Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Julie London's Biography



Gayle Peck; known professionally as: Julie London (September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American former singer, spokeswoman, game show panelist and prolific character actress of stage. She was best known for her smoky, sensual voice. London was at her singing career's peak in the 1950s, lasting her more than a decade, who's known for her only #1 song, Cry Me A River. Her acting career also lasted more than 35 years, it concluded with the female lead role of nurse Dixie McCall on the television series Emergency! (1972–1979), co-starring her best friend Robert Fuller and her real-life husband Bobby Troup, which was produced by her ex-husband Jack Webb.

Biography
Early life
An only child, she was born as Gayle Peck in Santa Rosa, California, in 1926, to Jack & Josephine Peck, who were Vaudeville performers, who also ran the photography studio. Compared to her rival Marilyn Monroe, she too was a Californian girl, a product depression-era American. Around the same time, her family moved to San Bernardino, California, right around 1930, that at the same time, she started singing on a local radio show, where she made her public singing debut, when she was only 3 years old. By 1941, aged 14, her parents’ photography studio went bankrupt hence, she and Gayle’s family moved to Los Angeles, California, in pursuit of a fresh start. Her idol, when she was young was: Billie Holliday, which happened to be her mother’s favorite singer. Together, they sang all of her songs. When she was 15, she temporarily sang in a local big band in hotels and clubs, and all around Hollywood. Her ex-classmate, Arthur Hamilton, wasn’t allowed to watch Gayle sing in clubs like that, due to his illegal age, and he didn’t know about it, though he heard of it. When Gayle met Arthur, she wasn’t sitting besides him in high school, but they talked and became best friends.

She was forced to give up performing in a local band when her actual age was discovered. While in high school, she had a couple of odd jobs, including that of a model. Her mother also got a job at a department store. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional School in 1945.

Her agent changed her name from Gayle Peck to Julie London, and arranged a screen test for the young and upcoming star in 1943. At 17, she made her acting debut in Nabonga, opposite former athlete and actor Buster Crabbe. Despite her shyness, London had decided to become an actress, when a film critic described her as a teenaged Bette Davis, provocative and decisively different. That same year, she performed with the USO, for six days.

In 1959, she co-starred in an unsold pilot titled Maggie Malone, which was a much revised version of a pilot opposite Gail Russell, called MacGreedy's Woman. Neither was picked up any of the networks.[1]

Marriages/Personal life
In July 1947, she married actor 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.[2] They had two daughters: Stacy and Lisa Webb. London and Webb divorced in November 1954. Daughter Stacy Webb was killed in a traffic accident in 1996. Webb met London, at one of the jazz clubs in Los Angeles in 1942, when she was only 15, Webb, 22.

In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles.[3] They married on December 31, 1959, and remained married until his death in February 1999. They had one daughter, Kelly Troup, who died in March 2002, and twin sons, Jody and Reese Troup.[4]

Career
Singing
London began singing in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor 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.[5] Billboard named her 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."

Julie London's debut recordings were for the Bethlehem Records label. While shopping for a record deal, she recorded 4 tracks that would later be included on the compilation albums Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955. Bobby Troup backed London on the dates, and London recorded the standards "Don't Worry About Me", "Motherless Child", "A Foggy Day", and "You're Blasé".[citation needed]

London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate, Arthur Hamilton, and produced by Troup.[6] The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on re-issue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson cover. London performed the song in the film The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy," "Daddy" and "Desafinado." Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and sensual.

The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO television series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine (1981).[1]

Film
Primarily remembered as a singer, London also made more than 20 films. One of her strongest performances came in Man of the West (1958), 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.

Smoky-sultry character actress
At the rise of her singing career, London also became a top-notch character actress, making her debut on an episode of: Zane Grey Theatre. The part led to other roles such as: Playhouse 90The David Niven ShowAdventures in ParadiseThe Red Skelton HourI SpyRawhideMichael ShayneDan RavenHong KongFollow The SunThe Barbara Stanwyck ShowThe Big Valley (again with good friend Barbara Stanwyck), Checkmate, among many others.

