London, in poor health since suffering a stroke five years ago, died of cardiac arrest at 5:30 a.m. in Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles, a hospital spokesperson confirmed.
On Emergency!, London played the head nurse of Los Angeles' fictional Rampart Hospital, who aided the victims brought in by ace paramedics Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and John Gage (Randolph Mantooth). The series, which ran on NBC from 1972 to 1977, was something of a family affair for London. It was produced by her ex-husband, Dragnet star Jack Webb, and it costarred her second hubbie, jazzman-composer-actor Bobby Troup, who played Dr. Joe Early, resident brain surgeon. (Troup died last year of heart failure at 80.)
While she will be remembered for her tube work on the vintage '70s series, London was also a smoky-voiced singing sensation.
She initially made her show-biz mark as a singer on the nightclub circuit. After scoring a hit with "Cry Me a River" in 1955, Troup (who wrote the classic "Route 66") got her booked for several nightclub engagements. She eventually recorded 32 albums and charted with such tunes as "In the Middle of a Kiss" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "Around Mignight" and "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." Billboard voted her one of the top female vocalists of 1955, '56 and '57.
London, who had in her youth appeared in such films as Jungle Woman (1944), The Red House (1947) with Edward G. Robinson, Task Force (1949) with Gary Cooper, The Fat Man (1950) with Rock Hudson, returned to acting in the late '50s and '60s. She appeared in the film A Question of Adultery in 1958 and on such TV shows as Rawhide, I Spy and Big Valley before landing the Emergency! gig.
The daughter of vaudevillians, she was born Julie Peck in Santa Rosa, California, and moved with her parents to Los Angeles when she was in her teens, and soon caught the eye of talent scouts, which led to her first screen roles.
London is survived by a daughter from her marriage to Webb and three children from her 39-year marriage to Troup.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Per Hollywood tradition, flowers were placed on her Walk of Fame star Wednesday evening.