image of Gale Storm
Birthday: Apr 05, 1922
Place of Birth: Bloomington, Texas, USA

Gale Storm

Josephine Owaissa Cottle, known professionally as Gale Storm, was an American actress and singer who 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 success was a cover version of "I Hear You Knockin'," which hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1955. 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. First prize was a one-year contract with a movie studio. 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. Storm had a role in the radio version of Big Town. After winning the contest in 1940, Storm made several films for the RKO Radio Pictures studio. Her first was Tom Brown's School Days, playing opposite Jimmy Lydon and Freddie Bartholomew. 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 Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher, opposite Edgar Kennedy, Richard Cromwell, and 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 and It Happened on Fifth Avenue, the Western Stampede, 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. In 1950, Storm made her television debut in Hollywood Premiere Theatre on 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, but ran for 126 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. That year, she starred in another 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. She was both a panelist and a "mystery guest" on CBS's What's My Line?

Filmography
Movie Cast Year
Abandoned Paula Considine 1949
Revenge of the Zombies Jennifer Rand 1943
The Underworld Story Catherine Harris 1950
Tom Brown's School Days Effie 1940
Between Midnight and Dawn Katharine 'Kate' Mallory 1950
Swing Parade of 1946 Carol Lawrence 1946
The Kid from Texas Irene Kain 1950
It Happened on Fifth Avenue Trudy O'Connor 1947
Gambling Daughters Lillian Harding 1941
Stampede Connie Dawson 1949
Foreign Agent Mitzi Mayo 1942
Campus Rhythm Joan Abbott, aka Susie Smith 1943
Rim of the Wheel Virginia Sutton 1951
Smart Alecks Ruth Stevens 1942
Red River Valley Kay Sutherland 1941
Al Jennings of Oklahoma Margo St. Claire 1951
He Plays Gin Rummy Singer 1942
Man from Cheyenne Judy Evans 1942
One Crowded Night Annie Mathews 1940
Glamour Girl 1943
Penthouse Serenade 1941
I'm a Shy Guy 1943
Let's Get Away from It All 1941
I Know Somebody Who Loves You 1941
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher Susan Fleming 1943
The Merry-Go-Roundup 1941
Freckles Comes Home Jane Potter 1942
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek Julie Martin 1950
Uncle Joe Clare Day 1941
Where Are Your Children? Judy Wilson 1943
Nearly Eighteen Jane Stanton 1943
City of Missing Girls Mary Phillips 1941
Sunbonnet Sue Sue Casey 1945
Let's Go Collegiate Midge Lawrence 1941
The Texas Rangers Helen Fenton 1951
The Dude Goes West Liza Crockett 1948
Jesse James at Bay Jane Fillmore, 'St. Louis Journal' Reporter 1941
Rhythm Parade Sally Benson 1942
Saddlemates Susan Langley 1941
Lure of the Islands Maui 1942
Forever Yours Joan Randall 1945
G.I. Honeymoon Ann Gordon 1945
Woman of the North Country Cathy Nordlund 1952
How to Go Places Herself 1954
Walk a Crooked Mile Voice on Tape Recorder 1948
Series Cast Year
Murder, She Wrote Maisie Mayberry 1984
Burke's Law Honey Feather Leeps 1963
The Colgate Comedy Hour Self 1950
My Little Margie Margie Albright 1952
The Gale Storm Show Susanna Pomeroy 1956
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Self 1956
Robert Montgomery Presents 1950
Celebrity Playhouse 1955
The Ford Television Theatre Hope Foster 1952
The NBC Comedy Hour 1956
The Mike Douglas Show Self 1961
This Is Your Life Self 1952
The Love Boat Gale Storm 1977
The Bob Hope Show Self 1950
The Ed Sullivan Show Self 1948
Burke's Law Dr. Nonnie Harper 1963
The Love Boat Rose Kennycott 1977
What's My Line? Self - Panelist 1950
The Wonderful World of Disney Self 1954
What's My Line? Self - Mystery Guest 1950
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