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.
Midnight Sun
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Warmer than the Summer night.
The clouds were like an alabaster palace,
Rising to a snowy height.
Each star its own Aurora Borealis,
Suddenly you held me tight,
I could see the midnight sun.
Or was that a moonlit veil?
The music of the universe around me,
Or was that a nightingale?
And then your arms miraculously found me,
Suddenly the sky turned pale,
I could see the midnight sun.
Was there such a night?
It's still a thrill I don't quite believe;
But after you were gone
There was still some stardust on my sleeve!
The flame of it may dwindle to an ember,
And the stars forget to shine,
And we may see the meadow in December,
Icy white and crystalline.
But oh, my darlin', always I'll remember
When your lips were close to mine,
And I saw the midnight sun.
The flame of it may dwindle to an ember,
And the stars forget to shine,
And we may see the meadow in December,
Icy white and crystalline.
But oh, my darlin', always I'll remember
When your lips were close to mine,
And I saw the midnight sun,
The midnight sun,
The midnight sun,
The midnight sun.
In "Midnight Sun," Julie London describes a magical evening spent with a lover under a sky illuminated by the midnight sun. The first stanza deals with the overwhelming presence of the lover's lips, evocatively described as a "red and ruby chalice" that captures the warmth of the summer evening. The clouds that rise up behind them are transformed into an "alabaster palace," with the stars providing their own aurora borealis. Suddenly, the lover holds London tight, and she beholds the midnight sun in all its glory.
In the second verse, London continues to describe the sensory experiences of the evening. She can't quite explain whether it was a moonlit veil or a silver rain that fell around her as the "music of the universe" (or perhaps a literal nightingale) filled the air. Despite the ephemeral nature of these sensations, they vanish abruptly as the lover's arms wrap around her and the sky turns pale. Despite this brief moment in time, she will remember it always.
This song is a poignant and evocative tribute to the ethereal quality of romance, capturing the way that sensory details can be charged with deeper emotional significance. The lyrics express the heightened awareness that comes with being in love, the sense that the whole world is transformed by the presence of the beloved.
Line by Line Meaning
Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice,
Your lips were an exquisite and valuable vessel, shining ruby red and warm like a summer night.
Warmer than the Summer night.
Your lips were warmer than a summer night.
The clouds were like an alabaster palace,
The clouds were beautifully pure and white, like a palace made of alabaster.
Rising to a snowy height.
The clouds rose high into the sky like tall snow-capped mountains.
Each star its own Aurora Borealis,
Every star in the sky was shining with its own colorful and bright display, like the Northern Lights.
Suddenly you held me tight,
You embraced me tightly and suddenly.
I could see the midnight sun.
In that moment, I could see the sun shining even though it was nighttime.
I can't explain the silver rain that found me,
I cannot describe the strange shower of silver that fell upon me.
Or was that a moonlit veil?
Or perhaps it was a veil of moonlight that enveloped me.
The music of the universe around me,
The sounds of the entire universe seemed to be playing around me.
Or was that a nightingale?
Or maybe it was the sweet singing of a nightingale.
And then your arms miraculously found me,
And then your arms somehow found their way to me as if by a miracle.
Suddenly the sky turned pale,
The sky suddenly became light, as if everything had been drained of color.
I could see the midnight sun.
And in that moment, I could see the midnight sun once again.
Was there such a night?
Was there really a night like that, so magical and unforgettable?
It's still a thrill I don't quite believe;
It's still an exciting memory that I can hardly believe actually happened.
But after you were gone
But even after you left,
There was still some stardust on my sleeve!
I could still feel the magic and wonder of that night, like stardust clinging to my sleeve.
The flame of it may dwindle to an ember,
The excitement and passion of that night may diminish over time,
And the stars forget to shine,
And even the stars might stop shining,
And we may see the meadow in December,
And we may see the meadow covered in snow and ice in the dead of winter,
Icy white and crystalline.
Pure white and sparkling like crystals.
But oh, my darlin', always I'll remember
But my love, I will always remember
When your lips were close to mine,
That moment when your lips were so close to mine,
And I saw the midnight sun.
And I felt like I could see the sun shining at night.
The midnight sun,
The magical phenomenon of the sun shining at night,
The midnight sun,
A reminder of that unforgettable night,
The midnight sun,
A symbol of the passion and wonder that we shared,
The midnight sun.
A memory that will stay with me forever.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Johnny Mercer, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
iglamore
Love her and her recordings.😍
Si2lila
Julie London is FABULOUS !!!Thanks
Jack Deejai
Sexiest voice ever
Robert Smith
Really nice version but the Hampton tune and the Mercer lyrics belong to Ella…all day.
David Cherson
I found it the one singer and orchestra who f-k up this great song. She sings it just like the TV cigarette commercials that she sung (Marlboro I think)