Lonesome Gal

Music Program (1947-1949)

"Sweetie, no matter what anybody says, I love you more than anybody in the whole world."

Lonesome Gal was created by Jean King. After having a hard time finding a lucrative career in Hollywood, Jean came up with this radio program in Dayton, Ohio. Jean made her first public radio appearance as a Texan on I Love a Mystery in 1943.

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A Dallas native, she was perfect for the part. In Lonesome Gal, she played a lonesome breathy gal who spun romatic music and cooed to all the "lonesome guys" out there, usually referring to her listeners as "muffin" and "baby." Later, she said that this lonesome gal talk was not all an act, "I was damned lonely in Dayton." When making public appearances as the Lonesome Gal, Jean wore a kitten mask, furthering the mystique of her sexy radio persona.

The show had a rocky start until Dragnet director, Bill Rousseau, got behind the project and promoted it to studios. Jean King and Bill Rousseau married during her last year of the show. Their marriage was not publicly revealed until 4 years later.

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Starting with four stations, her listeners grew to over 50 stations across the country. She personalized each show to the local town, requiring sometimes over 300 recordings a week for the tired ylonesome gal. Eventually, lonesome gal was recorded in King's home studio. According to Time magazine, she had a microphone in this studio that could "pick up each wisp of her breath and every sugary nuance of her voice." Behind the kitten mask for years, Jean King did not reveal her identity as the lonesome gal until 1953.