Gladys Gale
{{short description|American singer and actor (1891–1948)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gladys Gale
| image = File:GladysGaleMoeHoward.1938.jpg
| caption = Screen capture of Gale with Moe Howard in the 1938 film short, Violent Is the Word for Curly.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1891|1|15}}
| birth_place = Monmouth, Illinois, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1948|10|4|1891|1|15}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States
| birthname = Gladys Lanphere
| occupation = Actress
| spouse = Park Benjamin
| yearsactive = 1927–1946
}}
Gladys Gale (January 15, 1891 – October 4, 1948) was an American nightclub singer and vaudeville performer, before becoming a character actress in films during the 1930s and 1940s. The wife of a millionaire, she led a checkered life before dying under mysterious circumstances in a Los Angeles hotel room under an assumed name.
Life and early career
Born Gladys Lanphere on January 15, 1891, in Monmouth, Illinois,[https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&dq=Gladys+Lanphere+january+1891&pg=PA266 Resting Places] she married millionaire Park Benjamin.{{cite news |title=Discarded Wife Weighs Fruits of Being a Sport |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/432188445/ |work=New York Daily News |date=August 11, 1940 |page=120}} During the Prohibition Era she became a nightclub performer in a speakeasy in New York City, also appearing on the vaudeville stage in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Film career and death
Gale went to Hollywood in 1931, where she made her film debut in RKO's Smart Woman in a small role.{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=5638 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Smart Woman | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} She used the stage name of Gladys Gale, instead of her married name, Gladys Benjamin.{{cite web | url=http://maewest.blogspot.com/2012/10/mae-west-gladys-gale.html | publisher=Mae West Blog | title=Mae West: Gladys Gale | date=5 October 2012 | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} Over her fifteen-year film career, she would appear in over 30 feature films, mostly in smaller roles, with the occasional featured part.{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&Type=PN&Tbl=&CatID=DATABIN_CAST&ID=62110&searchedFor=Gladys_Gale_&SortType=ASC&SortCol=RELEASE_YEAR | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Gladys Gale | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} Some of her more notable films include: the gangster film, She Couldn't Take It (1934), starring George Raft and Joan Bennett;{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6533 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=She Couldn't Take It | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} the Mae West 1936 vehicle, Klondike Annie, in which she played a dance hall girl at the age of 45;{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=981 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Klondike Annie | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} Frank Capra's 1938 classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Claude Rains;{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6445 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} and the 1942 melodrama, Lady for a Night, starring John Wayne and Joan Blondell.{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27299 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Lady for a Night | accessdate=February 10, 2015}} Her final screen appearance would be in a small role in Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946), which starred Gail Russell.{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24907 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=Our Hearts Were Growing Up | accessdate=February 10, 2015}}
On October 3, 1948, Gale checked into a Los Angeles hotel under an assumed name with a man, calling themselves Mr. and Mrs. Statler. In the morning her body was discovered, nude, with the room trashed. No cause for her death was ever established. Gale is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Gladys Gale filmography |
| scope="col"|Year
! scope="col" width = 30%|Title ! scope="col" width = 30% class="unsortable" |Role ! scope="col" width = 30% class="unsortable"|Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|1931
|Mrs. Preston - Peggy's Mother |
| scope="row"|1932
|Mrs. von Schwarzenhoffen (uncredited) |MGM |
| scope="row"|1934
|Head nurse |
| scope="row"|1934
|large woman |
| scope="row"|1934
|Prima donna |
| scope="row"|1934
|Patron in Art Gallery (uncredited) |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1934
|Mrs. Randall |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1934
|Miss Smith |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1934
|Mrs. Everett |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1934
|Passenger's wife |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1935
| |
| scope="row"|1935
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1935
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1935
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1935
| Carnival |Baby judge |Columbia Pictures |align="center"|{{cite web |title=Carnival|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/8515-CARNIVAL?cxt=filmography|website=AFI{{!}}Catalog |accessdate=October 9, 2020}} |
| scope="row"|1935
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1935
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1936
|Dance hall girl |Paramount Pictures |
| scope="row"|1936
| |
| scope="row"|1936
|Woman manager |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1936
|Mrs. Blane |Republic Pictures |
| scope="row"|1936
|Tourist |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1937
| |
| scope="row"|1937
| |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1937
|Receptionist |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1937
|Mrs. Rice |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1938
|Bingo player | 20th Century Fox |
| scope="row"|1939
|Committee Woman |Columbia Pictures |
| scope="row"|1942
|Mrs. Fadden |Republic Pictures |
| scope="row"|1942
|Mother |Republic Pictures |
| scope="row"|1943
|Elastic woman |Universal Pictures |
| scope="row"|1945
|Sarah Gibbons |Republic Pictures |
| scope="row"|1945
| Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe |Unknown | 20th Century Fox |
| scope="row"|1945
|Mrs. Appley |Paramount Pictures |
Stage
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Broadway credits of Gladys Benjamin (Gale) ! scope="col"|Date ! scope="col"|Title ! scope="col"|Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |
| scope="row"|Oct 02, 1912 - Oct 19, 1912
|The Charity Girl |Madame Bowwowski |
|---|
| scope="row"|Dec 30, 1912 - Apr 05, 1913
|Chorus |
| scope="row"|Mar 30, 1914 - May 09, 1914
|The Belle of Bond Street |Hilda |
| scope="row"|Feb 17, 1916 - Jun 10, 1916
|Robinson Crusoe, Jr. |Chorus |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0301848}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Gladys}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Illinois
Category:People from Monmouth, Illinois
Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery