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Gale Storm and the
1950’s
Gale Storm was an actress and
singer who appeared in many movies as well in two successful
1950 television series.
Her first TV series was My Little Margie. 128 episodes of
this half hour sitcom appeared on television from 1952 to 1955.
The program started out as a summer replacement for
I Love Lucy. But its
popularity soon gave it life as a season long program.
Gale Storm played Margie Albright, a headstrong woman in her early
20’s who lived in a New York City apartment with her widowed father,
Vernon (“Vern”). Vern was played by former silent film star Charles
Farrell.
Many of the laughs in the program were generated when the two main
characters meddled into one another’s lives. Interestingly, the
program also featured original episodes on radio at the same time,
with Storm and Farrell playing the leads here as well.
After My Little Margie ended its run Gale Storm had a second
successful television series. Another sitcom, this program was
titled The Gale Storm Show (also known as Oh! Susanna).
143 episodes of this program ran from 1956 to 1960. Storm starred as
Susanna Pomeroy, social director on a cruise ship called the S. S.
Ocean Queen.
Other important characters included Susanna’s best friend Elvira
“Nugey” Nugent (played by the silent film great ZaSu Pitts) and
Captain Huxley (played by Roy Roberts). This program often included
song and dance numbers where Storm showed off her singing talents.
And Storm did, indeed, have considerable success as a singer. She
recorded several hit singles in the 1950’s. “I Hear You Knockin’”
sold over a million copies and “Dark Moon” went to number
4 on 1957’s Billboard Hot 100. Storm also headlined in Las Vegas and
appeared on stage in many musicals.
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