I first encountered Gale Storm as a singer when I heard her evocative song "Dark Moon" on the radio one rainy Sunday. Shortly afterwards I realized that she was an actress when I caught her in an Audie Murphy film. As David C. Tucker's entertaining new book about her proves she was all this and more - a versatile performer who not only had a fulfilling career as an actress and singer but balanced it with a happy home life as wife and mother.Blessed with a strong work ethic and a sunny disposition, the Texas-born Josephine Cottle won a talent contest and, after a name change, landed a contract with RKO. Although often cast in B-movies she proved her worth in different genres and found perhaps her greatest success on television in such fondly-remembered shows as My Little Margie. Tucker's fascinating and brilliantly-researched book reveals Gale to have been a thoroughly grounded person who seemed to be able to turn her hand to anything. In acting alone she could be effortlessly charming in such fluff as Let's Go Collegiate, or suffer with Dan Duryea in film noir The Underworld Story. As her career faded she managed to rise above the alcoholism that blighted her life and helped many others by talking about it.
Gale's heartening story is well-told by the author who writes with great balance and humour. There is extensive coverage of her work across the mediums, including an episode guide to all her TV shows which must have taken a prodigious amount of research to compile and will prove invaluable. Highly recommended for libraries and for anyone and everyone interested in classic film, television, singers of the 1950s, or indeed of a life well lived.
Gale Storm: A Biography and Career Record by David C. Tucker is published by McFarland & Co, Inc. See link below:
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/gale-storm/
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