Julie London

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Julie London
Birth name Gayle Peck
Born September 26, 1926(1926-09-26)
Santa Rosa, California, USA
Origin Los Angeles
Died October 18, 2000 (aged 74)
Encino, California, USA
Occupation(s) Singer, Actress
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1955 – 1975
Website Voice in the Mirror: A Tribute to Julie London

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).

Contents

[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 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 streetwise acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from their mutual 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 remained married until his death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.

Primarily remembered as a singer, London also made more than 20 films. One of her strongest performances came in 1958's Man of the West, starring Gary Cooper and directed by Anthony Mann, in which her character, the film's only woman, is abused and humiliated by an outlaw gang.

Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

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.

On her death in October 2000, Julie London was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

[edit] Singing career

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 by Billboard the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life 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 written by her high school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by her husband 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 also sold on re-issue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson rendition. The song gained recent attention being featured in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006).

Other hit singles include "Makin' Whoopee", "Blue Moon", "It Had To Be You". Songs such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and sensual. Aside from her music, the notably suggestive portrait photos used on London's album covers made lasting impressions even on the tone deaf.

The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album.

Her last recording was the classic "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the 1981 Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine.[1]

[edit] Television

She performed on many television variety series and also in dramatic roles, beginning with Rawhide and The Big Valley. Her ex-husband Jack Webb produced Emergency! and in 1972 he hired both his ex-wife and her husband Bobby Troup for key roles. Even in middle age, London was a still-sexy nurse, while Troup played emergency room physician Dr. Joe Early. She and her co-stars Kevin Tighe, Randolph Mantooth, and Robert Fuller also appeared in an episode of the Webb-produced series Adam-12, reprising their roles. London and Troup teamed up in the game show Tattletales in the 1970s.

[edit] Appearances

  • What's My Line? (three episodes) (1957-1961)
  • Rawhide (one episode) (1960)
  • The Eleventh Hour (one episode) (1963)
  • The Big Valley (one episode) (1967)
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (two episodes, "The Prince of Darkness Affair," Part 1, Part 2, (1967), re-released as the feature film, The Helicopter Spies (1968)
  • Emergency! (1972–1979) series regular
  • Adam-12 (one episode, Lost and Found) as Dixie McCall
  • Tattletales! (game show hosted by Bert Convy, 1974–1978)
  • Emergency: Survival on Charter #220 (1978)

[edit] Albums

[edit] Charted Recordings

  • "Cry Me a River" (U.S. #9, 1955)
  • "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)
  • "Like To Get To Know You" (Easy Listening #15, 1969)

[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] References

  1. ^ Staggs, Sam. (2003) Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard "St. Martin's Press" p. 289. ISBN 0-312-30254-1.
  2. ^ Powell, D.A. (1998) Tea. "Wesleyan University Press" p. 70. ISBN 0-8195-6334-X.
  3. ^ McKnight-Trontz, Jennifer (1999) Exotiquarium: Album Art from the Space Age "St. Martin's Press" p. 77. ISBN 0-312-20133-8.
  4. ^ Cason, Buzz (2004) Living the Rock 'N' Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason "Hal Leonard". p. 102. ISBN 0-634-06672-2.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME London, Julie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peck, Gayle
SHORT DESCRIPTION Singer, Actress
DATE OF BIRTH 1926-9-26
PLACE OF BIRTH Santa Rosa, California, USA
DATE OF DEATH 2000-10-18
PLACE OF DEATH Encino, California, USA