London's 35-year acting career began in films in 1944 and included playing opposite Gary Cooper in Man of the West (1958) and Robert Mitchum in The Wonderful Country (1959). She achieved continuing success in the TV medical drama Emergency! (1972–1979), co-starring her real-life husband, Bobby Troup, and produced by her ex-husband, Jack Webb, in which London played the female lead role of nurse Dixie McCall. She and Randolph Mantooth, who played one-half of her medical students, a paramedic, in the series, were very close to her family, until her death in 2000.
Born in Santa Rosa, California, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was fourteen the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional High School in 1945.
London began singing under the name Gayle Peck in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor Alan Ladd), while working as an elevator operator. Her early film career, however, did not include any singing roles.
London recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Billboard named her 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 debut recordings were for the Bethlehem Records label. While shopping for a record deal, she recorded four tracks that would later be included on the compilation album Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955. Bobby Troup backed London on the album, for which London recorded the standards "Don't Worry About Me", "Motherless Child", "A Foggy Day", and "You're Blasé".
London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on reissue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson cover. London performed the song in the film The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006). The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO television series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. London's "Must Be Catchin'" was featured in the 2011 premiere episode of the ABC series Pan Am. Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine (1981).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy", "Daddy", and "Desafinado". Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and playfully sensual.
She was married to Jack Webb, of Dragnet fame. Her obvious beauty and self-poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from his and her love for jazz; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953. They had two daughters, one who was killed in a traffic accident in the 1990s and one who survived London. 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 Troup's death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.
London 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. She died on18th October 2000, and was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Love Letters
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Keep us so near while we're apart
I'm not alone in the night
When I can have all the love you write
I memorize every line
I kiss the name that you sign
And darling, then I read again
Right from the start
Love letters straight from your heart
I memorize every line
I kiss the name that you sign
And darling, then I read again
Right from the start
Love letters straight from your heart
The song Love Letters by Julie London is a ballad about the power of love letters from a distant lover. The lyrics convey the idea of keeping love alive through written communication that can be revisited time and time again. The line "Love letters straight from your heart" emphasizes the sincerity and authenticity of the letters, which bring comfort to the singer while she is apart from her beloved. She finds solace in the letters, which allow her to feel not alone in the night.
The act of reading and re-reading the letters is portrayed as a romantic gesture. The singer memorizes every line and kisses the name her lover signs. This suggests that the letters are not only words on a page, but also symbols of the love shared between the two. By revisiting the letters, the singer is able to relive the emotions that they contain and keep her love for her partner strong.
Overall, Love Letters by Julie London is a poignant reminder of the power of written communication and the enduring nature of love. The song highlights the timeless quality of love letters and the comfort they can bring to those separated by distance.
Line by Line Meaning
Love letters straight from your heart
Letters containing love, originating straight from your heart
Keep us so near while we're apart
The letters make us feel close even when we are physically separated
I'm not alone in the night
The writer does not feel lonely in the nighttime
When I can have all the love you write
Receiving the letters is as if the writer has received all the love that the sender has poured into writing them
I memorize every line
The writer remembers each and every word written in the letters
I kiss the name that you sign
The writer feels so deeply for the sender that they even kiss the signature at the end of each letter
And darling, then I read again
The writer reads the letters again and again
Right from the start
From the very beginning of the letters
Love letters straight from your heart
Letters containing love, originating straight from your heart
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Victor Young, Edward Heyman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-ym8re5rt1e
(Ukrainian version):
До мене йдуть твої листи,
Хоча далеко дуже ти.
Ти мого серця не залишиш,
Коли у них так про кохання пишеш.
Усі рядки в них знаю я
Й цілую в них твоє ім'я.
І перечитую їх знов - вони, мабуть,
Прямо із серця твого йдуть.
(інтерлюдія)
І перечитую їх знов - вони, мабуть,
Прямо із серця твого йдуть.
@carole2482
❤ I have a special friend in a long distance relationship who wakes me every morning with a love song.He outdid himself today though by sending me this beautiful rendition of LOVE LETTERS. THANK YOU. MIGUEL .BEL'LA 💞
CARAMIA. 🌹
@squeals08
My late Queen Mom's favorite song...❤😢❤
@estermaynes8827
My dad introduced me to a lot of jazz artists & crooners, but for some reason, among the female jazz artists back then, only Julie London caught my fancy - my favourite by leaps & bounds.
@campbellbrand2084
What a voice, sultry, sexy and classy all at the same time
@nicolapedrinelli4670
Masterpiece....
@user-kx8dn3gt2m
The best version of this tune
@neiborne8522
DIVINA, SEMPRE!
@paulviardot4400
Belle version Mme London !
@jy5816
❤❤❤ my best song!
@paulviardot4400
Bravo à Mr Victor Young , le compositeur !