Gale Robbins

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";{{cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=Laura|title=Gale Robbins: "A Looker with a Voice to Match"|journal=Films of the Golden Age|date=Fall 2015|issue=82|pages=49–51}} she graduated from Lucy Flower High School{{cite news|last1=Leonard|first1=Will|title=Edith Piaf One Womanest Show Ever Staged|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1957/03/03/page/285/article/on-the-town|accessdate=December 12, 2015|work=Chicago Sunday Tribune|date=March 3, 1957|page=Part 7 – Page 10}} in June 1939.

File:GaleRobbins-Yank.jpg photo of Robbins for Yank, the Army Weekly in 1944]]

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."{{cite news|title=Phil Levant at Galeton|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3562723/the_wellsboro_gazette/|work=The Wellsboro Gazette|date=February 12, 1941|location=Pennsylvania, Wellsboro|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 5, 2015}} {{Open access}}

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 the show recently, holds over for the new program, under the name Gale Robbins. Gale is her middle name."{{cite news|title=Scat Dance to Make Bow at the Blackhawk|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1939/08/06/page/76/article/scat-dance-to-make-bow-at-the-blackhawk|accessdate=December 12, 2015|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 6, 1939|page=Part 7 – Page 2}}

Robbins sang with the Phil Levant band in 1940, and in 1941, she sang with Jan Garber.{{cite news|title=Lyric Theatre|newspaper=National Road Traveler |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3563548/national_road_traveler/|agency=National Road Traveler|date=August 21, 1941|location=Indiana, Cambridge City|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 5, 2015}} {{Open access}} Also in 1941, she recorded Jim (one side of RCA Victor 27580) with Art Jarrett.{{cite news|last1=Idol Jr.|first1=W. Chase|title=Records|newspaper=The High Point Enterprise |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3563605/the_high_point_enterprise/|agency=The High Point Enterprise|date=September 14, 1941|location=North Carolina, High Point|page=12|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 5, 2015}} {{Open access}} Beginning in June 1942, Robbins sang on The Ben Bernie War Workers' Program,Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-507678-3}}. Pp. 79, 321. which was broadcast three nights a week on CBS radio.{{cite news|title=On Air Tonight|newspaper=The Cumberland News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3563773/the_cumberland_news/|agency=The Cumberland News|date=June 26, 1942|location=Maryland, Cumberland|page=9|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 5, 2015}} {{Open access}} (Walter Winchell wrote in his syndicated newspaper column that Robbins was "the best part of Ben Bernie's act."{{cite news|last1=Winchell|first1=Walter|title=Walter Winchell On Broadway|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3570539/the_brownsville_herald/|work=The Brownsville Herald|date=November 6, 1942|location=Texas, Brownsville|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 6, 2015}} {{Open access}}) On August 14, 1942, she was a featured vocalist on a revue headlined by Fred Brady and broadcast over WABC.{{cite news|title=The Short and Long of Radio|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3569655/the_evening_news/|work=The Evening News|date=August 14, 1942|location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg|page=14|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 6, 2015}} {{Open access}} Also in 1942, she was one of four female singers on the staff at WBBM radio in Chicago, Illinois.{{cite news|last1=Honigberg|first1=Sam|title=Chicago|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1942/Billboard%201942-08-22-OCR-Page-0009.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=August 22, 1942|page=9}} In 1945, she sang on Ice Box Follies on ABC,Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4513-4}}. P. 162. 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."{{cite news|last1=Riley |first1=Bill |title=Vaudeville Reviews: RKO Boston, Boston |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1949/Billboard%201949-07-09-OCR-Page-0040.pdf |accessdate=November 7, 2015 |agency=Billboard |date=July 9, 1949 |page=42 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} That same year, she was the female lead in the musical revue A La Carte at the El Capitan Theater 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."{{cite news|last1=Zhito|first1=Lee|title=Out-of-Town Openings: A La Carte|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1949/Billboard%201949-11-26a-OCR-Page-0048.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=November 26, 1949|page=47}}

In September 1957, Robbins signed with Vik Records and made her first recordings for that label.{{cite news|title=Vik Inks 5 New Artists To Roster |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/50s/1957/Billboard%201957-09-16-OCR-Page-0026.pdf |accessdate=November 7, 2015 |agency=Billboard |date=September 16, 1957 |page=26 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Gale Robbins in My Dear Secretary.jpg (1948)]]

