TV legend Gale Storm dead at 87.
Gale one of early TV’s biggest stars on My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show had been ailing for several years and passed Saturday at a Danville convalescent hospital.
Gale appeared in numerous B-movies alongside Jackie Cooper, Eddie Albert and Roy Rogers before launching the vey successful My Little Margie in 1952 which is still in syndication today
Storm, who was born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Texas, entered a talent contest Gateway to Hollywood and won a movie contract. The competition’s male winner, Lee Bonnell, later became her husband.
Working with Roy Rogers, The King of the Cowboys, Storm recalled that his famed palomino Trigger was prone to off-screen mischief. As Roy crooned a tune, Trigger would lean over her and bite her stallion’s neck.
"I was really scared of horses," Gale admitted. "I only rode them because that’s what you had to do."
My Little Margie debuted on CBS as a summer replacement for I Love Lucy in 1952 and became such a fan favorite it moved to NBC that fall. When Margie ended its run in 1955 Gale starred in The Gale Storm Show aka Oh! Susanna.
After a successful second career as a singer fans were shocked to discover their beloved Gale, the ever-perky vivacious star was a secret alcoholic.
"I had hidden it socially, never drank before a performance," she wrote in her 1980 tell-all I Ain’t Down Yet.
Gale credited Bonnell, her husband of 45 years, with helping get sober after 3 failed rehab attempts.
Son Peter Bonnell said that despite being retired from screen and stage for years, Gale enjoyed keeping in touch with her legion of fans and had known many of them for decades.
Au voir, Gale.
