June Lang

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June Lang ( May 5, 1917 in Minneapolis , Minnesota as Winifred June Vlasek , † May 16, 2005 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actress .

life and career

Winifred June Vlasek was born in Minneapolis in 1917 to Edith and Clarence Vlasek. As a child she was already on stage in school performances and amateur shows. The parents encouraged their daughter's career, who appeared in vaudeville shows, in various choirs and at the Meglin Kiddies Reveau in the 1920s . The family moved to Hollywood, where Vlasek made her first film when she was 14. Initially only used in smaller roles, she first attracted attention with a supporting role in the adventure film Chandu the Magician with Bela Lugosi and Edmund Lowe . From 1934 Vlasek used the American sounding stage name June Lang . As she grew older she was used more and more often as the leading lady , including as the Scottish millionaire heiress in the Laurel and Hardy film We Are from the Scottish Infantry Regiment (1935) and alongside Fredric March and Lionel Barrymore in the war drama The Road to Glory (1936) .

In 1937, the attractive blonde with blue eyes was seen as the female lead alongside Eddie Cantor in Ali Baba Goes to Town and in Recruit Willie Winkie as the penniless mother of child star Shirley Temple - although Lang was only eleven years older than Temple. In the following years Lang had minor successes, especially with B-films. Her private life, however, was turbulent: after a failed marriage with the Australian actor Joss Ambler (1900-1959), she married the film agent Victor Orsatti (1905-1984) in 1937. That marriage ended in divorce just a year later. However, it was her third marriage to the influential gang boss John Roselli between 1940 and 1942, which should destroy her career. She received bad press and no longer fit into the role of the lovable young lady, which she often embodied on screen. She also refused to film in World War II London out of fear , so she was released from her contract at Fox Studios.

Although she divorced Rosselli in 1942, she only got roles in Poverty Row films. In 1947 she made her last of over 40 films with Lighthouse , after which she had occasional television appearances in the 1950s and 1960s, albeit without achieving great success or attention. A fourth marriage with Lieutenant William Morgan between 1944 and 1954 also failed, from which their only daughter was born. She later said, “The stupidest thing I've ever done in my life was getting married - every time. I did not choose my husbands wisely. Still, I don't like being unmarried. ”After the failed marriages, she lived in Los Angeles with her mother and daughter Patricia. She died in 2005 at the age of 88 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the San Fernando Valley .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : June Lang  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joss Ambler at IMDB
  2. ↑ Victor Orsetti
personal data
SURNAME Lang, June
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vlasek, Winifred June (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Minneapolis , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 2005
Place of death Los Angeles , California , United States