Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 – June 27, 2009), 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 In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of "

I Hear You Knockin' "I Hear You Knocking" (or "I Hear You Knockin'") is a rhythm and blues song written by Dave Bartholomew. New Orleans rhythm and blues singer Smiley Lewis first recorded the song in 1955. The lyrics tell of the return of a former lover who is rebu ...

," which hit No. 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100 chart in 1955.

Early life

Storm was born in Bloomington, Texas, United States. 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 just 17 months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to rear the children alone. Storm's elder sister Lois gave her baby sister the middle name "Owaissa", a

Norridgewock Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...

Native American word meaning "bluebird". Her mother took in sewing, then opened a millinery shop in McDade, Texas, which failed, and finally moved her family to

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. Storm learned to be an accomplished dancer and became an excellent ice skater at Houston's Polar Palace. Storm attended Holy Rosary School in what is now

Midtown, Houston Midtown is a central neighborhood of Houston, located west-southwest of Downtown. Separated from Downtown by an elevated section of Interstate 45 (the Pierce Elevated), Midtown is characterized by a continuation of Downtown's square grid street ...

. She performed in the drama club at both

Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...

Junior High School and San Jacinto High School. When Storm was 17, two of her teachers urged her to enter a contest on ''

Gateway to Hollywood ''Gateway to Hollywood'' is an American old-time radio talent show. It was broadcast on CBS from January 8, 1939, to December 31, 1939. Like other programs from ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' to ''American Idol,'' the show sought to turn relatively u ...

'', broadcast from the

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broa ...

studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. 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 South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, became known as Terry Belmont.

Career

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 RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

studio. Her first was '' Tom Brown's School Days'', playing opposite

Jimmy Lydon James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s. Early life Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 3 ...

and Freddie Bartholomew. She worked steadily in low-budget films released during this period. In 1941, she sang in several

soundies Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical ge ...

, three-minute musicals produced for "movie jukeboxes". She acted and sang in

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

' Frankie Darro series, and played ingénue roles in other Monogram features with the East Side Kids,

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to po ...

, and

the Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appear ...

, most notably in the film ''

Swing Parade of 1946 ''Swing Parade of 1946'' is a 1946 musical comedy film directed by Phil Karlson and released by Monogram Pictures. The film features Gale Storm, Phil Regan, and The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard), Edward Brophy and music ...

''. 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 Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...

, 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 ''G.I. Honeymoon'' is a 1945 film directed by Phil Karlson. It stars Gale Storm and Peter Cookson. Both play a couple who encounter problems as the husband wants to leave the army, but can't. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946 for its ...

'' (1945) and ''

It Happened on Fifth Avenue ''It Happened on 5th Avenue'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Victor Moore, Ann Harding, Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles and Gale Storm. Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani were nominated for the Acad ...

'' (1947), the Western '' 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 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

.'' 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 A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

actor Charles Farrell as her father. The series began as a summer replacement for ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'' on CBS, but ran for 126 episodes on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

and then CBS. The series was broadcast on

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 Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with t ...

. 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? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity paneli ...

Recording artist

Gale Storm Billy Vaughn The Gale Storm Show 1958

In Gallatin,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

, in November 1954, a 10-year-old girl, Linda Wood, was watching Storm on a Sunday night

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

variety show,

's ''

Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'', 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 was president of

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

, and he liked Storm so much that he called to sign her before the end of the television show. Her first record, "

", a

of a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

hit by

Smiley Lewis A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...

, sold over a million copies. The follow-up was a two-sided hit, with Storm covering

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

's "

Memories Are Made of This "Memories Are Made of This" is a popular song about nostalgia, written in 1955 by Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr, and Frank Miller. They were the members of a three-pieced group called "The Easy Riders", who served as a backing band for Dean Mart ...

" backed with her cover of

Gloria Mann Gloria Mann was an American pop singer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mann scored two hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1955. The first was a cover version of "Earth Angel", which reached number 18. Later that year, " A Teenage Praye ...

