Gail Davis

Gail Davis (born October 5, 1925; died March 15, 1997) was an American actress.

Related Topics:
October 5 - 1925 - March 15 - 1997 - American

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The daughter of a small town medical doctor, she was born Betty Jeanne Grayson in a hospital at Little Rock, Arkansas. Her family lived in McGehee, Arkansas where she was raised until they moved to Little Rock. She had been singing and dancing since childhood and after graduating from high scool in Little Rock, she went to study drama at girl's college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania before completing her education at the University of Texas in Austin. While at university she met and married Bob Davis with whom she had a daughter.

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Little Rock, Arkansas - McGehee, Arkansas - Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania - University of Texas - Austin

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She and her husband moved to Hollywood, California to pursue a career in motion pictures and in 1947, as "Gail Davis," she made her motion picture debut in a comedy film short. She then appeared in minor roles in another four films until landing a supporting role under star Roy Rogers in a 1948 Western film called The Far Frontier. Between then and 1953, Davis appeared in more than three dozen films, of which all but three were in the Western genre and that included fourteen films with the singing cowboy star, Gene Autry. In 1950, she began to guest star in television Westerns, notably in the "Lone Ranger" and "Cisco Kid" series plus more than a dozen appearances on the "Gene Autry Show".

Related Topics:
Hollywood, California - Film short - Roy Rogers - Western film - The Far Frontier - Gene Autry - Television - Lone Ranger - Cisco Kid - Gene Autry Show

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Between 1954 and 1956, Gail Davis starred as the Western sharpshooter, Annie Oakley in the Annie Oakley television series on the ABC network. An adroit horseback rider, Davis also toured North America in Gene Autry's travelling rodeo. After her retirement from the entertainment business, she made guest appearances at western memorabilia shows and film festivals.

Related Topics:
Annie Oakley - Annie Oakley television series - ABC - North America - Film festival

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Gail Davis passed away from cancer in 1997 in Los Angeles, California and was interred there in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles, California - Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery

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For her contribution to the television iductry, Gail Davis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Blvd. In 2004, she was posthumously inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

Related Topics:
Hollywood Walk of Fame - Fort Worth, Texas

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