Emergency!
In 1971, after over 15 years of recording, while singing in the nightclub circuit, and 1 failed pilot, London decided to quit recording to pursue her acting career, all the while, Liberty Records went out of business, after transferring to US Records. At the same time, she got a call from her ex-husband and best friend, Jack Webb, along with his partner, Robert A. Cinader, to play the female lead role in NBC's, Emergency!, where she was more than happy to be the producer's first choice for the character, and all of this was because the lounges that she performed were closed during the Nixon Administration. She also received second-billing as sexy, beautiful, head nurse, Dixie McCall. She was 45 when the show started, having to become an overnight sensation, airing in over 70 countries. This show is also the answer to other 1970s TV medical dramas such as: Marcus Welby, MD and Medical Center, medical shows that were groundbreaking that stood the test of time.

Despite the show's competition against the immensely-popular sitcom, All in the Family, her show, Emergency!, quickly became another one of the immensely-popular, nostalgical dramatic series where it was also the first show ever to feature 2 paramedics working for a specific program, while at the same time, it gained a massive audience to future doctors/nurses and paramedics, or even surgeons.

Already starring on the series was her lifelong best friend and familiar actor, Robert Fuller, who played the male lead role as her hotheaded partner, head physician, Dr. Kelly Brackett, who received first billing. London guest-starred with him on an episode of Laramie and (obviously) Julie’s real-life husband and unfamiliar actor/popular singer, Bobby Troup, who played the regular role of her calm partner, Dr. Joe Early, who got third-billing. Compared to London herself, Troup had been friends with Jack Webb for years, and had guest starred on both of their boss's popular series. And also starring on Emergency! were 2 unfamiliar actors: A USC college graduate, former Army trooper and ex-Paramount contract player, Kevin Tighe, in the role of senior paramedic, Roy DeSoto and a former Santa Barbara college student, a newspaper boy, and an ex-page @ NBC Studios @ Rockefeller Center in New York, Randolph Mantooth, in the role of Roy’s paramedic partner, John Gage. The on- and off-screen chemistry of London, Tighe & Mantooth were all a success of 1970s television, and even gather together to spend the more times at her’s & Bobby’s mansion in Encino, during hiatus, where the two spent an awful lot of times listening to music, while having a wonderful conversation with her & Bobby, becoming surrogate parents to the 2 boys. According to one of her co-stars, Mantooth said in several interviews by the time Emergency! aired, there were absolutely no paramedics in real-life, esp. in 1971, in the many 49 states, with the exception of the state of California, whose city Los Angeles had only 6 of them. They showed future president Ronald Reagan, the very 1st episode of the series, and he [Reagan] said 'This is what it can be.' Reagan watched the very 1st episode. Before the show would be in fruition for the next 8 seasons, paramedics were then certified.

Unlike London, amongst the rest of her regulars - who work regularly in the hospital, both of her own co-stars, Tighe & Mantooth, outside of the hospital who also worked at the fire station, performed a lot of on- and off-camera stunts, which gave the two young stars a lot of injuries, esp. Tighe, in the wake of his days in the Army, who was also wounded, which landed him in the hospital for 2 months cause of a bayenet wound. He also worked in Ft. Knox, KY, before all this. Off- the Emergency! set, Kevin also had to wear a body brace for 2 months because he hurt his back filming emergency and is afaide of heights also, but unlike Tighe, Randolph [being part-Indian] was not afraid of heights, who enjoyed climbing. At the end of every season, upon injuries that sustained both of her guys, she & Bobby actually made it their business, who in turn came to their rescue to recover from their own pains, but her two boys returned to the highly-rated series, making big bucks, esp. London herself. If that weren't enough, also unlike London & her second husband, more issues cames when her co-star, Mantooth, also had issues with his' & Tighe's own salaries, where they both had eye contacted with one another, to talk to the producers about getting better pay, all of these were adjusted, therefore, the money problems have been resolved.

