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Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 - June 27, 2009), better known as Gale Storm, was an American actress and singer, who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show. Storm was born in Bloomington, Texas. Her father, William Walter Cottle, died after a year-long illness when she was just 13 months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to raise her five children alone. Josephine was the youngest, with two brothers and two sisters. A sister gave Storm her middle name of Owaissa, an American Indian word meaning "bluebird."

Storm`s mother Minnie took in sewing, then opened a millinery shop in McDade, Texas which failed, and finally moved the family to Houston. Storm learned to be an accomplished dancer and became an excellent ice skater at Houston`s Polar Palace. At Albert Sydney Johnston Junior High School and San Jacinto High School, she performed in the drama club.

When she was a 17-year-old senior, two of her teachers urged her to enter "The Gateway to Hollywood Contest", held at the CBS Radio Studio in Hollywood, California. The first prize was a one-year contract with a movie studio. She won and was immediately given the stage name "Gale Storm," while her performing partner, Lee Bonnell from South Bend, Indiana, became "Terry Belmont." Storm was born in Bloomington, Texas. Her father, William Walter Cottle, died after a year-long illness when she was just 13 months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to raise her five children alone. Josephine was the youngest, with two brothers and two sisters. A sister gave Storm her middle name of Owaissa, an American Indian word meaning "bluebird."

Storm`s mother Minnie took in sewing, then opened a millinery shop in McDade, Texas which failed, and finally moved the family to Houston. Storm learned to be an accomplished dancer and became an excellent ice skater at Houston`s Polar Palace. At Albert Sydney Johnston Junior High School and San Jacinto High School, she performed in the drama club.

When she was a 17-year-old senior, two of her teachers urged her to enter "The Gateway to Hollywood Contest", held at the CBS Radio Studio in Hollywood, California. The first prize was a one-year contract with a movie studio. She won and was immediately given the stage name "Gale Storm," while her performing partner, Lee Bonnell from South Bend, Indiana, became "Terry Belmont." Storm was married twice; her first marriage was to actor Lee Bonnell with whom she had four children. Bonnell died in 1987. In 1988, Storm married Paul Masterson. Masterson died in 1996. In 1981, Storm published her autobiography, I Ain`t Down Yet, which described her battle with alcoholism. She was also interviewed by author David C. Tucker for The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms, published in 2007 by McFarland and Company. Storm continued to make personal appearances and sign autographed photos with her and Charles Farrell from the My Little Margie program at conventions. She had attended events such as the Memphis Film Festival, the Friends of Old-Time Radio and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. Storm lived alone in Monarch Beach, California, near her two sons and their families, until failing health forced her into a convalescent home in Danville, California. She died there on June 27, 2009 at the age of 87. Gale Storm has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contr

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