Gale Storm and the 1950’s

by Guy Belleranti


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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