Storm was born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington in Victoria County, Texas. The youngest of five children, she had two brothers and two sisters. Her father, William Walter Cottle, died after a year-long illness when she was just seventeen months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to raise the children alone. One of her sisters gave Josephine the middle name "Owaissa," a Norridgewock Amerindian word meaning "bluebird." Storm's mother Minnie took in sewing, then opened a millinery shop in McDade, Texas, which failed, and finally moved the family to Houston. Storm learned to be an accomplished dancer and became an excellent ice skater at Houston's Polar Palace. She performed in the drama club at both Albert Sidney Johnston Junior High School and San Jacinto High School.
When she was 17 years old, two of her teachers urged her to enter a contest on Gateway to Hollywood, broadcast from the CBS Radio studios in Hollywood, California. First prize was a one-year contract with a movie studio. She won and was immediately given the stage name Gale Storm. Her performing partner (and future husband), Lee Bonnell from South Bend, Indiana, became known as Terry Belmont.
In Gallatin, Tennessee in November 1954, a 10-year-old girl, Linda Wood, was watching Storm on a Sunday night television variety show, NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour, hosted by Gordon MacRae, singing one of the popular songs of the day. Linda's father asked her who was singing and was told it was Gale Storm from My Little Margie. Linda's father Randy Wood was president of Dot Records, and he liked Storm so much that he called to sign her before the end of the television show. Her first record, "I Hear You Knockin'," a cover version of a rhythm and blues hit by Smiley Lewis, sold over a million copies. The follow-up was a two-sided hit, with Storm covering Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This" backed with her cover of Gloria Mann's "A Teenage Prayer." That was followed by a hit cover of Frankie Lymon's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." Storm's subsequent record sales began to slide but soon rebounded with a cover of her own labelmate Bonnie Guitar's haunting ballad "Dark Moon" that went to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Storm had several other hits and headlined in Las Vegas and appeared in numerous stage plays. Amazingly, Storm only recorded for approximately two years with Dot and then gave up recording because of her husband's concerns with the time she had to devote to that career. Equally amazing, almost her entire recording career was based on her quickly recording cover versions of new hits by other artists (one, a cover of Joni James' "I Need You So," was never released). Many felt that Storm's covers often were better than the originals, and she developed a large following.
After winning the contest in 1940, Storm made several films for the studio, RKO Radio Pictures. Her first was Tom Brown's School Days, playing opposite Jimmy Lydon and Freddie Bartholomew. She worked steadily in low-budget films released during this period. In 1941 she sang in several Soundies, three-minute musicals produced for "movie jukeboxes."
Storm acted and sang in Monogram Pictures' popular Frankie Darro series, and played ingénue roles in other Monogram features with the East Side Kids, Edgar Kennedy and The Three Stooges, most notably in the film Swing Parade of 1946. Monogram had always relied on established actors with reputations, but in Gale Storm the studio finally had a star of its own. She played the lead in the studio's most elaborate productions, both musical and dramatic. She shared top billing in Monogram's Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943), opposite Edgar Kennedy, Richard Cromwell, and Frank Graham in the role of Jones, a character derived from network radio.
American audiences warmed to Storm and her fan mail increased. She performed in more than three dozen motion pictures for Monogram, experience which made possible her success in other media. She became an American icon of the 1950s, starring in two highly successful television series. It was also in this decade that her singing career took shape. She appeared on such variety programs as ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
n 1950, Storm made her TV debut in Hollywood Premiere Theatre on ABC. From 1952 to 1955, she starred in My Little Margie. The show, which co-starred former silent film actor Charles Farrell as her father, was originally a summer replacement for I Love Lucy on CBS, but ran for 126 episodes on NBC and CBS. The series was broadcast on CBS Radio from December 1952 to August 1955 with the same actors.
Storm's popularity was capitalized on when she served as hostess of the NBC Comedy Hour in the winter of 1956. That year she starred in another situation comedy, The Gale Storm Show (aka Oh! Susanna), featuring another silent movie star, ZaSu Pitts. The Gale Storm show ran for 143 episodes between 1956 and 1960. Storm appeared regularly on other television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. She was both a panelist and a "mystery guest" on What's My Line?
Storm was married and widowed twice. In 1941, she married Lee Bonnell (1918–1986), then an actor and later a businessman. They had four children: Peter, Phillip, Paul and Susanna. She married the second time in 1988 to Paul Masterson (1917–1996).
