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Gale Storm
1922-2009
Updated 6/28/2009 with the sad news of the passing of Gale Storm.
biography
Born Josephine Cottle in Bloomington, Texas in April 1922, Gale Storm's early life was marred by the death of her father and her family's ensuing financial struggles. As a pretty and enthusiastic drama student in high school, Storm won a "Gateway to Hollywood" contest sponsored by one-time Paramount head Jesse Lasky. She landed a contract with RKO, appearing in dramas for her first two films Tom Brown's School Days (1940; with Freddie Bartholomew) and One Crowded Night (1940) before the studio dropped her option. Storm moved on to Republic and Monogram; Republic cast her in a number of westerns, including Saddlemates (1941; with Robert Livingston and Bob Steele), Red River Valley (1941; with Roy Rogers), and Jesse James at Bay (1941; with Roy Rogers). She then moved on to Monogram, where she was often cast in comedies and musicals such as Smart Alecks (1942; with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall) and Rhythm Parade (1942; with Robert Lowery). In 1941, Storm wed her fellow "Gateway to Hollywood" winner, Lee Bonnell, who sustained an acting career for a few years before leaving show business for the business world.
LEFT and CENTER: Pretty 1940s poses. RIGHT: Storm in the 1950s
Despite marriage and motherhood (she and Bonnell had four children), Storm kept her career going. In the post-war years, she made a number of films for Monogram's upscale subsidiary, Allied Artists. Some of these include the comedies It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947; with Don DeFore) and The Dude Goes West (1948; with Eddie Albert and Gilbert Roland) and the western Stampede (1949; with Rod Cameron and Johnny Mack Brown). Storm left Monogram in 1949 for the greener pastures at Columbia and Universal-International. She appeared in a few film noir thrillers after leaving Monogram, such as Abandoned (1949; with Dennis O'Keefe and Raymond Burr) and Between Midnight and Dawn (1950; with Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien), in addition to more westerns and comedies. In 1952, she left films for television when she was cast in the title role in the CBS series My Little Margie (1952-1955; with Charles Farrell), which began as the summer replacement series for the wildly popular I Love Lucy. Margie moved to NBC in 1953 for the remainder of its run. At the end of the series, Storm launched a pop singing career, signing with Dot Records in 1955 and enjoying a string of hits. The following year, she returned to series television with The Gale Storm Show (1956-1960; with Zasu Pitts).
the films of gale storm
Nearly Eighteen (1943)
From the Monogram comedy Nearly Eighteen
The Dude Goes West (1948)
From the Allied Artists western comedy The Dude Goes West. LEFT: Storm as Liza Crockett. CENTER and RIGHT: With Eddie Albert
The Kid from Texas (1950)
From the Universal-International western The Kid from Texas. LEFT: With Audie Murphy. RIGHT: With Audie Murphy and Albert Dekker
The Underworld Story (1950)
From the film noir release The Underworld Story with Dan Duryea
My Little Margie (1952-1955 CBS/NBC Television Series)
From Storm's hilarious comedy series My Little Margie with Charles Farrell
The Gale Storm Show, aka Oh! Susanna (1956-1960 CBS/ABC Television Series)
TV Guide cover from 1959 featuring Storm and her series
later years
With the end of The Gale Storm Show in 1960, Storm went into semi-retirement, making occasional TV appearances, along with nightclub engagements and stage work. In 1981, she published her autobiography I Ain't Down Yet, in which she candidly discusses her struggle with and victory over alcoholism, along with her career as an actress and singer. Sadly, Gale Storm passed away from old age on June 28, 2009, at the age of 87. She is survived by a daughter, three sons, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For more information on Gale Storm's life and career, visit Gale Storm's Official Site.
My Little Margie Collection 1, Vols. 1-4 [DVD] DVD
Includes "Margie's Phantom Lover," "The Missing Link," "Hillbilly Margie," "Vern's Mother-in-Law," "The Trapped Freddy," "Buried Treasure," "To Health with Yoga," "A Horse for Vern," "Vern's New Girlfriend," "Delinquent Margie," "What's Cooking" and "Meet Mr. Murphy." 320 min. total on two discs. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies; episode guide; bonus "The Lucy Show" with John Wayne.
