Gale Robbins
| Gale Robbins | |
|---|---|
Circa 1941
|
|
| Born |
Betty Gale Robbins or Betty Gale Murphy May 7, 1921 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (or Mitchell, Indiana)) |
| Died | February 18, 1980 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Lung cancer |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1944–66 |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Olson (1943-68; his death) 2 daughters |
| Children | Vicki (b. 1951) Cynthia (b. 1956) |
Gale Robbins (born Betty Gale Robbins (or Betty Gale Murphy), May 7, 1921 - February 18, 1980) was an American actress and singer.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, although one source claims she was born in Mitchell, Indiana and her family moved to Chicago "when she was very young"; she graduated from Lucy Flower High School in June 1939.
Robbins "attended the Vera Jones Modeling School and posed for many magazine covers and ads." A 1941 newspaper article described her as "the famous model whose face has appeared on the covers of many leading magazines, and whose eyes and teeth are the trademarks respectively of Murine and Iodent."
In 1939, Robbins was a singer in the stage show at the Hotel Sherman's College Inn in Chicago, Illinois. She apparently changed her stage name at that time. An article in the August 6, 1939, issue of the Chicago Tribune reported: "Betty Robbins, Chicago singer who joined ths show recently, holds over for the new program, under the name Gale Robbins. Gale is her middle name."
Robbins sang with the Phil Levant band in 1940, and in 1941, she sang with Jan Garber. Also in 1941, she recorded Jim (one side of RCA Victor 27580) with Art Jarrett. Beginning in June 1942, Robbins sang on The Ben Bernie War Workers' Program, which was broadcast three nights a week on CBS radio. (Walter Winchell wrote in his syndicated newspaper column that Robbins was "the best part of Ben Bernie's act.") On August 14, 1942, she was a featured vocalist on a revue headlined by Fred Brady and broadcast over WABC. Also in 1942, she was one of four female singers on the staff at WBBM radio in Chicago, Illinois. In 1945, she sang on Ice Box Follies on ABC, and during the 1945-1946 season, she was a vocalist on The Hoagy Carmichael Show on NBC.
In 1949, Robbins sang as part of Dennis Day's Vaudeville show in Boston, prompting a reviewer for the trade publication Billboard to write: "The acts include Gale Robbins, as fine a vocalist as the town has seen in ages. She's pretty, has a real voice and a personality which never flags." That same year, she was the female lead in the musical revue A La Carte at the El Capitan Theaer in Hollywood, California. A reviewer wrote in Billboard, "Song-wise, Gale Robbins and Bill Shirley are admirably suited to their lead parts, scoring vocally and in stage presence."
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