# 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.

## Filmography

Gladys Gale filmography :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1931 | Smart Woman | Mrs. Preston - Peggy's Mother | RKO Pictures |
| 1932 | The Music Box | Mrs. von Schwarzenhoffen (uncredited) | MGM Laurel and Hardy short film comedy |
| 1934 | Broadway Bill | Head nurse | Columbia Pictures |
| 1934 | Desirable | large woman | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 1934 | Wake Up and Dream | Prima donna | Universal Pictures |
| 1934 | The Party's Over | Patron in Art Gallery (uncredited) | Columbia Pictures |
| 1934 | Among the Missing | Mrs. Randall | Columbia Pictures |
| 1934 | Fugitive Lady | Miss Smith | Columbia Pictures |
| 1934 | Men of the Night | Mrs. Everett | Columbia Pictures |
| 1934 | The Captain Hates the Sea | Passenger's wife | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | Circus Shadows | | Peerless Pictures Studios |
| 1935 | A Feather in Her Hat | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | Love Me Forever | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | She Couldn't Take It | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | Carnival | Baby judge | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | Men of the Hour | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1935 | She Married Her Boss | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1936 | Klondike Annie | Dance hall girl | Paramount Pictures Screenplay by Mae West who also starred |
| 1936 | Navy Born | | Republic Pictures |
| 1936 | Pride of the Marines | Woman manager | Columbia Pictures |
| 1936 | Dancing Feet | Mrs. Blane | Republic Pictures |
| 1936 | Counterfeit | Tourist | Columbia Pictures |
| 1937 | 45 Fathers | | 20th Century Fox |
| 1937 | The Devil Is Driving | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1937 | I Promise to Pay | Receptionist | Columbia Pictures |
| 1937 | Find the Witness | Mrs. Rice | Columbia Pictures |
| 1938 | Up the River | Bingo player | 20th Century Fox |
| 1939 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Committee Woman | Columbia Pictures |
| 1942 | Joan of Ozark | Mrs. Fadden | Republic Pictures |
| 1942 | Lady for a Night | Mother | Republic Pictures |
| 1943 | So's Your Uncle | Elastic woman | Universal Pictures |
| 1945 | An Angel Comes to Brooklyn | Sarah Gibbons | Republic Pictures |
| 1945 | Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe | Unknown | 20th Century Fox |
| 1945 | Our Hearts Were Growing Up | Mrs. Appley | Paramount Pictures |

## Stage

Broadway credits of Gladys Benjamin (Gale) :
| Date | Title | Role |
| Oct 02, 1912 - Oct 19, 1912 | The Charity Girl | Madame Bowwowski |
| Dec 30, 1912 - Apr 05, 1913 | All for the Ladies | Chorus |
| Mar 30, 1914 - May 09, 1914 | The Belle of Bond Street | Hilda |
| Feb 17, 1916 - Jun 10, 1916 | Robinson Crusoe, Jr. | Chorus |