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.
Show Me the Way to Go Home
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed
I had a little drink
About an hour ago
And it's gone straight
To my head
Where ever I may roam
On land or sea or form
Singing a song
Show me the way to your home
Wher ever I may roam
On land or sea or form
Well he can always hear me
Singing a song
Show me a way in your home
I gotta go home
Just point me home
The lyrics to Julie London's song "Show Me the Way to Go Home" are simple and straightforward. The singer, after having a little too much to drink, is tired and wants to go to bed, but needs someone to show her the way home. She proclaims that no matter where she goes, on land or sea, she'll always be singing a song, asking for someone to help her find her way back home. The song is an ode to the struggles of being drunk and disoriented, and how the only remedy is to return to familiar surroundings and find comfort in the safety of home.
The lyrics of this song have the potential to resonate with listeners on a very personal level, as many of us have experienced the disorienting effects of alcohol and the desire to find our way back home. The song is sung in a soft and soothing tone by Julie London, which only serves to enhance the longing and vulnerability expressed in the lyrics. The repeated refrain of "show me the way to go home" becomes almost hypnotic, drawing the listener in and evoking a sense of empathy and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
Show me the way to go
Asking for directions to return home
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed
Expressing exhaustion and desire for rest
I had a little drink
Admitting to consuming alcohol
About an hour ago
Recent time frame of alcohol consumption
And it's gone straight
Acknowledging the drinks effects
To my head
Location of where the alcohol is affecting
Wher ever I may roam
Regardless of where I am
On land or sea or form
No matter the mode of transportation
Well he can always hear me
Others can always hear me
Singing a song
Singing regardless of the circumstances
Show me a way in your home
Asking for assistance in finding a place to stay for the night
I gotta go home
Ready to go back to where you're staying
Just point me home
Asking for a simple direction to get back to where you're staying
Writer(s): Hal Swain Aka Reginald Connelly, Irving King Aka James Campbell
Contributed by Alexis B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.