My Little Margie Collection 2, Vols. 5-8 [DVD] DVD
Includes "Margie and the Shah," "Papa and Mambo," "The San Francisco Story," "Margie's Millionth Number," "Corpus Delecti," "Margie Babysits," "The Hawaii Story," "Vern's Winter Vacation," "Miss Whoozis," "Star of Khyber," "The Unexpected Guest" and "Honeyboy Honeywell." 320 min. total on two discs. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies; episode guide.
My Little Margie, Vol. 1 [DVD] DVD
Episodes include "Margie's Phantom Lover," "The Missing Link," "Hillbilly Margie," "Vern's Mother-in-Law," "The Trapped Freddy," and "Buried Treasure." 150 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies.
My Little Margie, Vol. 2 [DVD] DVD
Episodes include "To Health with Yoga," "A Horse for Vern," "Vern's New Girlfriend," "Delinquent Margie," "What's Cooking," and "Meet Mr. Murphy." 150 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies.
My Little Margie, Vol. 3 [DVD] DVD
Episodes include "Margie and the Shah," "Papa and Mambo," "The San Francisco Story," "Margie's Millionth Member," "Corpus Delicti," and "Margie Babysits." 150 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies.
My Little Margie, Vol. 4 [DVD] DVD
Episodes include "The Hawaii Story," "Vern's Winter Vacation," "Miss Whoozis," "Star of Khyber," "The Unexpected Guest," and "Honeyboy Honeywell." 150 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies.
Prime Time TV From The Early Days: My Little Margie/The Trouble With Father [DVD] DVD
Three episodes from "My Little Margie" with Gale Storm Farrell are featured: "Vern's Winter Vacation," "Insurance" and "Case of the Helping Hand." Next up is a trio of episodes of "The Trouble with Father" with Stu Erwin: "Jackie Knows All" (with James Dean), "Pearl Necklace" and "The Big Business." 140 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Tom Brown's School Days [DVD](1940) DVD
Classic story of life at a boys boarding school in Victorian England, as seen through the eyes of a new pupil coping with bullies and a sympathetic new headmaster, stars Jimmy Lydon, Freddie Bartholomew, Billy Halop and Cedric Hardwicke. 82 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Uncle Joe [DVD](1941) DVD
A college coed goes to spend summer vacation on her eccentric uncle's farm and joins with some of the local residents in helping to save a neighbor from losing her property in this lively, song-filled comedy. Gale Storm, ZaSu Pitts, Slim Summerville star. 51 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Jesse James At Bay [DVD](1941) DVD
Roy Rogers in a rare dual role, as the famous outlaw and also as a tin-horn gambler hired to impersonate him. How did Jesse really die? With "Gabby" Hayes and Gale Storm. 60 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies; featurette.
Red River Valley [DVD](1941) DVD
In his first film outing with The Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers faces a dastardly crook who swiped $182,000 ranchers have raised to put towards the construction of a new reservoir. George "Gabby" Hayes, Gale Storm and Trevor Bardette also star.53 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Let's Go Collegiate [DVD](1941) DVD
Spirited musical-comedy follows a college crew team as they enlist the help of a truck driver to win a big meet after their best oarsman is drafted. Songs include "Look What You've Done to Me," "Sweet 16," "Let's Do a Little Dreaming." Stars Frankie Darro, Marcia Mae Jones, Jackie Moran, and Keye Luke. AKA: "Farewell to Fame." Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
City Of Missing Girls [DVD](1941) DVD
A string of murders of young women last seen at a shady art school soon has a female reporter at odds with the law as she searches for the killer. But will she write about the criminal...or become his or her latest victim? Suspenser stars Astrid Allwyn, John Archer, H.B. Warner. 74 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English mono. Plays All Regions.
