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Julie London
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Julie London (September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress. Best known for her smoky, sensual voice, as a singer she was at her peak in the 1950s; her acting career lasted more than 35 years, ending with the role of nurse Dixie McCall, RN, on the popular TV show Emergency! (1972–1979).
in Santa Rosa, California, as Gayle Peck, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team.
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Encyclopedia
Julie London (September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress. Best known for her smoky, sensual voice, as a singer she was at her peak in the 1950s; her acting career lasted more than 35 years, ending with the role of nurse Dixie McCall, RN, on the popular TV show Emergency! (1972–1979).
Biography
Born in Santa Rosa, California, as Gayle Peck, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was 14, the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional School in 1945.
Her first marriage was to Jack Webb of Dragnet fame. Her widely-regarded beauty and poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted strongly with his pedestrian appearance and streetwise acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from their mutual love for jazz music; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953. They had two daughters, Stacy and Lisa. Stacy was killed in a traffic accident in 1996. Lisa survived her mother. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Jack Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Blvd. They married on December 31, 1959 and remained married until his death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter, Kelly Troup and twin sons, Jody Troup and Reese Troup.
Primarily remembered as a singer, London also made more than 20 films. One of her strongest performances came in 1958's Man of the West, starring Gary Cooper and directed by Anthony Mann, in which her character, the film's only woman, is abused and humiliated by an outlaw gang.
Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Death
She suffered a stroke in 1995, and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California, at the age of seventy-four, survived by four of her five children.
On her death, Julie London was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, next to her husband, and fellow Emergency! co-star, Bobby Troup.
Singing career
London began singing in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by Sue Carol (wife of Alan Ladd) while London was working as an elevator operator. Her early film career did not include any singing roles.
She recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. She was named by Billboard the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."
London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by her husband Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on re-issue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson rendition. London performed the song in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It, and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy," "Daddy" and "Desafinado." Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and sensual. Aside from her music, the notably suggestive portrait photos used on London's album covers made lasting impressions even on the tone deaf.
The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. Her rendition of "The Good Life" currently is featured on British Airways' 2008 dancing aquatic television advert for London's BA Heathrow Terminal T5.
Her last recording was the classic "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the 1981 Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine.
Television
She performed on many television variety series and also in dramatic roles, beginning with Rawhide and The Big Valley. Her ex-husband Jack Webb packaged Emergency!, and in 1972 he hired both his ex-wife and her husband Bobby Troup for key roles. Even in middle age, London was a still-attractive nurse, while Troup played emergency room physician Dr. Joe Early. She and her co-stars Kevin Tighe, Randolph Mantooth, and Robert Fuller also appeared in an episode of the Webb-produced series Adam-12, reprising their roles. London and Troup appeared as panelists on the game show Tattletales for a week in the 1970s.
Appearances
- What's My Line? Mystery guests on 9/29/1957 (Episode # 382) (Season 9 Ep 5), (three episodes) (1957-1961)
- Rawhide (one episode) (1960)
- Dan Raven with Skip Homeier as June Carney in the episode "Tinge of Red" (1960)
- The Eleventh Hour as Joan Ashmond in the episode "Like a Diamond in the Sky") (1963)
- The Big Valley (one episode) (1967)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (two episodes, "The Prince of Darkness Affair," Part 1, Part 2, (1967), re-released as the feature film, The Helicopter Spies (1968)
- Emergency! (1972–1979) series regular
- Adam-12 (one episode, Lost and Found) as Dixie McCall
- Tattletales! (game show hosted by Bert Convy, 1974–1978)
- Emergency: Survival on Charter #220 (1978)
Albums
- Julie Is Her Name (1955, U.S. #2)
- Lonely Girl (1956, U.S. #16)
- Calendar Girl (1956, U.S. #18)
- About the Blues (1957, U.S. #15)
- Make Love to Me (1957)
- Julie (1958)
- Julie Is Her Name, Volume II (1958)
- London by Night (1958)
- Swing Me an Old Song (1959)
- Your Number Please (1959)
- Julie...At Home (1960)
- Around Midnight (1960)
- Send for Me (1961)
- Whatever Julie Wants (1961)
- The Best of Julie London (1962)
- Sophisticated Lady (1962)
- Love Letters (1962)
- Love on the Rocks (1962)
- Latin in a Satin Mood (1963)
- Julie's Golden Greats (1963)
- The End of the World (1963, U.S. #127)
- The Wonderful World of Julie London (1963, U.S. #136)
- Julie London (1964)
- In Person at the Americana (1964)
- Our Fair Lady (1965)
- Feeling Good (1965)
- By Myself (1965, produced exclusively for the Columbia Record Club)
- All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter (1965)
- For the Night People (1966)
- Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast (1967)
- With Body & Soul (1967)
- Easy Does It (1968)
- Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969)
- The Very Best Of Julie London (1975)
Charted Recordings
- "Cry Me a River" (U.S. #9, 1955)
- "Blue Moon" (South Africa #7, 1961)
- "Desafinado" (Slightly Out Of Tune)" (U.S. # 110, 1962)
- "I'm Coming Back To You" (U.S. # 118, 1963)
- "Yummy Yummy Yummy" (U.S. #125, 1968)
- "Like To Get To Know You" (Easy Listening #15, 1969)
Films
- Nabonga (1944)
- Diamond Horseshoe (1945) (bit part)
- On Stage Everybody (1945)
- A Night in Paradise (1946) (bit part)
- The Red House (1947)
- Tap Roots (1948)
- Task Force (1949)
- Return of the Frontiersman (1950)
- The Fat Man (1951)
- The Fighting Chance (1955)
- The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
- Crime Against Joe (1956)
- The Great Man (1956)
- Drango (1957)
- Saddle the Wind (1958)
- Voice in the Mirror (1958)
- Man of the West (1958)
- Night of the Quarter Moon (1959)
- The Wonderful Country (1959)
- A Question of Adultery (1959)
- The Third Voice (1960)
- The George Raft Story (1961)
External links
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