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Year Inducted: 2004
Home State: AR
It was the Golden Age of television and westerns were king. But all the westerns had male heroes – Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger – that is until Gail Davis shot her way into town in 1954.
Praised by Gene Autry as “the perfect western actress,” Gail was the star of the popular television series “Annie Oakley.” The show aired through 1957 and was an instant success, earning an Emmy nomination for best western series.
Gail’s Annie Oakley gave girls of that era their first female western heroine. Portraying the most famous sharpshooter of the West, Gail’s ladylike Annie never killed anyone; instead she fought the outlaws by shooting the guns right from their hands! Sporting her trademark pigtail braids, Gail’s Annie outsmarted the rustlers and gunslingers to keep the town safe.
Gail was an accomplished rider, trick shooter and singer, and she reprised her role as Annie Oakley in Gene Autry’s traveling western show, touring the United States and Canada. Gail always took time to visit with some of her younger fans at children’s hospitals and orphanages.Throughout her life Gail won numerous awards, including three Billboard awards for best actress, and was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But her first award came when she was dubbed “Most Beautiful Baby in Arkansas.”
A self-proclaimed tomboy, Gail grew up climbing trees, playing marbles and riding horses. She took singing and dancing lessons, and by age 8 was appearing in many local productions. Gail majored in drama at Harcum Jr. College and later at the University of Texas in Austin. She met and married Lt. Robert M. Davis, and after WWII moved to Hollywood to break into show business.
Gail continued her acting lessons and worked for a short time as a hatcheck girl at the famed Palladium, a Hollywood club that featured many of the era’s big bands. Soon she was discovered by an agent who got her an MGM screen test, and she was immediately under contract. Her first film, “Romance of Rosy Ridge,” starred Van Johnson and Janet Leigh. Not bad company for her Hollywood debut!
She went on to make more than 32 feature films, including 14 as leading lady to Gene Autry. She also starred opposite Roy Rogers, Jimmy Wakely, Monte Hale and Rocky Lane. In addition to her “Annie Oakley” series, Gail appeared on many television shows such as “The Lone Ranger,” “The Cisco Kid,” and “The Andy Griffith Show.” Gail Davis “rode across our television sets in the early 1950s, breaking barriers for women in what was then a brand new medium,” reflects her daughter Terrie. Fans around the world mourned the passing of this beloved cowgirl actress in 1997.
