Career
Gaal starred in a popular series of European romantic comedies during the 1930s. After attracting interest in she moved there and made three films. Born Franciska Silberspitz in Budapest, she was groomed by Joe Pasternak as a singer to become a very popular stage and cabaret performer in Central Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.
She made her first film appearances in some Hungarian silent films of the early 1920s, but her cinema career didn"t take off until the arrival of sound.
After appearing in several films made in Hungary, Germany and Austria - two of which were directed by Henry Koster - she came to to star in Cecil B. De Mille"s epic adventure film, The Buccaneer, opposite Fredric March. She followed this with the comedy with Franchot Tone, a remake of her Austrian success Catherine the Last.
In 1939 Gaal co-starred with Bing Crosby in the musical Paris Honeymoon. She returned to Budapest because of her mother"s illness and remained there for the duration of World World War World War II In 1946, she began work on a new film in Budapest the Soviet-backed Renee XIV but filming was halted during production and it was never completed.
She moved back to the United States in 1947, but her return attracted little interest in In 1951, she came to Broadway to replace Eva Gabor in The Happy Time.
She died in New York City.