- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBetty Jeanne Grayson
- Nickname
- Bootsie
- Height1.57 m
- Hailed by Gene Autry as the 'perfect western actress', diminutive, pig-tailed Betty Jeanne Grayson had all the genre's prerequisite attributes. The daughter of a prominent Arkansas physician (who went on to became State Health Officer), she had been trained in drama and dance at the University of Texas. More pertinently, she was of an athletic disposition, a keen swimmer, golfer and tennis player. She was also an ace rider (to the extent of performing in rodeos), as well as an expert trick shot. Her arrival in Hollywood happened some time in 1946. Thereafter, sources vary as to how she got into movies. One account has her being spotted by an MGM talent scout while working as a hat check girl, while another asserts that she had previously met Autry while performing amateur dramatics at a camp show for the Army Air Force. The story further goes, that Autry (who was serving in the military at the time) was so impressed with her, that he told her to look him up later at Columbia studios.
Gail's looks, feisty personality and tomboyish aptitudes soon got her cast in outdoorsy films. She went on to co-star opposite Autry (who prompted her change of name to 'Gail Davis') in fifteen of his films, as well as appearing at least a dozen times as different characters on his TV show. Gail tended to do all of her own stunts. She became sufficiently popular for Autry to produce Annie Oakley (1954) (through his Flying A Productions), starring Gail as the gun-toting titular heroine, invariably disarming (rather than killing) assorted screen villains with her Single Action Army Colt. Gail thus achieved an additional measure of prominence by becoming the first female to command the nominal lead in a western TV series. For this, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis
- SpousesCarl Edward Guerriero(June 19, 1971 - May 20, 1982) (his death)Richard Harold Peirce(June 25, 1959 - November 1967) (divorced)Bob Davis(1944 - 1952) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenTerrie Davis
- According to Holly George-Warren's book, "Public Cowboy No. 1", Davis had an affair with Gene Autry, who discovered her and put her in many of his westerns and produced her starring series Annie Oakley (1954). The affair lasted for many years.
- Her daughter Terrie Davis was born in 1952.
- On October 28, 2004, she was Inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
- Profiled in the book "Johnny Mack Brown's Saddle Gals" by Bobby Copeland.
- She was awarded a Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960 at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- [1982] Annie Oakley had to deal with the same ruthless characters - rustlers and killers - that the cowboys dealt with. And she did it without ever killing one of them.
- [on Stanley Andrews] I loved him almost as much as my father. My dad passed away quite some time before I met Stanley. He was so wonderful to me all the time we worked together. He wasn't my real father, but it felt like that.
- [on Johnny Mack Brown] He was a gentleman. The sweetest man. He loved people, he loved animals, and the crew just adored him. I'm sorry I only got to make two films with him (Six Gun Mesa (1950) and West of Wyoming (1950)).
- [on shooting Annie Oakley (1954)] I was up at four o'clock every morning to braid my pigtails, have breakfast, and head for the ranch. We worked from sun up to sundown. We worked in Pioneertown (a western town location near Palm Springs) and there was a big tall mountain out there called Panic Peak, and we could get the last shot of the day on the top of that mountain at about 8:30 at night. By the time we took the bus back into town it was 9:30, get a bite to eat, go to bed and get back up at four o'clock the next morning. When we first started, we were doing three shows a week; working seven days a week when we were on location.
- [on Smiley Burnette] I loved Smiley. He's a legend. It's wonderful, the laughs he brought all the people where he toured. Not only that, he did so many kind things for people when he went on the road. And cook? Good heavens, could that man cook! He used to have his trailer and we'd be doing one-night stands and Smiley'd say, "Come on in, Gail. Let's get some flapjacks and molasses", or he'd fix fried chicken for dinner. He was really down home.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content