's " Teen Age Prayer". That was followed by a hit cover of

Frankie Lymon Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group T ...

's " Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Storm's subsequent record sales began to slide but soon rebounded with a cover of her own labelmate

Bonnie Guitar Bonnie Buckingham (March 25, 1923 – January 13, 2019), better known as Bonnie Guitar, was an American singer, musician, producer, and businesswoman. She was best known for her 1957 country-pop crossover hit "Dark Moon". She became one of th ...

's haunting ballad "

Dark Moon The term dark moon describes the last visible crescent of a waning Moon. The duration of a dark moon varies between 1.5 and 3.5 days, depending on its ecliptic latitude. In current astronomical usage, the new moon occurs in the middle of th ...

" that went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Storm had several other hits, headlined in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

and appeared in numerous stage plays. Storm recorded for only about two years with Dot and then gave up recording because of her husband's concerns with the time she had to devote to that career.

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. In her 50s, she struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

. She later said: She 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." Storm was a registered Republican and campaigned for U.S. Senator

Barry M. Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

in the 1960s.

Later years

Storm made occasional television appearances in later years, such as ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'', '' Burke's Law'', and ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The ser ...

''. In 1981, she published her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

, ''I Ain't Down Yet'', which described her battle with

. 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. 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.

Death

Storm lived alone in Monarch Beach, California, near two of her sons and their families, until failing health forced her into a convalescent home in

Danville, California The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 censu ...

. She died there on June 27, 2009, aged 87."Gale Storm, 87, Is Dead; Earned Television Fame for Her Wholesome Roles"
Nytimes.com, June 29, 2009; accessed December 14, 2015. Storm has three stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

for her contributions to television, recordings, and radio.

Filmography

* '' Tom Brown's School Days'' (1940) * '' One Crowded Night'' (1940) * ''

Let's Go Collegiate ''Let's Go Collegiate'' is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and produced by Monogram Pictures. It was released as ''Farewell to Fame'' in the United Kingdom. Plot summary Frankie ( Frankie Darro) is the coxswain o ...

'' (1941) * '' City of Missing Girls'' (1941) * '' Saddlemates'' (1941) * '' Gambling Daughters'' (1941) * '' Uncle Joe'' (1941) * ''

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

'' (1941) * ''

Jesse James at Bay ''Jesse James at Bay'' is a 1941 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane starring Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes. Plot When Jesse learns that crooked banker Krager is cheating settlers, he and his gang rob trains to obtain cash ...

'' (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? ''Where Are Your Children?'' is a 1943 American crime film directed by William Nigh and written by Hilary Lynn and George Wallace Sayre. The film stars Jackie Cooper, Gale Storm, Patricia Morison, John Litel, Gertrude Michael and Anthony Warde. T ...

'' (1943) * '' Revenge of the Zombies'' (1943) * ''

Campus Rhythm ''Campus Rhythm'' is a 1943 American musical film directed by Arthur Dreifuss and starring Johnny Downs, Gale Storm and Robert Lowery.Tucker p.75 Cast * Johnny Downs as 'Scoop' Davis * Gale Storm as Joan Abbott, aka Susie Smith * Robert ...

'' (1943) * '' The Crime Smasher'' (1943) * ''

G. I. Honeymoon ''G.I. Honeymoon'' is a 1945 film directed by Phil Karlson. It stars Gale Storm and Peter Cookson. Both play a couple who encounter problems as the husband wants to leave the army, but can't. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946 for its ...

'' (1945) * ''

Sunbonnet Sue ''Sunbonnet Sue'' is a 1945 American comedy musical film directed by Ralph Murphy and starring Gale Storm, Phil Regan and George Cleveland. The film's composer, Edward J. Kay, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1946. ...

'' (1945) * '' Forever Yours'' (1945) * ''

'' (1946) * ''

'' (1947) * '' The Dude Goes West'' (1948) * '' Abandoned'' (1949) * ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

'' (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) * '' Woman of the North Country'' (1952)

Recordings

Singles

References

External links

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