"</small> 
| align="center"| 52
| align="left"|Non-album tracks
|-
| align="left"|"[[Now Is the Hour (song)|Now Is The Hour]]" /  
| align="center"| 59
| align="left"|''Gale's Great Hits'' (Dot)
|-
| align="left"|"A Heart Without A Sweetheart"
| align="center"| 79
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
| align="left"|"My Heart Belongs To You"<br /><small>b/w "Orange Blossoms"</small>
| align="center"| 
| align="left" rowspan="4"|''Gale's Great Hits'' (Dot)
|-
| rowspan="7"|1957
| align="left"|"[[Lucky Lips]]" / 
| align="center"|77
|-
| align="left"|"On Treasure Island" 
| align="center"|74 
|-
| align="left"|"[[Dark Moon (song)|Dark Moon]]"<br /><small>b/w "A Little Too Late" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"|4 
|-
| align="left"|"Love By The Jukebox Light"<br /><small>b/w "On My Mind Again"</small>
| align="center"| 
| align="left" rowspan="6"|''Gale Storm Sings'' (Dot, 1959)
|-
| align="left"|"Winter Warm"<br /><small>b/w "Go 'Way From My Window" (Non-album track)</small> 
| align="center"| 
|-
| align="left"|"[[South of the Border (1939 song)|South Of The Border]]"<br /><small>b/w "Soon I'll Wed My Love"</small>
| align="center"| 
|-
| align="left"|"I Get That Feeling"<br /><small>b/w "A Farewell To Arms"</small>
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="2"|1958
| align="left"|"You"<br /><small>b/w "Angry"</small>
| align="center"| 
|-
| align="left"|"Oh Lonely Crowd"<br /><small>b/w "Happiness Left Yesterday"</small>
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="2"|1960
| align="left"|"I Need You So"<br /><small>b/w "On Treasure Island" (from ''Gale's Great Hits'')</small>
| align="center"| 
| align="left" rowspan="2"|Non-album tracks
|-
| align="left"|"[[Please Help Me, I'm Falling]]"<br /><small>b/w "He Is There"</small>
| align="center"| 
|-
|}

===Albums===
*''Sentimental Me'' (Dot, 1956)
*''Gale Storm'' (Dot, 1956)
*''Gale's Great Hits'' (Dot, 1958)
*''Softly and Tenderly'' (Dot, 1959)
*''Gale Storm Sings'' (Dot, 1959)
*''I Don't Want to Walk Without You'' (Hamilton, c. 1960s)

{{Portal bar|Biography|Texas|Music|Film|Television }}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen'' by Michael Karol (2005) {{ISBN|0-595-40251-8}}
* ''The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms'' by David C. Tucker (2007) {{ISBN|0-7864-2900-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.galestorm.tv/ Official Gale Storm Website]
* {{IMDb name|0832561}}
* {{EmmyTVLegends name|gale-storm}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storm, Gale}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:Dot Records artists]]
[[Category:People from Victoria County, Texas]]
[[Category:Actresses from Houston]]
[[Category:Singers from Houston]]
[[Category:Traditional pop music singers]]
[[Category:San Jacinto High School alumni]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[Category:Texas Republicans]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Baptists from the United States]]