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.
This Can't Be Love
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Because I feel so well
No sobs no sorrows no sighs
This can't be love
I get no dizzy spells
My head is not in the sky
My heart does not stand still
Just hear it beat
This is too sweet to be love
This can't be love
Because I feel so well
And yet I love to look in your eyes
My heart cannot stand still
Just hear it beat
This is just too sweet
To be love
This can't be love
Because I feel so well
But still I love to look in your eyes
I love to look in your eyes
Julie London's song "This Can't Be Love" is a playful and lighthearted tune that showcases the singer's vocal talents. The lyrics suggest that the intensity of the singer's feelings can't be attributed to love because she feels so well and doesn't suffer from the typical symptoms of lovesickness. The singer emphasizes this idea throughout the song by stating that she experiences no "sobs, sorrows, or sighs" and doesn't get "dizzy spells." She also notes that she feels grounded and that her heart beats steadily, in contrast to the commonly held notion that love makes your heart race and your head spin. Despite these contradictions, the singer still feels a strong affection for the person she is singing to, as evidenced by the fact that she loves to look in their eyes.
Overall, the song's lyrics suggest an alternative perspective on love, one that doesn't rely on the usual tropes of heartbreak and confusion. Instead, the singer suggests that love can feel stable and comforting, even if it isn't what we expect it to be. By emphasizing the contradiction between her feelings and the usual symptoms of love, the singer suggests that true love may not look or feel the way we assume it will, but can still be a powerful force in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
This can't be love
The singer questions whether what she is feeling is truly love
Because I feel so well
She feels happy and content, which does not align with what she believes love should feel like
No sobs no sorrows no sighs
There are no negative emotions associated with her feelings, which seems inconsistent with love
I get no dizzy spells
She is not overwhelmed or confused by her emotions, which is not what she expects from love
My head is not in the sky
Her feelings are not disconnected from reality or grounded in fantasy, another sign that this might not be love
My heart does not stand still
She is not overcome with intense, all-consuming emotions, again defying expectations for love
Just hear it beat
Her heart beats steadily and calmly, rather than racing with passion
This is too sweet to be love
She recognizes that her feelings are positive and pleasant but does not believe they constitute true love
And yet I love to look in your eyes
Despite her confusion about her feelings, she admits to feeling affection for the other person and enjoys being with them
Writer(s): Rodgers Richard, Hart Lorenz
Contributed by Declan W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.