She and her co-stars also appeared in an episode of the Webb-produced series Adam-12, reprising their roles. London and Troup appeared as panelists on the game show Tattletales several times in the 1970s. In the 1950s London appeared in an advertisment for Marlboro cigarettes singing the "Marlboro Song", and in 1978 appeared in television advertisements for Rose Milk Skin Care Cream. Her song "Love Must Be Catchin' On" appeared in the premiere episode of the ABC series "Pan Am" on Sunday, Sept. 25 2011.

Despite good ratings between 1977 and 1979, NBC has decided to pull the plug on its once-successful series, after 8 1/2 seasons & 133 episodes. After cancelation, Julie retired from acting to spend more time with her family, the year after she advertised for Rose Milk Skin Care Cream in 1978 TV spots.

The entire Emergency! cast had also guest-starred on Adam-12, reprising their roles. On July 9, 1986, 7 years after cancelation, the entire Emergency! cast were reunited to celebrate the show’s 15th Anniversary on Good Morning America. Joan Lunden, who was a die hard fan of the series, interviewed nearly the entire cast in New York, with the exception of London herself (who declined to appear), about the show’s key’s success, and massive fans who grew up watching the show later became paramedics.

On October 9, 1998, exactly 2 years before her death, nearly the entire cast appeared at the Emergency!, appeared at the 1998 Emergency! Convention Center in Burbank, California, but frailing health, prevented her from attending, and nobody paid tribute to her.

Long before he became a 1980s soap hunk, including a role on both Loving and The City, a popular character actor, and for being a widely-renown conference speaker, Randolph Mantooth, who played the role of Kevin Tighe's young, hotshot paramedic partner & Julie London's helper, Johnny Gage, said  in a 2012 interview done by Gary Richard Collins II @ the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, MI, about the time he met iconic singer/moviestar, Julie London, on a groundbreaking NBC TV show, Emergency!, if she was not a crazy, impish diva, "No, she was not.  She was not an impish nor a diva.  She was a soul kind of mother. She was the kindest person I have ever known." I also asked him if it was up to Julie London to make sure that both Kevin Tighe & Randy himself had stayed calm, "I don't know if it was up to her, but Kevin & I had kept calm by her personality. Bobby Troup only knew who she was - she was just like Julie.  She made us laughing!" To go over the deaths of Julie and Bobby, Randolph had also said in a 2008 interview with Fancast.com, of his on- and off-screen chemistry with Julie London & Bobby Troup, in a way he would always remember them dearly, "Bobby Troup and Julie London ... it was a killer when he passed away and Julie, too. It was like a real end of an era for us ... I still think about them and those times when Bobby was telling me how he wrote the song, "Route 66", and what he was going through ... I remember saying, 'Randy remember every word he is telling you' ... Julie London was so great, and she always referred to herself as a 'broad'. My fondest memory of her was the sheer joy of working with her ... she always had this droll sense of humor and I also remember sitting in their home [they were married from 1960 until he died in 1999; she was previously married to Jack Webb from 1947-1953]. It was this typical L.A. sprawling house in the hills overlooking the Valley and there were all these photos of Frank Sinatra and others ... I remember sitting there thinking I have been allowed to enter this sanctum that most people don't ever get to see. It was really neat." The very last thing he said was about the times when both Julie & Bobby gave them, "I felt honored to be invited into her's and Bobby's home and that she was very down-to-earth and well-liked. The blooper reel showed her like a big sister with me, though she embarrassed the heck, out of the poor kid at the time." For most of the 21 years after the cancelation ofEmergency!, Randolph did not keep in touch with Julie, but have always thought about her, every minute admiring her, with the exception of Jack's (Julie's real-life ex-husband, boss & best friend) death in 1982, drew London & Mantooth, real closer, as he was mourning in front of a TV star, who helped him get star status, the previous decade. He also appeared, along with best buddy, Kevin Tighe, in the Emergency! reunion, twice, between 1986 (for Good Morning America, which was hosted by a fan of 'Emergency!', Joan Lunden) and in 1998, at a conference in Burbank, between both of those events, her husband (Bobby Troup) came to both of them, as for London, she did not appear in both of those reunions, one in 1986 was for personal reasons and in 1998 due to her stroke she suffered, a few years ago, just a couple years before her death.