Poverty Row Studio Collections: PRC, Vol. 1 [DVD] DVD
When two young, rich women get involved with professional gamblers, the "Gambling Daughters" (1941) face mystery and danger in this entertaining programmer starring Cecilia Parker, Roger Pryor, and Gale Storm. AKA: "Professor's Gamble." Two-disc set also includes "Hitler, Beast of Berlin," "Paper Bullets," and "The Black Raven." Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Smart Alecks [DVD](1941) DVD
Join the East Side Kids (Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell and co.) in a story concerning the boys' attempt to raise funds to buy baseball uniforms. One of them finds himself in hot water with a gangster, and the rest of the gang comes to his rescue. With Maxie Rosenbloom, Gale Storm. 66 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English mono; scene access. Plays All Regions.
Man From Cheyenne [DVD](1942) DVD
Roy Rogers may have met his match this time, in the form of a wily Eastern girl (Lynn Carver) who's come to Wyoming to get rich quick through cattle rustling. Modern-day oater stars George "Gabby" Hayes and Gale Storm. 60 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Freckles Comes Home [DVD](1942) DVD
"Freckles" is the name of the college boy who returns home, hoping to make it an important spot on the map. But in order to get his plans going, he must get rid of a gang of robbers out to nab money from his girlfriend's father's bank. Johnny Downs, Mantan Moreland and Gale Storm, in her first role, star. 60 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Cosmo Jones In Crime Smasher (The Crime Smasher) [DVD](1943) DVD
A gang war draws the attention of a tough Irish cop and his partner, a police sergeant. Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed amateur sleuth named Cosmo is enlisted to help the authorities and find a kidnapped heiress. Frank Graham, Edgar Kennedy, Gale Storm and Mantan Moreland star in this suspenser based on the "Cosmo Jones" radio show. 62 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Poverty Row Studio Collections: Monogram Pictures, Vol. 4 [DVD] DVD
The aerial adventure "Sky Patrol" (1939) finds Tailspin Tommy (John Trent) going up against nasty gunrunners attempting to smuggle their weapons to another country by hydroplane. Marjorie Reynolds, Jackie Coogan, Milburn Stone also star. Next, a demented Nazi doctor resurrects corpses in the Louisiana swamplands, leading to a terrifying "Revenge of the Zombies" (1943) against their creator. John Carradine, Gale Storm, and Robert Lowery star. Two-disc set also includes "Murder by Invitation" and "Law of the Jungle." Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Swing Parade (B&W/Color Versions) [DVD](1946) DVD
When a businessman's son (Phil Regan) defies his father and opens a nightclub, Dad tries to shut the place down by hiring a would-be singer (Gale Storm) to serve legal papers. Regan, however, winds up offering Storm a job. Lively musical comedy also stars Russell Hicks, Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, and the Three Stooges (Moe, Larry and Curly) as slapstick waiters. Songs include "Caledonia," "Stormy Weather," and "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Includes both the original black-and-white and newly colorized versions. AKA: "Swing Parade of 1946." 74 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; audio commentary; bonus "My Little Margie" episode; bonus short "Phoney Cronies" (1942); bonus cartoon; theatrical trailers.
It Happened On 5th Avenue [DVD](1947) DVD
Heartfelt comedy, with an Academy Award-nominated story, stars Victor Moore as a New York City hobo who moves into the vacant 5th Avenue mansion of vacationing millionaire Charlie Ruggles for the winter. Moore winds up taking in ex-G.I. Don DeFore and runaway Gale Storm--who, unknown to him, is Ruggles' daughter--and plays Cupid for the duo. With Ann Harding, Alan Hale, Jr. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Classic Holiday DVD Collection, Vol. 2 [DVD] DVD
This four-disc set includes a quartet of classic Hollywood films. The true drama "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941) stars Greer Garson as Edna Gladney, who founded an orphanage and worked for children's aid in early 20th-century Texas. With Walter Pidgeon, Fay Holden. Victor Moore plays a New York City hobo who moves into the vacant mansion of vacationing millionaire Charlie Ruggles for the winter. Moore then plays Cupid for ex-G.I. Don DeFore and runaway Gale Storm--who, unknown to him, is Ruggles' daughter. "It Happened on 5th Avenue" (1947) co-stars Ann Harding, Alan Hale, Jr. Widowed mom Janet Leigh's attempt to buy the train set her son wants for Christmas brings her to meet store clerk Robert Mitchum, who gets close to Leigh and her son after losing his job. "Holiday Affair" (1949) co-stars Wendell Corey, Henry Morgan. In the 1850s, a young couple emigrates from Scotland to Wisconsin, enjoying a prosperous existence until a heartbreaking tragedy forces their 12-year-old son to take command of the family's destiny, in "All Mine to Give" (1957). Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, Ellen Corby star. Soundtrack: English.
