Gladys Gale

Gladys Gale (January 15, 1891 – October 4, 1948) was an American nightclub singer and vaudeville performer, before becoming a character actress in films during the 1930s and 1940s. The wife of a millionaire, she led a checkered life before dying under mysterious circumstances in a Los Angeles hotel room under an assumed name.

Life and early career Born Gladys Lanphere on January 15, 1891, in Monmouth, Illinois, she married millionaire Park Benjamin. During the Prohibition Era she became a nightclub performer in a speakeasy in New York City, also appearing on the vaudeville stage in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Film career and death Gale went to Hollywood in 1931, where she made her film debut in RKO's Smart Woman in a small role. She used the stage name of Gladys Gale, instead of her married name, Gladys Benjamin. Over her fifteen-year film career, she would appear in over 30 feature films, mostly in smaller roles, with the occasional featured part. Some of her more notable films include: the gangster film, She Couldn't Take It (1934), starring George Raft and Joan Bennett; the Mae West 1936 vehicle, Klondike Annie, in which she played a dance hall girl at the age of 45; Frank Capra's 1938 classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Claude Rains; and the 1942 melodrama, Lady for a Night, starring John Wayne and Joan Blondell. Her final screen appearance would be in a small role in Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946), which starred Gail Russell.

On October 3, 1948, Gale checked into a Los Angeles hotel under an assumed name with a man, calling themselves Mr. and Mrs. Statler. In the morning her body was discovered, nude, with the room trashed. No cause for her death was ever established. Gale is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

The Music Box Mrs. von Schwarzenhoffen (uncredited) MGM Laurel and Hardy short film comedy

Broadway Bill Head nurse Columbia Pictures

Desirable large woman Warner Bros. Pictures

Wake Up and Dream Prima donna Universal Pictures

The Party's Over Patron in Art Gallery (uncredited) Columbia Pictures

Among the Missing Mrs. Randall Columbia Pictures

Fugitive Lady Miss Smith Columbia Pictures

Men of the Night Mrs. Everett Columbia Pictures

The Captain Hates the Sea Passenger's wife Columbia Pictures

Circus Shadows Peerless Pictures Studios

A Feather in Her Hat Columbia Pictures

Love Me Forever Columbia Pictures

She Couldn't Take It Columbia Pictures

Carnival Baby judge Columbia Pictures

Men of the Hour Columbia Pictures

She Married Her Boss Columbia Pictures

Klondike Annie Dance hall girl Paramount PicturesScreenplay by Mae West who also starred

Navy Born |Republic Pictures

Pride of the Marines Woman manager Columbia Pictures

Dancing Feet Mrs. Blane Republic Pictures

Counterfeit Tourist Columbia Pictures

45 Fathers 20th Century Fox

The Devil Is Driving Columbia Pictures

I Promise to Pay Receptionist Columbia Pictures

Find the Witness Mrs. Rice Columbia Pictures

Up the River Bingo player 20th Century Fox

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Committee Woman Columbia Pictures

Joan of Ozark Mrs. Fadden Republic Pictures

Lady for a Night Mother Republic Pictures

So's Your Uncle Elastic woman Universal Pictures

An Angel Comes to Brooklyn Sarah Gibbons Republic Pictures

Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe Unknown 20th Century Fox

Our Hearts Were Growing Up Mrs. Appley Paramount Pictures

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