Hobbies:
London had 15 hobbies: cooking, spending time with family, smoking, singing, partying, knitting, dining, listening to music, reading, working on crossword puzzles, swimming, playing games, sports, golfing and gambling.

Later life /Death:
London suffered a stroke in 1995 and was in poor health until her death on October 18, 2000, in Encino, California, at age 74. Prior to her death, she also went into cardiac arrest. She was survived by four of her five children, London was interred next to Troup in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery, in Los Angeles, California. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Personal Quotes 
Julie: "I'm the world's worst. I dislike women in large groups, and as individuals. " (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie: "Women should be women, who wants them to be asexual? Not your old buddy." (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie on her popularity while playing the forty-five something nurse Dixie McCall on Emergency!: "Of course, I knew nothing about nursing and Bobby has seldom been near a doctor. The only experience I've had with emergencies have been with the kids. One is always getting cut on glass or falling out of a tree, so I'm an old hand at taking them to the accident ward of the Valley Hospital. I guess if I had to, though, I could take your blood pressure." (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie who said in 1968: "I am lazy. I like to procrastinate. But I force myself to swim, ride a bike or go to a gym. You have to be active to keep in shape." (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie who said in 1977: "There's always something just around the corner for people to run into. But I haven't the foggiest what or where my corner is." (Source: People.com)

Julie: "I may have to revise my ideal weight if this pace keeps up. I don't think anyone could gain weight filming and action television series like 'Emergency!'" (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie despite of her popularity for playing the fortyfiveish, sexy nurse, Dixie McCall, she felt that showbusiness just wasn't enough and near the end of the series' first run: "I feel pride when strangers tell me the show has helped save someone else's life because they've been made aware of paramedics' services, but I'm not fulfilled creatively. I guess I've never been content with what I've accomplished. I think I have excellent taste in what I do, but I keep hoping there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." (Source: People.com)

Julie when she became an actress: "I wasn't going to, but the store was filled with actors, working there between jobs. They said, 'Go on, See her.'"

Julie when asked if she wanted to star in the pilot of Emergency!, alongside her then husband, Bobby Troup: "Hell yes!" – (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie who said of Jack Webb: "I'm friendly with Jack. It's just a business relationship. It's not embarrassing at all. The divorce happened 19 years ago. That part of my life is all behind. Bobby is very friendly with Jack. I'd never worked with Jack before, but Bobby has done several 'Dragnets' and 'Adam-12s.'" - (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie who said in 1974: “One is trying for accurate pronunciation of medical terms . . . especially when there is a difference of opinion. Then there's the problem of those darned rubber gloves. I always try to have the gloves on before they start shooting a scene, because I've had too many times when the cameras were rolling and I couldn't 'pop' them on, which meant the scene had to be done over again.” (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie on the singers she liked: "I think Roberta Flack is sensational. The only music I don't really like is country and western. Except when Ray Charles does it. I think Barbra Streisand's great. I love her when she sings softly. Talk, about control; I never had the kind of discipline for voice training. But I think it's great to be identified with one song, like I was with 'Cry Me a River;' Fifteen years later, Streisand did it and sang the hell out of it." - (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie if she missed being on the road, as a singer, prior to being a professional actress: "Hell, no. You know how l handled it all those years? I threw up a lot. I'd finish working at 1 A.M. and then I couldn't sleep. And I'm always a wreck at openings. Then I settle down. I do know how to handle audiences. When they get noisy, I sing soft. But you know what I miss? The clothes. I had gorgeous gowns when I was on the road. The other day I had to go buy a dress because I didn't even own one. I'm always in jeans or those damn nurses' uniforms." - (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie: "If I had to cook three times a day, I wouldn't be entranced with it, but I do love to cook breakfast. I make a 10-minute or a 45-minute breakfast, depending upon my mood and appetite. I'm a great bacon fan, our favorite eggs are basted with bacon fat, and I mean the drippings from the bacon I've just fried. I hate the taste of burned butter. Frequently I make bacon gravy by browning flour in the drippings. Then I add milk and coarsely ground pepper and cook it until its rich and thick. I make ham gravy the same way, it's my husband's favorite, and my kids adore it." - (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie who said in 1972: "I'm not crazy about sexual activities so explicitly shown. Sex is a terribly personal thing. It shouldn't be exploited." - (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie who said in 1973: "I got a letter from some dame who criticized my demeanor on the show. She said it wasn't proper for me to wear a padded bra. I've never worn a padded bra in my life. I visited some hospitals when we started Emergency! Some of the gals are wearing shag haircuts and earrings. Things have changed." (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie of having both of her daughters following in their mother's footsteps - as actresses: "It really doesn't matter how I feel. They'll do what they damn well please anyhow. My 10-year-old daughter Kelly was on an Emergency! She'd read my script and found a part for someone her age. She asked me to call and see if she could play it. I said, 'No way. You want it badly enough, you call.' She did, and got the part. She was on the road with me when she was 2 weeks old. I thought: 'I'll be damned if I'll let her stay home; later, she'll wonder who the hell I am.' I love it when we're on hiatus. From February to June, I just cook and do crazy things like that. I even try to help the kids with that new math. But forget it. Bobby's a Phi Beta Kappa, but he can't do their homework. They use phrases in the textbooks that I never heard of." (Source: TVGuide.com)

