Gail Davis
| Gail Davis | |
|---|---|
Gene Autry and Davis in Toronto, circa 1955.
|
|
| Born |
Betty Jeanne Grayson October 5, 1925 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | March 15, 1997 (aged 71) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Harcum Junior College for Girls |
| Occupation | Actress: Annie Oakley |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Bob Davis (1945-1952) (2) Richard Pierce (3) Carl Guerriero |
| Children | Terrie Davis |
Harcum Junior College for Girls
(Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania)
Gail Davis (October 5, 1925 – March 15, 1997) was an American actress, best known for her starring role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s television Western series Annie Oakley.
The daughter of a small town physician, she was born as Betty Jeanne Grayson in a Little Rock, Arkansas hospital, but was raised in McGehee until her family moved to Little Rock.
She had been singing and dancing since childhood. After graduating from Little Rock High School, she studied at the Harcum Junior College for Girls in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, before completing her education at the University of Texas at Austin. She had a younger sister, Shirley Ann Grayson (August 26, 1937 – February 23, 1971).
She and her husband, Bob Davis, moved to Hollywood to pursue a film career. She told an interviewer how she acquired her professional acting name. "I went under contract to MGM around 1946. They told me 'we can't have a Betty Davis, because of Bette Davis, and we can't have a Betty Grayson because of Kathryn Grayson'.... Then a guy in the casting department said 'how about Gail Davis?' So that's where it came from."
In 1947 she made her motion picture debut in a comedy film short. She then appeared in minor roles in another four films (the first being The Romance of Rosy Ridge) until landing a supporting role under star Roy Rogers in a 1948 Western film, The Far Frontier. Between 1948-53, Davis appeared in 32 feature films, all but three of which were in the Western genre, including twenty films with or for the production company of the singing cowboy star, Gene Autry.
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