Gaal was groomed and promoted in Hungary as a young, child-like singing star of light film romance by producer Joe Pasternak, who later settled in the United States and did the same thing for Deanna Durbin.
One of thirteen children of an aristocratic Hungarian family. Started as a cabaret singer. After her brief career in Hollywood, she returned to Budapest in 1940. As a result of the war, she lost most of her family and estates, returning to America in 1951 to appear on Broadway in 'The Happy Time'.