Julie: "I was really stupid about it. I thought, 'Oh, that's nice.' My first song, 'River,' was No. 1 for four months, but I didn't know the business then; I didn't know what it meant." - (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie when she cooked for her family: “I'm an impulsive cook. I get a yen for something, and I rush down to the kitchen and make up a batch, and my appetite is as erratic as my cooking, some days I couldn't care less about food, then on other days I'll eat spaghetti or chili with onions for breakfast. But my husband can't stand to be in the same room with me when I eat like this.” (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie when asked if she had any weight problems: “No, I never do, but I guess it's a lack of sleep. I should eat more protein, but I like to eat what I like.” (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie who said in 1966: “I really learned to cook by watching my mother. I'm a Southern cook of sorts, as my mother once lived in Arkansas. I always helped her in the kitchen. She was a marvelous cook. The only trouble I have is trying to repeat her dishes. She never used a recipe.” (Source: Evening Independent.com)

Julie about her stage fright: “Before I sing at a club, I feel so awful, I think, 'I'm going to get out of this business. Nothing is worth it. I'm terrified of the camera. I don't like to watch the dailies. When an old movie of mine appears on TV, I crawl under a chair and hide.” (Source: JulieLondon.org)

Julie who said in 1997: “I'm a girl who needs amplification.” (Source: NewYorkTimes.com)

Julie who said in 1963: “We're opposite types. Marilyn was the sex symbol. . . . I'm strictly the housewife-mother type.” (Source: LATimes.com)

Julie who said in 1961: “Just as long as they buy the records, I don't care why they buy 'em, we spent more time on the covers than the music.” (Source: LATimes.com)

Julie on her singing voice: “It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of over-smoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate.” (Source: Life.com)

Julie when she felt about the careers of both hers and Jack Webb's: "I don't cheer anyone's bad luck, least of all, the man who is father of my two girls. Yet, I would be lying if I said there was no self-satisfaction. I am only human. There's bound to be some elation. I guess any divorced woman would understand how I feel." (Source: Daytona Morning Beach Journal.com)

Albums
  • Bethlehem's Girlfriends (1955 - debut recordings)
  • 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 II (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)
  • The Best of Julie (1962)
  • 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 at the Americana (1964)
  • Our Fair Lady (1965)
  • Feeling Good (1965)
  • By Myself (1965, produced exclusively for the Columbia Record Club)
  • All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter (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)
  • The Very Best Of Julie London (1975)
  • The Ultimate Collection (2006) [3 CD Box Set]
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)
Filmography
  • 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)

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