50’s Star Gale Storm Dies at Age 87

Josephine Owaissa Cottle, known to the world as Gale Storm, died on Saturday June 27th at the California nursing facility where she was a patient. The actress/singer was in the pubic eye from the age of 17 when she won a radio talent show in Hollywood. Her first TV series, “My Little Margie” was a radio show transferred to TV. It was also a summer replacement for the hit show I Love Lucy. She acted and sang in Monogram Pictures features such as East Side Kids, Edgar Kennedy and The Three Stooges.  She also played a cruise director in the 1950’s sitcom, The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna, airing from 1956 until 1960.

She married and had four children (Philip, Peter, Paul, and Susanna) with Lee Bonnell, who was the male winner of the talent show. Although, she was a beautiful and successful actress she had her demons. Storm was open about her bout with alcoholism.

“My successes have certainly not been without problems. During the 1970s I experienced a terribly low and painful time of dealing with alcoholism. I had Lee’s unfailing support through the entire ordeal. My treatment and recovery were more than rugged.”

Her first hit as a singing artist, I hear you rockin’, sold over a million copies. Storm recorded several top-10 pop hits for Dot Records in the 1950s. Her talents earned her not one but THREE stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. She was a talent that will be missed.

What is your favorite memory of Gale Storm?