Gale Storm

Born

April 5, 1922

Died

June 27, 2009 (87 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Bloomington, Texas, USA

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?

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld

Girl in TV Skit About Door Frame (uncredited)

7.0

1994

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Maisie Mayberry · (1 episode)

7.5

1984

The Love Boat

The Love Boat

Gale Storm · (1 episode)

6.3

1977

The Love Boat

The Love Boat

Rose Kennycott · (1 episode)

6.3

1977

Burke's Law

Burke's Law

Honey Feather Leeps · (1 episode)

6.0

1963

Burke's Law

Burke's Law

Dr. Nonnie Harper · (1 episode)

6.0

1963

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show

Self · (1 episode)

5.4

1961

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

Self · (3 episodes)

6.0

1956

The Gale Storm Show

Susanna Pomeroy · (126 episodes)

5.5

1956

The NBC Comedy Hour

(18 episodes)

0.0

1956

Celebrity Playhouse

(1 episode)

0.0

1955

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Wonderful World of Disney

Self · (1 episode)

7.8

1954

How to Go Places

How to Go Places

Herself

0.0

1954

The Ford Television Theatre

The Ford Television Theatre

Hope Foster · (1 episode)

7.3

1952

This Is Your Life

This Is Your Life

Self · (1 episode)

6.4

1952

Woman of the North Country

Woman of the North Country

Cathy Nordlund

4.5

1952

My Little Margie

My Little Margie

Margie Albright · (126 episodes)

3.0

1952

Rim of the Wheel

Virginia Sutton

0.0

1951

The Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers

Helen Fenton

5.7

1951

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

Margo St. Claire

5.0

1951

Between Midnight and Dawn

Between Midnight and Dawn

Katharine 'Kate' Mallory

5.8

1950

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Colgate Comedy Hour

Self · (2 episodes)

6.8

1950

The Underworld Story

The Underworld Story

Catherine Harris

6.1

1950

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek

Julie Martin

6.3

1950

The Bob Hope Show

The Bob Hope Show

Self · (1 episode)

7.0

1950

The Kid from Texas

The Kid from Texas

Irene Kain

5.3

1950

What's My Line?

What's My Line?

Self - Panelist · (1 episode)

6.9

1950

What's My Line?

What's My Line?

Self - Mystery Guest · (1 episode)

6.9

1950

Robert Montgomery Presents

Robert Montgomery Presents

(1 episode)

5.6

1950

Abandoned

Abandoned

Paula Considine

6.2

1949

Stampede

Stampede

Connie Dawson

5.5

1949

Walk a Crooked Mile

Walk a Crooked Mile

Voice on Tape Recorder

5.9

1948

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show

Self · (1 episode)

6.8

1948

The Dude Goes West

The Dude Goes West

Liza Crockett

5.8

1948

It Happened on Fifth Avenue

It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Trudy O'Connor

7.0

1947

Swing Parade of 1946

Swing Parade of 1946

Carol Lawrence

4.2

1946

Sunbonnet Sue

Sunbonnet Sue

Sue Casey

5.0

1945

G.I. Honeymoon

G.I. Honeymoon

Ann Gordon

0.0

1945

Forever Yours

Forever Yours

Joan Randall

0.0

1945

I'm a Shy Guy

0.0

1943

Glamour Girl

0.0

1943

Where Are Your Children?

Where Are Your Children?

Judy Wilson

4.0

1943

Campus Rhythm

Campus Rhythm

Joan Abbott, aka Susie Smith

4.5

1943

Nearly Eighteen

Nearly Eighteen

Jane Stanton

5.0

1943

Revenge of the Zombies

Revenge of the Zombies

Jennifer Rand

5.2

1943

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

Susan Fleming

4.0

1943

Rhythm Parade

Rhythm Parade

Sally Benson

0.0

1942

Foreign Agent

Mitzi Mayo

4.0

1942

Smart Alecks

Smart Alecks

Ruth Stevens

5.4

1942

Lure of the Islands

Lure of the Islands

Maui

5.0

1942

He Plays Gin Rummy

He Plays Gin Rummy

Singer

0.0

1942

Man from Cheyenne

Man from Cheyenne

Judy Evans

7.5

1942

Freckles Comes Home

Freckles Comes Home

Jane Potter

5.0

1942

The Merry-Go-Roundup

0.0

1941

Red River Valley

Red River Valley

Kay Sutherland

7.7

1941

Uncle Joe

Uncle Joe

Clare Day

6.0

1941

Jesse James at Bay

Jesse James at Bay

Jane Fillmore, 'St. Louis Journal' Reporter

4.2

1941

Let's Go Collegiate

Let's Go Collegiate

Midge Lawrence

5.0

1941

Gambling Daughters

Gambling Daughters

Lillian Harding

5.0

1941

Let's Get Away from It All

0.0

1941

Saddlemates

Saddlemates

Susan Langley

0.0

1941

Penthouse Serenade

Penthouse Serenade

0.0

1941

City of Missing Girls

City of Missing Girls

Mary Phillips

4.0

1941

I Know Somebody Who Loves You

0.0

1941

One Crowded Night

One Crowded Night

Annie Mathews

4.0

1940

Tom Brown's School Days

Tom Brown's School Days

Effie

7.2

1940