Gail Davis
Music
| | Hot Springs Arkansas Walk of Fame | |
First woman to star in her own TV Western series, Annie Oakley, TV show created by Gene Autry ran from 1953-56 Made 32 movies for MGM, RKO, starring with Autry, Roy Rogers, Rocky Lane, Monty Hale, Jimmy Wakely, Tim Holt and Johnny Mack Brown
Little Rock, Arkansas Inducted 2002
Erected by Hot Springs Arkansas Walk of Fame.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1953.
Location. 34° 30.633′ N, 93° 3.231′ W. Marker is in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in Garland County. It is at the intersection of Central Avenue (State Highway 7) and Spring Street, on the right when traveling north on Central Avenue. The marker is embedded in the sidewalk in front of the Hot Springs City Visitor Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 629 Central Avenue, Hot Springs National Park AR 71901, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rex Humbard (here, next to this marker); Sergeant Major Alford L. McMichael (here, next to this marker); Twila Paris (here, next to this marker); Frank Broyles (here, next to this marker); Point of Grace
this page online
Also see . . . Gail Davis (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: Gail Davis (born Betty Jeanne Grayson; October 5, 1925 March 15, 1997) was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s television series. The daughter of a small-town physician, Davis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. After graduating from Little Rock High School, she studied at the Harcum Junior College for Girls in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and then completed her education at the University of Texas at Austin.(Submitted on January 13, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Betty Jeanne and her husband, Bob Davis, moved to Hollywood to pursue a film career. She told an interviewer how she acquired her professional acting name. "I went under contract to MGM around 1946. They told me 'we can't have a Betty Davis, because of Bette Davis, and we can't have a Betty Grayson because of Kathryn Grayson' Then a guy in the casting department said 'how about Gail Davis?' So that's
where it came from."Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 13, 20242. Gail Davis MarkerLooking east from Central Avenue; it is the center one of five markers in this photo. The Hot Springs City Visitor Center is in the background.Gail Davis was the answer to a long-held dream of Autry's providing Western programming with a star to whom girls could relate. He said: "Little boys have had their idols... from the beginning of the picture business... Why not give the girls a Western star of their own?" Davis became that star, but on television rather than in movies, as Autry originally envisioned. An adroit horseback rider, Davis also toured North America in Gene Autry's traveling rodeo.
For her contribution to the television industry, Gail Davis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2004, she was inducted posthumously into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 12, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 160 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 13, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
