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.
Willow Weep for Me
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bent your branches down along the
Ground and cover me listen to my plea
Hear me willow and weep for me
Gone my lovely dreams lovely summer dreams
Gone and left me here
To wheep my tears along the stream
Sad as I can be
Whisper to the wind and say
Thay love has sinned
To leave my heart a sign and crying alone
Murmur to the night hide her starry light
So none will find me sighing
Crying all alone wheeping willow tree
Wheeping sympathy
Bent your branches down along the
Ground and cover me listen to me plee
Hear me willow and weep for me willow
Willow wheep for me
The lyrics to Julie London's song "Willow Weep for Me" invoke a sense of sadness and longing. The willow tree is personified as a listener and a source of comfort. The singer calls upon the willow to bend its branches down and cover her, as if seeking solace and protection. She pleads for the willow to hear her and weep for her, as her dreams have vanished and left her alone to cry.
The imagery of the willow weeping and the singer's tears along the stream symbolize the depth of her sorrow. She feels abandoned and heartbroken, as love has betrayed her. She appeals to the willow to whisper her pain to the wind, implying a need for her emotions to be acknowledged and understood. She asks the night to hide its starry light, as she wants to remain hidden while she mourns. The repetition of "weeping willow" and "weep for me" emphasizes the intensity of the singer's despair and the desire to be heard and comforted.
Overall, the lyrics of "Willow Weep for Me" convey a poignant sense of loss and emotional vulnerability. The willow tree serves as a symbol of empathy and solace in the face of heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
Willow weep for me willow weep for me
Oh willow tree, shed tears for me, shed tears for me
Bent your branches down along the Ground and cover me listen to my plea
Lower your branches, touch the ground, shelter me and listen to my desperate plea
Hear me willow and weep for me
Listen to my sorrowful words, willow, and shed tears for me
Gone my lovely dreams lovely summer dreams
My beautiful dreams, my joyful dreams of summer, have vanished
Gone and left me here
They have departed, abandoning me in this place
To wheep my tears along the stream
Now I am left to cry my tears beside the flowing stream
Sad as I can be
I am as sad as I can possibly be
Whisper to the wind and say
Speak softly to the wind and express
Thay love has sinned
That love has committed a wrongdoing
To leave my heart a sign and crying alone
By abandoning me, causing my heart to ache and weep in solitude
Murmur to the night hide her starry light
Speak softly to the night, conceal its shimmering starlight
So none will find me sighing
So no one will discover me sighing in despair
Crying all alone wheeping willow tree
Weeping alone under the willow tree
Wheeping sympathy
A tree that weeps with empathy
Bent your branches down along the Ground and cover me listen to me plee
Lower your branches, touch the ground, and shield me as you listen to my plea
Hear me willow and weep for me willow
Listen to me, willow, and shed tears for me, willow
Willow wheep for me
Willow tree, shed tears for me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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