Gale Garnett is an actress, singer, songwriter, newspaper columnist, book reviewer, and novelist. She is quite popular for her hit song “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine” which won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Folk Recording’ amongst other awards and was number 1 on Billboard’s ‘Adult Contemporary’ singles chart for almost 2 months straight. The song sold millions of copies and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame in 2015.
Gale Garnet is known for her many talents across America and Europe as she has toured a lot of countries and has made a huge name for herself through her individual and collective artistic prowess. She is indeed one of the most celebrated talents in the ’60s and her works still speak volumes for her to date.
Biography Of Gale Garnett
Gale Zoe Garnett was born in Auckland, New Zealand on the 17th of July 1942. Wonder, why an Auckland born, is referred to as a Canadian singer, right? Well, at the age of 11, her family moved to Canada and that is basically where the better part of her story began. Gale Garnett is very famous in the United States of America for her numerous exploits.
Her dad was a carnival worker at the time and before they moved to Canada, they moved to and stayed in the United Kingdom where she spent her childhood.
On moving to New York with two of her older friends in search of greener pastures in the big city, she attended the ‘High School of Performing Arts’ and was featured on both Broadway and off-broadway shows.
By the early 1960s, she had become a big shot in New York and changed her name from ‘Galina’ which sounded Russian to ‘Gale’ which we all call her now.
Where Is Gale Garnett Now?
At the age of 50, she wished she could play the role of a successful lady author in a movie. considering her numerous exploits, she certainly fits the bill and could deliver the role perfectly well.
The Canadian singer who is presently 82 year old is still very much alive and well. Upon retiring from music in the 1980s, she focused on her acting and was starred in movies such as ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ which was released in 2002 and was quite a huge hit. She played supporting roles on TV shows and in recent times, ventured more into writing of all sorts. She has also written and performed two ‘one-person’ theatre plays which are titled ‘Gale Garnett’ and ‘Company and Life After Latex’.
Here Are 7 Facts About Gale Garnett You Should Know
1. She Was Orphaned At The Age Of 15
Gale Garnett had quite a crazy upbringing. She was basically a girl who had to deal with life and the lemons it kept throwing at her from a very early age. Her dad died of a heart attack when he was just 38years old, an older brother was killed in an accident, and her mother who was a secret alcoholic choked to death. Her mum was suffering from chronic asthma attacks and the drinking problem did not help so, during the period Gale was out of the country, she choked to death leaving Gale both fatherless and motherless at the tender age of 15.
2. Gale Garnett Started Her Acting Career Before She Turned 10
Gale Garnett loved to act and as a result, started acting at the age of 8. She was in England then and would audition for and get roles where she featured in both amateur and professional shows. Although her parents felt she was too young for show-biz and would prevent her from going for auditions and taking roles, she wasn’t deterred and she was always such a delight to watch.
3. Gale Garnet Toured Across Many Countries
Gale spent 5 years working in Europe and Los Angeles. She was featured on a lot of episodic television shows and recorded voiceovers for shows too. It was at this point in her life she realized that she could do more with her voice and it gave birth to her next big blow.
4. Beginning Of A Singing Career
Gale’s singing career started during her five-year working tour around Europe and L.A. She was discovered at a nightclub and after this discovery, was signed to a record label where she recorded a lot of beautiful songs and gave fans the world over, a taste of her beautiful, melodious voice.
Although she doesn’t like to bask in the glory of her music career as she believes it was in the way of her acting, we cannot appreciate this distraction as it gave to the world her hit song “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine”, another minor hit and 8 great albums. Her singing career also earns her royalties which she enjoys to date.
5. The Birth Of ‘Zoe’
Her added name ‘Zoe’ was adopted by her after it was given to her by the late Andreas Papandreou who was the Prime Minister of Greece. The name means ‘Life’ in Greek, and it was given to her at the time the Prime Minister was battling with Meningitis.
Gale adopted the name and the Prime Minister as her family. This is why she is mostly referred to in recent times as ‘Gale Zoe Garnett’.
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6. Gale Garnett Is A Supporter Of Gay And The AID’s Related Causes
She has been a great supporter of equal rights especially when it comes to LGBTQ causes. She was groomed and guided by gays while growing up and therefore she sees the community as her family.
She also supports AID’s related causes and dedicated her novel to a compatriot; Jay Scott who died in 1993 from AID’s related issues.
7. Gale Garnett Never Got Married
Gale Garnet never got married. She admitted that she was loved by many men and even got three marriage proposals but she never took it to the altar. She felt and believed that men only wanted her as their ‘other woman’ and although she never had a relationship with the husband of a woman she knew, she was only always wanted as a mistress.
