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Gail Gilmore (aka Gerber), RIP

gerber Salisbury, Conn.–Gail Gerber, a perky blond actress who starred opposite Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys and Edd “Kookie” Byrnes in several fun films of the 1960s, died here Saturday of complications from lung cancer. MSTies will remember her (using the stage name Gail Gilmore) as Elsa in the movie in episode 523- VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS. She was 76.

Read the full obit here.

5 Replies to “Gail Gilmore (aka Gerber), RIP”

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  1. RIP, Gail. She was one gorgeous woman. Will have to watch VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS again.

       1 likes

  2. Michael Howe says:

    I see I’ve grown lazy in my old age, as someone beat me to the punch on reporting this. As the Webmaster of the Unofficial Fanpage for Village of the Giants..ok, I’ll stop being a blow-hard.

    Village of the Giants is one of those guilty pleasures that warped my brain years and years ago. I think it was that first shot of Gail’s character Elsa, beginning to grow and bursting her bra that left the most major impression on my 8-10 year-old mind. In fact, it’d take me about 5 more years before I’d even see the full film (I won’t go into the details of my intrepid quest to view it all during those years), and it was MST3K that did it. However, the final product was not as epic as I had envisioned.

    The film haunted me for years, before I finally decided to crack open my brain and drizzle the info onto it’s own website. As well, in tribute to Gail, I gave her her own unofficial fan gallery on the site.

    I had found out that Tom Lisanti had interviewed her in the book “Drive-In Dream Girls,” and when I contacted Tom about Gail, was told she was living in the same city I was…but was in the process of moving to New York.

    5 years later, I got the chance to meet her and Tom for lunch, though I kept in check my emotional crush I had on her, though I do wonder if my fan gallery was a dead giveaway. At the time, she had just won an award for her book “Trippin with Terry Southern: What I Think I Remember,” and she graciously signed my copy (I still remember her remarking that she felt her signature looked ‘too girly’), and got a few pics with her and Tom.

    Gail was the only main cast member I ever met, and I still think she had a cute girl-next-door quality about her in several of her different roles. It was interesting how she always played younger than she was (she was 27 at the time she played Elsa in “Village of the Giants”), but she could pull it off well (even better than the old folks in “Ring of Terror”).

    The picture with this article to me, is just perfect. She definitely looked like she could have done more roles with that face of hers.

    Farewell Gail, definitely a “Drive-In Dream Girl.”

       8 likes

  3. Frank Conniff says:

    Terry Southern was of course a huge influence on the comedic sensibility of MST3K, and Ms. Gilmore’s book, “Trippin’ with Terry Southern,” is a great read. Rest In Peace.

       9 likes

  4. JCC says:

    Rest In Peace. It’s a small moment, but I really like it when she hears the music from The Whisky (“What does she have bionic hearing?”) and exclaims “That’s a Go-Go! Let’s get over there.” Punctuated with an assured head nod and a sweeping exit. Kinda badass…

       1 likes

  5. 1 adam 12 says:

    “Opie shoots, he scores!” RIP Gail (Gilmore) Gerber, you were enjoyed.

       1 likes

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