June Walker

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
June Walker
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Stage, film, television actress
SpouseGeoffrey Kerr
ChildrenJohn Kerr
For the American activist and former Hadassah leader, see June Walker (Hadassah)

June Walker (June 14, 1900 – February 3, 1966) was an American stage and film actress.

Early years

Walker was born in New York City on June 14, 1900, and was orphaned when she was 14. She worked as a millinery clerk before becoming an actress.[1]

Stage career

Walker (left) with fellow performers Helen Westley and Franchot Tone in the 1931 Broadway production Green Grow the Lilacs

Walker performed as a member of the chorus of a Globe Theater production of Hitchy-Koo when she was 16 years old.[1]

She appeared on

Twelfth Night.[2] She was the first actress to portray the character of Lorelei Lee, in the 1926 Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Her obituary in The New York Times said the role "was as much her creation as that of Anita Loos who wrote the book that became the comedy ..."[1] The success of the play launched Walker's career, and she had further Broadway successes. She played Linda Loman to Thomas Mitchell's Willy in the 1949 touring company of Death of a Salesman and also toured, performing in the role of Vinnie, in Life with Father.[citation needed
]

For four weeks in 1924 Walker appeared as the Leading Lady in the Summer Stock cast at Elitch Theatre. She appeared in: The Changelings, by Lee Wilson Dood; Rolling Home, by John Hunter Booth; The New Poor, by Cosmo Hamilton; and Across the Street, by Richard A. Purdy.[3][4]

Film career

Walker acted in silent films for Essanay Studios and in sound films, including A Child Is Waiting, Through Different Eyes, The Unforgiven, and War Nurse.[5]

Personal life

In 1926, she married British actor Geoffrey Kerr. The couple divorced in 1943; their son was actor John Kerr.[6] She appeared with her son in a 1954 episode of NBC's Justice. It was his first acting engagement.[citation needed]

Death

On February 3, 1966, aged 65, Walker died of undisclosed causes at her son's home in Los Angeles.

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[citation needed
]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1921 Coincidence Phoebe Howard Lost film
1930 War Nurse Babs
1942 Thru Different Eyes Margie
1960 The Unforgiven Hagar Rawlins
1961 The Tom Ewell Show Madge TV series, episode "Storm Over Shangri-La"
1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mrs. Millie Wright Season 7 Episode 12: "A Jury of Her Peers"
1963 A Child Is Waiting Mrs. McDonald Uncredited
1963
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
 Mrs. Wales Season 1 Episode 20: "The Paragon"
1964
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
 Aunt Mary Jane Season 3 Episode 1: "The Return of Verge Likens"

References

  1. ^
    ProQuest 117232727
    . Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "June Walker". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "1924 – Historic Elitch Theatre". hetden.org. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  4. ^ Levy, Edwin Lewis (1960). Elitch's Gardens, Denver, Colorado: A History of the Oldest Summer Theatre in the United States (1890 - 1941) (Thesis). Columbia University.
  5. ISBN 978-0-8196-0308-1
    . Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  6. ISBN 9781526111968
    . Retrieved 7 March 2017.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to June Walker.


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