In her later years she struggled with alcoholism, in her own words:
During the 1970s I experienced a terribly low and painful time of dealing with alcoholism. I had Lee's unfailing support through the entire ordeal. My treatment and recovery were more than rugged. At that time, there was such a stigma attached to alcoholism, particularly for women, that it could be hazardous to your reputation and career. I thank God daily that I have been fully recovered for more than 20 years. During my struggle, I had no idea of the blessing my experience could turn out to be! I've had the opportunity to share with others suffering with alcoholism the knowledge that there is help, hope, and an alcohol free life awaiting them.
Storm was a great believer in the benevolence of God and was very much a Christian and later became an active member of the South Shores Church. She once said of this:
Life has been good and I thank God for His many blessings and the happy life He has given to me.
Storm made occasional television appearances in later years, such as Love Boat, Burke's Law, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1981, she published her autobiography, I Ain't Down Yet, which described her battle with alcoholism. She was also interviewed by author David C. Tucker for The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms, published in 2007 by McFarland and Company.
Storm continued to make personal appearances and autographed photos at fan conventions, along with Charles Farrell from the My Little Margie series. She also attended events such as the Memphis Film Festival, the Friends of Old-Time Radio and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention.
Storm lived alone in Monarch Beach, California, near two of her sons and their families, until failing health forced her into a convalescent home, near San Francisco in Danville, California. She died there on June 27, 2009.
Storm has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to recording, radio, and television.
Dark Moon
Gale Storm Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dark moon (dark moon), a way up high up in the sky
Oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why
You've lost your splendor (oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why)
Dark moon (dark moon), what is the cause your light withdraws?
Is it because, is it because I've lost my love? (Dark moon, dark moon)
Mortals have dreams of love's perfect schemes
But they don't realize that love will sometimes bring a
Dark moon (dark moon), a way up high up in the sky
Oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why
You've lost your splendor (oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why)
Dark moon (dark moon), what is the cause your light withdraws?
Is it because, is it because I've lost my love?
Mortals have dreams of love's perfect schemes
But they don't realize that love will sometimes bring a
Dark moon (dark moon), a way up high up in the sky
Oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why
You've lost your splendor (oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why)
Dark moon (dark moon), what is the cause your light withdraws?
Is it because, is it because I've lost my love? (Dark moon, lost love)
The song "Dark Moon" by Gale Storm is a hauntingly beautiful and melancholic ballad that speaks of the pain and despair of losing love. The lyrics refer to the appearance of a dark moon, which symbolizes the loss of light and beauty in the world, much like the way the singer has lost her love. Through her heartfelt plea to the moon, the singer questions the cause of its withdrawal of light and wonders if it too has suffered a similar fate.
The song is particularly poignant because it shows how love, which is often associated with light and warmth, can also bring darkness and pain. It suggests that while love is a beautiful and powerful emotion, it can also be unpredictable and fickle, much like the changing phases of the moon. The reference to "mortals" in the second verse reinforces this idea, suggesting that even as humans we are powerless in the face of love's ups and downs.
In conclusion, "Dark Moon" is a powerful and evocative song that speaks of the human condition of loss and despair. It uses the metaphor of the moon to explore the themes of love and light, and how they can both come and go, leaving us feeling lost in the dark.
Line by Line Meaning
Dark moon, dark moon
The singer is addressing the dark moon, asking it questions about why it has lost its splendor.
Dark moon (dark moon), a way up high up in the sky
Describing the moon's location, somewhere up high in the sky, unreachable to the singer.
Oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why
A plea, requesting the moon to reveal the reason behind its diminished brightness.
You've lost your splendor (oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why)
The singer acknowledges the moon's lost brightness and continues to ask for an explanation.
Dark moon (dark moon), what is the cause your light withdraws?
Similar to the beginning of the song, the singer enquires about the reason behind the moon's fading light.
Is it because, is it because I've lost my love?
The singer starts to wonder if the reason behind the moon's darkness is the loss of her love.
Mortals have dreams of love's perfect schemes
People often idealize love and expect it to be perfect and fitting into their own preconceived notions.
But they don't realize that love will sometimes bring a
Despite those ideals, love does not always work out and can bring pain and darkness, similar to the moon.
Dark moon (dark moon), a way up high up in the sky
Repeating the initial description of the moon's location.
Oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why
Repeating the plea for an explanation of the moon's dimness.
You've lost your splendor (oh, tell me why, oh, tell me why)
Repeating acknowledgement of the moon's loss of brightness and continuing the request for insight.
Dark moon (dark moon), what is the cause your light withdraws?
Repeating the question about the reason for the fading light of the moon.
Is it because, is it because I've lost my love? (Dark moon, lost love)
Repeating the internal questioning of whether the singer's lost love is linked to the moon's current state.
Lyrics © JAMIE MUSIC PUBLISHING CO, Kanjian Music
Written by: Ned Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind