June Lang

June Lang (born Winifred June Vlasek, May 5, 1917 – May 16, 2005) was an American film actress.

June Lang
Born
Winifred June Vlasek

(1917-05-05)May 5, 1917
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 2005(2005-05-16) (aged 88)
Valley Village, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
OccupationActress
Years active1931–1961
Spouse(s)
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(m. 1937; div. 1938)​

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(m. 1939; div. 1943)​

John Morgan
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(m. 1946; div. 1952)​
ChildrenPatricia Morgan

Early life

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she was the daughter of Edith and Clarence Vlasek, After the family moved to Los Angeles, Lang trained at a school of dance and performed in revues in theaters in Los Angeles.[1] She graduated from Beverly Hills High School.[2]

Career
With Warner Baxter and Fredric March in The Road to Glory (1936)

Lang made her film debut in 1931, with much of her early work coming in minor roles in musical and dramatic films.[1] She gradually securing second lead roles in mostly B movies for 20th Century Fox. She played her debut feature film role in Young Sinners.[3]

Noted for her fragile and demure appearance, she was usually cast as the little sister or the heroine's best friend in light comedies and adventure films. She soon graduated to leading roles, most notably in Bonnie Scotland (with Laurel and Hardy, 1935), in The Road to Glory (with Fredric March, Warner Baxter and Lionel Barrymore—written in part by William Faulkner—1936), and as Joyce Williams in Wee Willie Winkie (directed by John Ford, with Shirley Temple, Cesar Romero, and Victor McLaglen, 1937).

Personal life

Lang first married her Hollywood agent, Victor Orsatti, in 1937, but they divorced in early 1939. Her reputation as a wholesome leading lady was somewhat tarnished when she married Johnny Roselli, a Chicago connected mobster who helped control Hollywood movie unions, on April 1, 1939. Lang later said she had no idea that Rosselli was a mobster. Lang and Rosselli divorced in March, 1943.[4] Fox Studios had released Lang from her contract one year before she was married to Rosselli. She was released from contract in 1938, because against Fox studio orders, she left the United Kingdom, after she was cast in So This Is London, which was filmed at Pinewood Studios in London, Fox's U.K. studio.. Lang and her mother left London because they feared an impending war in Europe. Three years after marrying him, Lang divorced Rosselli, but she later found it more difficult to secure consistent film work. Lang married John Morgan in 1946 (they divorced in 1952), with whom she had a daughter.

Lang semi retired from acting in 1947, after struggling as a free lancer to re-establish her film career for several years. Lang occasionally appeared in minor roles on television.

Lang died in 2005 in Valley Village, California. She is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Partial filmography

References
  1. Packer, Eleanor (August 30, 1936). "New Girls From Old!". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. King Features Syndicate, Inc. p. 14. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Films Mixed With School". The Los Angeles Times. June 30, 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Blonde June Vlasek Here for Personal Appearance". The Bakersfield Californian. October 5, 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. FBI FOIA John Roselli FBI FOIA files
  • Quinlan, David. Quinlan's Film Stars. Batsford Books, 1996 edition. ISBN 0-7134-7751-2
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