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filmography
FILM
Woman of the North Country (1952) with Rod Cameron, Ruth Hussey, John Agar, J. Carrol Naish, Jim Davis, Jay C. Flippen, and Grant Withers
The Texas Rangers (1951) with George Montgomery, Jerome Courtland, Noah Beery Jr., and Jock Mahoney
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) with Dan Duryea, Dick Foran, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Between Midnight and Dawn (1950) with Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien
The Underworld Story (1950) with Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Michael O'Shea, Melville Cooper, and Alan Hale Jr.
The Kid from Texas (1950) with Audie Murphy, Albert Dekker, Will Geer, and William Talman
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950) with Donald O'Connor, Walter Brennan, Vincent Price, Eve Arden, and Chick Chandler
Abandoned (1949) with Dennis O'Keefe, Raymond Burr, Jeff Chandler, Meg Randall, and Jeanette Nolan
Stampede (1949) with Rod Cameron, Johnny Mack Brown, and Donald Curtis
The Dude Goes West (1948) with Eddie Albert, Gilbert Roland, and Tom Tyler
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) with Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Grant Mitchell, and Alan Hale Jr.
Swing Parade of 1946 (1946) with Phil Regan and the Three Stooges
Sunbonnet Sue (1945) with Phil Regan, Minna Gombell, Raymond Hatton, and Alan Mowbray
G.I. Honeymoon (1945) with Arline Judge and Jerome Cowan
Forever Yours (1945) with C. Aubrey Smith, Johnny Mack Brown, Conrad Nagel, Mary Boland, and Johnny Downs
Where Are Your Children? (1943) with Jackie Cooper and Patricia Morison
Campus Rhythm (1943) with Johnny Downs and Robert Lowery
Nearly Eighteen (1943) with George O'Hanlon
Revenge of the Zombies (1943) with John Carradine, Robert Lowery, Bob Steele, Mantan Moreland, and Veda Ann Borg
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943) with Edgar Kennedy, Richard Cromwell, Herbert Rawlinson, and Mantan Moreland
Rhythm Parade (1942) with Robert Lowery, Margaret Dumont, the Mills Brothers, and Chick Chandler
Foreign Agent (1942) with Herbert Rawlinson
Smart Alecks (1942) with Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Maxie Rosenbloom, Roger Pryor, and Herbert Rawlinson
Lure of the Islands (1942) with Robert Lowery and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Man From Cheyenne (1942) with Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes
Freckles Comes Home (1942) with Johnny Downs and Mantan Moreland
Uncle Joe (1941) with Slim Summerville and Zasu Pitts
Red River Valley (1941) with Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes
Jesse James at Bay (1941) with Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes
Let's Go Collegiate (1941) with Frankie Darro, Marcia Mae Jones, Jackie Moran, Keye Luke, Mantan Moreland, and Frank Faylen
Gambling Daughters (1941) with Roger Pryor
Saddlemates (1941) with Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, and Rufe Davis
City of Missing Girls (1941) with H.B. Warner and John Archer
One Crowded Night (1940) with Anne Revere
Tom Brown's School Days (1940) with Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, Billy Halop, and Polly Moran
TELEVISION
The Gale Storm Show, aka Oh! Susanna, 1956-1960 CBS (and later ABC) TV series. Storm portrayed Susanna Pomeroy. Also in the cast was Zasu Pitts
My Little Margie, 1952-1955 CBS (and later NBC) TV series. Storm portrayed Margie Albright. Also in the cast were Charles Farrell, Willie Best, and Hillary Brooke
gale storm links
Gale Storm's Official Site
Visit Gale Storm's official web site for memorabilia, photos, her signed autobiography, CD's, and more.
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This page premiered February 10, 2005.
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