The Grim Reaper continues to take its toll on the entertainment world. On Saturday, actress and singer Gale Storm died at the age of 87. In the "out of sight, out of mind" world of pop culture, Storm is somewhat obscure today. However, in the 1950s, she was one of the biggest stars around. From 1952-1955, Gale starred in the sitcom My Little Margie. I discovered this show as a kid one summer via Detroit independent station WKBD Channel 50. Storm played the title character, who was always involved in the personal life of her widower father Vern. Margie even had her own Ethel Mertz in the form of elderly neighbor Mrs. Odetts. Although critics weren't kind to the show, I thought it was pretty funny. A year after My Little Margie ended, Gale began a 4-year run as the star of her own self-titled sitcom. As Susanna Pomeroy, social director aboard the S.S. Ocean Queen, you could say that Storm's character was a precursor to Julie McCoy of The Love Boat. After The Gale Storm Show ended in 1960, she appeared in several stage productions and did guest shots on such series as Murder, She Wrote and the aforementioned The Love Boat.
In addition to her acting successes, Gale Storm was also a recording star. From 1955-1957, she made the Billboard chart 12 times (including six top 10 hits). If you'd like to learn more about the life and career of Gale Storm, please visit her Official Site.
Below is a recording of her final chart hit, Dark Moon (which peaked at #4 in 1957).
On Wednesday, Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden died at the age of 97. My introduction to Karl was through watching his hit series The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977) in which he starred as Det. Lt. Mike Stone. In addition to its memorable theme song (which you can hear in the You Tube Player below), I enjoyed the chemistry between Malden and a young Michael Douglas (who played his partner, Inspector Steve Keller, for the first 4 years of the series).
Years before The Streets of San Francisco, Karl had a long and successful career on the big screen. Among his notable films are A Streetcar Named Desire (earning him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), On the Waterfront, Baby Doll, Gypsy, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Cincinnati Kid, and Patton. His last acting role was in a 2000 episode of The West Wing.
Beginning during the run of The Streets of San Francisco, Malden solidified his status as a pop culture icon through his role as spokesman for American Exprerss Traveler's Cheques. His catchphrase in the commercials ("Don't leave home without them") is one that I occasionally use to this day. The items that I "don't leave home without" are my cell phone, a bottle of lotion, and Vaseline Lip Therapy. You can watch one of Karl's AMEX spots in the player below.
Aww. That's a shame. My local station has been playing Streets of SF reruns in the daytime and I sometimes watch. I've read and reviewed the novel that inspired the series.
I watched the original airings of My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show, though I was very young during My Little Margie it actually stuck out in my mind more than her second series for some reason.
Karl Malden, of course, was the ultimate character actor and, like most people now, I remember him most in The Streets of San Francisco.
This has been quite a sad few weeks for Hollywood.
I remember "My Little Margie" well. I must have saw it rerun though. Karl Malden was the man. One of my favorite roles he portrayed was the detective that was in love with Bette Davis, "Dead Ringer". The studio executives advised him to fix his nose, but he refused.
"The Death of Outrage"
-
William Bennett wrote that book, the Death of Outrage, back in 1999. In
it, he lamented about how Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky affair was
an "a...
A Crossroads IN The Waste: Blood Meridian
-
We just dropped our Chapter 5 episode...for the great novel Blood Meridian.
Let us know what you think of the podcast...we discuss one chapter per
epis...
More Adventures In Online Dating
-
OK, firstly would love to get to a date.
Would love for one of these guys to hit dial on the phone instead of
endless texts.
I realize speaking to a pe...
Expert v. Expert
-
Forensic pathologist Dr. Peter Cummings works for the Massachusetts Office
of the Medical Examiner. He’s a bonafide expert.
So is Dr. Cyril Wecht, forme...
The Drunk, Naked, And Blasphemous Easter Show
-
Wash your hands, and dress up in your fancy clothes because we are having
a come to Jesus meeting with JC and the Easter Bunny. The IWS Radio team
will be...
WT? (WTF, WTH) EMOJI MEEMOGIE ART & GIFTS
-
*WT?* *EMOJI MEEMOGIE ART & GIFTS*
Playful, colorful and whimsical emoji art character version of a frownie
emoji in the full rainbow of the color spec...
Authenticity
-
*Some Thoughts on Authenticity:*
In the groups (circles) I'm part of/frequent, we talk about (muse) a lot
about authenticity and being authentic. My New Ye...
EndSession: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps (acoustic)"
-
EndSession: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps (acoustic)":
justhappyrobot:
This tears my fucking heart out, for reasons on reasons on reasons.
(there are other ver...
Second Chance Romances
-
I am losing my love for romance novels, which kind of makes me sad, because
I've been reading this genre since I was a teen.
Its the second chance romances...
Civil Responsibility
-
*We have met the enemy and they is us.*
~ Pogo
You know, it’s a weird time here in the United States. There’s a lot going
on. A lot.
In case you haven’t...
Money Usually Follows Art -
-
That which is creative sometimes will be made by its maker regardless of a
audience or financial gain. Many ideas and concepts are shared. Art was
around b...
Kind of Watching It TV: Grey's Anatomy
-
Oh hi. My new editor is cracking the whip. He wants more than a post a
month or every two months. Dracionian rules. Anyway I've been watching
televisions a...
REO - Washing the Blues Away
-
Wuz up to all my buds out there... or at least to those who are still
subscribed. Hard core man, hard core. Well I know it's been awhile but I'm
back. Yes ...
Squeezing It All In
-
We’re down to the last few weeks of summer – school starts on Sept. 3 for
Adam and Allie. As usual, I’m feeling that “we haven’t had all the fun I
meant fo...
With Sadness
-
My heart aches as of late. I needed a place to write and I am not keeping
up with my journaling and sometimes typing is easier. Blogger will be my
therap...
The Next Big Thing?
-
There's a "blog hop" going on in the horror writing community right now
where authors tag each other to answer questions about upcoming projects.
Some very...
Happy 30th Birthday MTV!
-
Before we had music videos, the song was our own. We each had a unique
"video" playing in our own mind before MTV gave us a visual of what a song
should ...
All images on this blog are taken from the web. If you own rights to any of these images and do not want them to appear on this site, please contact me at ultfan@gmail.com and I will remove them promptly.
Remarketing tags may not be associated with personally identifiable information or placed on pages related to sensitive categories. See more information and instructions on how to setup the tag on: http://google.com/ads/remarketingsetup
--------------------------------------------------->
3 comments:
Aww. That's a shame. My local station has been playing Streets of SF reruns in the daytime and I sometimes watch. I've read and reviewed the novel that inspired the series.
I watched the original airings of My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show, though I was very young during My Little Margie it actually stuck out in my mind more than her second series for some reason.
Karl Malden, of course, was the ultimate character actor and, like most people now, I remember him most in The Streets of San Francisco.
This has been quite a sad few weeks for Hollywood.
I remember "My Little Margie" well. I must have saw it rerun though. Karl Malden was the man. One of my favorite roles he portrayed was the detective that was in love with Bette Davis, "Dead Ringer". The studio executives advised him to fix his nose, but he refused.
Post a Comment