In 1939, Robbins was a singer in the stage show at the Hotel Sherman's College Inn in Chicago, Illinois. She apparently changed her stage name at that time. An article in the August 6, 1939, issue of the Chicago Tribune reported: "Betty Robbins, Chicago singer who joined ths show recently, holds over for the new program, under the name Gale Robbins. Gale is her middle name."
Robbins "attended the Vera Jones Modeling School and posed for many magazine covers and ads." A 1941 newspaper article described her as "the famous model whose face has appeared on the covers of many leading magazines, and whose eyes and teeth are the trademarks respectively of Murine and Iodent."
Robbins signed a contract with 20th Century Fox late in 1942. She made her film debut in In the Meantime, Darling in 1944. She appeared in several films, such as Calamity Jane and My Dear Secretary, and briefly sang parts of two songs in The Barkleys of Broadway, playing Shirlene May, the potential understudy to Ginger Rogers' character. Robbins sang another song, "All Alone Monday," in another Fred Astaire vehicle, Three Little Words (1950).
Robbins married her high school sweetheart, Robert Olson, November 8, 1943, when he was in the Air Force. The couple remained married until Olson's death in 1968, and had two daughters, Victoria and Cynthia.
Robbins entertained at many military bases with a troupe led by Bob Hope. She later focused on TV, including being a regular on Pantomime Quiz on KTTV in Los Angeles, California, in 1949. She was hostess of Hollywood House from 1949 to 1950. She released the album I'm a Dreamer, backed by Eddie Cano and his orchestra, in 1958. She made three guest appearances on The Bob Cummings Show between 1955-1958. Gale appeared on The Untouchables, in the episode "The Antidote." She also had roles in such popular series as Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip and Mister Ed.
In 1955, Robbins signed a contract with Screen Gems for "a number of Damon Runyon Theater segments." Billboard reported that it was "the first time that the Columbia subsidiary has put a performer under contract for more than a single pic."
In September 1957, Robbins signed with Vik Records and made her first recordings for that label.
Robbins died of lung cancer February 18, 1980, in Tarzana, California, at the age of 58. Survivors were her mother and her daughters. She was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