Robbins signed a contract with 20th Century Fox late in 1942. She made her film debut in In the Meantime, Darling in 1944. She appeared in several films, such as Calamity Jane and My Dear Secretary, and briefly sang parts of two songs in The Barkleys of Broadway, playing Shirlene May, the potential understudy to Ginger Rogers' character. Robbins sang another song, "All Alone Monday," in another Fred Astaire vehicle, Three Little Words (1950).{{cite news|last1=Kleiner|first1=Dick|title=Ask Dick Kleiner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3562435/indiana_gazette|work=The Indiana Gazette|date=October 28, 2000|location=Pennsylvania, Indiana|page=25|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=November 5, 2015}} {{Open access}}

Robbins entertained at many military bases with a troupe led by Bob Hope. She later focused on TV, including being a regular on Pantomime Quiz on KTTV in Los Angeles, California, in 1949.{{cite news|title=KTTV's 'Pantomime' To N.Y. Chevy Dealers|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1949/Billboard%201949-06-25-OCR-Page-0010.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=June 25, 1949|page=10}} She was hostess of Hollywood House from 1949 to 1950. She released the album I'm a Dreamer, backed by Eddie Cano and his orchestra, in 1958. She made three guest appearances on The Bob Cummings Show between 1955 and 1958. Gale appeared on The Untouchables, in the episode "The Antidote." She also had roles in such popular series as Gunsmoke, ‘’Trackdown’’, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip and Mister Ed.

In 1955, Robbins signed a contract with Screen Gems for "a number of Damon Runyon Theater segments."{{cite news|title=Gale Robbins Set by SG to Multiple Deal |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/50s/1955/Billboard%201955-04-30-OCR-Page-0008.pdf |accessdate=November 7, 2015 |agency=Billboard |date=April 30, 1955 |page=8 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Billboard reported that it was "the first time that the Columbia subsidiary has put a performer under contract for more than a single pic."

Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of motion pictures. Her star is located at 6510 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web|title=Gale Robbins|url=http://hwof.com/star/motion-pictures/gale-robbins/700|website=Hollywood Walk of Fame|accessdate=December 12, 2015}}

Robbins married her high school sweetheart, Robert Olson, November 8, 1943,{{cite news|title=Marriages |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1943/Billboard%201943-12-04-OCR-Page-0030.pdf |accessdate=November 7, 2015 |agency=Billboard |date=December 4, 1943 |page=30 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} when he was in the Air Force. The couple remained married until Olson's death in 1968, and had two daughters, Victoria and Cynthia.

Robbins died of lung cancer February 18, 1980, in Tarzana, California,{{cite news|title=Deaths |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/80s/1980/BB-1980-03-01-OCR-Page-0087.pdf |accessdate=November 7, 2015 |agency=Billboard |date=March 1, 1980 |page=68 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at the age of 58.{{cite news|title=Gale Robbins, actress, Singer and Pin-Up Girl|work=The New York Times|pages=D15|date=February 22, 1980|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/02/22/archives/gale-robbins-actress-singer-and-pinup-girl.html|accessdate=October 10, 2008}}{{cite news|title=Deaths|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/80s/1980/BB-1980-03-01-OCR-Page-0087.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=March 1, 1980}}

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• In the Meantime, Darling (1944)
• Mr. Hex (1946)
• Race Street (1948)
• My Dear Secretary (1948)
• The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
• Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949)
• Three Little Words (1950)
• The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
• Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
• Strictly Dishonorable (1951)
• The Belle of New York (1952)
• The Brigand (1953)
• Calamity Jane (1953)
• The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955)
• Double Jeopardy (1955)
• Gunsmoke in Tucson (1958)

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• This Can't Be the End of Me/Riverman (1956 Era 1022){{cite news|title=Reviews of New Pop Records|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/50s/1956/Billboard%201956-10-27-OCR-Page-0055.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=October 27, 1956|page=57}}
• I'm a Dreamer album (1958 Vik LX 1128){{cite news|title=(Vik Records advertisement)|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/50s/1958/Billboard%201958-04-28-OCR-Page-0027.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2015|agency=Billboard|date=April 28, 1958|page=27}}

• Pin-ups of Yank, the Army Weekly

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0730344|name=Gale Robbins}}
• {{Find a Grave|6100034}}

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Category:1921 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:American film actresses

Category:Era Records artists

Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:20th-century American women singers