Actress. A glamorous blonde considered a bit eccentric, she is probably best remembered for several of the “Beach” films of the mid 1960s. Born Gail Gerber, she was trained as a ballerina from early childhood and in 1952 joined Le Grandes Ballets Canadiennes with whom was a successful dancer over the next years. After posing in a tight sweater as one of three ‘Girls from Canada’ for the November 1963 issue of “Playboy” she broke into screen work; billed variously as Gail Gilmore, Gale Gerber, and Gail Gibson, she made a number of appearances begining with a 1964 episode of “Mr. Novak”. Gail had parts on “My Three Sons”, “Perry Mason”, and “Wagon Train” before her 1965 silver screen bow opposite Elvis Presley in “Girl Happy”. The year 1965 saw her in a total of six movies as she rejoined Elvis as the dancing Gypsy Sapphire in “Harum Sacrum” while also appearing in “The Girls on the Beach”, “Beach Ball”, and “The Loved One, and portraying one of a group of delinquents who threaten a California town in “Village of the Giants”. Gail essentially left Hollywood in 1966 as she became the lifelong companion of writer Terry Southern (1924-1995), though she was seen in pictures a few more times, her credits including Southern’s “The Magic Christian” (1969) and the 1970 “End of the Road”. Gail was a ballet teacher in the Berkshires from 1973 until 1995, remained in Connecticut after Southern’s death, made a final appearance in 2008’s “Lucky Days”, published an award-winning memoir entitled “Trippin’ with Terry Southern: What I Think I Remember” in 2010, and died of lung cancer. At her demise a number of her performances were preserved on DVD. (bio by: Bob Hufford)