Julie London
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Julie London (September 26, 1926 - October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress. Best known for her smoky, sensual voice, as a singer she was at her peak in the 1950s; her acting career lasted more than 35 years, ending with the role of nurse Dixie McCall, RN, on the TV show Emergency! (1972–1979).
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[edit] Biography
Born in Santa Rosa, California, as Gayle Peck, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was 14, the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional High School in 1945.
She was married to Jack Webb of Dragnet fame. Her widely-regarded beauty and poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted strongly with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from his and her love for jazz music; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953.[1] They had two daughters, one who was killed in a traffic accident in the 1990s and one who survived her. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Jack Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Blvd.[2] They married on December 31, 1959 and it was his death in February 1999 that ended their marriage. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.
She suffered a stroke in 1995, and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California, at the age of 74, survived by four of her five children.
[edit] Singing Career
Julie London began singing in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by Sue Carol (wife of Alan Ladd) while London was working as an elevator operator. Her early film career did not include any singing roles.
She recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles.[3] She was named one of Billboard's most popular female vocalists for 1955, 1956, and 1957. In 1957, she was the subject of a Life magazine cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."
One of her most famous singles "Cry Me a River", was actually written by her high school classmate Arthur Hamilton, and produced by her husband Bobby Troup[4]. The song was featured in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It. This became a million-selling single after release in April 1957 and could still sell on re-issue in April 1983 on the back of attention brought by the Mari Wilson version of the song. The song has gained recent attention after being featured in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006). Other hit singles include "Makin' Whoopee", "Blue Moon" and "Boy On A Dolphin". Songs such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and sensual. The lyrics strongly suggest sex but never explicitly define it:
Go slow, oooooh honey, take it easy on the curves;
When love is slow, oooooh honey, what a tonic for my nerves.
Go slow, oooooh honey, we've got such a lot of time;
When love is slow, oooooh honey, how the mercury does climb.
Her whispered "you make me feel so good" at the end is breathy and suggests a sexually satisfied partner, serving as later inspiration for Frank Sinatra's lyrically similar song.
The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO series Six Feet Under, and appears on the series soundtrack album.
[edit] Albums
- Julie Is Her Name (1955, U.S. #2)
- Lonely Girl (1956, U.S. #16)
- Calendar Girl (1956, U.S. #18)
- About The Blues (1957, U.S. #15)
- Make Love To Me (1957)
- Julie (1958)
- Julie Is Her Name Volume 2 (1958)
- London By Night (1958)
- Swing Me An Old Song (1959)
- Your Number Please (1959)
- Julie At Home (1960)
- Around Midnight (1960)
- Send For Me (1961)
- Whatever Julie Wants (1961)
- Sophisticated Lady (1962)
- Love Letters (1962)
- Love On The Rocks (1962)
- Latin In A Satin Mood (1963)
- Julie's Golden Greats (1963)
- The End Of The World (1963, U.S. #127)
- The Wonderful World Of Julie London (1963, U.S. #136)
- Julie London (1964)
- In Person (1964)
- Our Fair Lady (1965)
- Feeling Good (1965)
- All Through The Night (1965)
- For The Night People (1966)
- Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast (1967)
- With Body & Soul (1967)
- Easy Does It (1968)
- Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969)
[edit] Charted Singles
- Cry Me A River (U.S. #2, 1955)
- Makin' Whoopee (U.S. #37, 1959)
- Blue Moon (South Africa #7, 1961)
- Desafinado (Slightly Out Of Tune) (U.S. # 110, 1962)
- I'm Coming Back To You (U.S. # 118, 1963)
- Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (U.S. #125, 1968)
[edit] Films
- Nabonga (1944)
- Diamond Horseshoe (1945) (bit part)
- On Stage Everybody (1945)
- A Night in Paradise (1946) (bit part)
- The Red House (1947)
- Tap Roots (1948)
- Task Force (1949)
- Return of the Frontiersman (1950)
- The Fat Man (1951)
- The Fighting Chance (1955)
- The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
- Crime Against Joe (1956)
- The Great Man (1956)
- Drango (1957)
- Saddle the Wind (1958)
- Voice in the Mirror (1958)
- Man of the West (1958)
- Night of the Quarter Moon (1959)
- The Wonderful Country (1959)
- A Question of Adultery (1959)
- The Third Voice (1960)
- The George Raft Story (1961)
[edit] Television
- The Big Valley (1967)
- The Helicopter Spies (1968)
- Emergency! (1972 - 1979)
- Tattletales! (game show hosted by Bert Convy, 1974-1978)
- Emergency: Survival on Charter #220 (1978)
- Rawhide"
Interestingly, her ex-husband, Jack Webb, was the producer of Emergency!, and he hired both his ex-wife and her new husband Bobby Troup to play key roles on the show. She was the still-sensual bombshell nurse, even in middle age; and Troup played the neurosurgeon Dr. Joe Early.
On her death in October 2000, Julie London was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
[edit] References
- ^ Staggs, Sam. (2003) Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard "St. Martin's Press" p. 289. ISBN 0-312-30254-1.
- ^ Powell, D.A. (1998) Tea. "Wesleyan University Press" p. 70. ISBN 0-8195-6334-X.
- ^ McKnight-Trontz, Jennifer (1999) Exotiquarium: Album Art from the Space Age "St. Martin's Press" p. 77. ISBN 0-312-20133-8.
- ^ Cason, Buzz (2004) Living the Rock 'N' Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason "Hal Leonard". p. 102. ISBN 0-634-06672-2.
Martin, D. (2000). "Julie London, Sultry Singer and Actress of 50's, Dies at 74". New York Times, October 19, 2000. Retrieved April 22, 2005.
Life, February 18, 1957.
