June Gale (June Gale)
Actress, wife of composer/performer Oscar Levant. Born June Gilmartin she started her career in vaudeville. She and her sister Jean were teamed with their twin sisters Joan and Jane and were billed, inaccurately, as the Dancing Gale Quadruplets. As they toured they were always in mortal fear of being found out. Little is know of Jane, but both Jean and Joan went on with independent performing careers. Her first film note was with her sisters in Poor Little Rich Boy in 1932. This was followed by by a number of uncredited parts including Moulin Rouge, Folies-Bergère de Paris and Sing and Be Happy between 1934 and 1938. Her credited roles did start to prevail after Pigskin Parade as June Levant in 1936, with roles in Time Out for Murder, 1938, Pardon Our Nerve, Hotel for Women, Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, The Escape and The Honeymoon’s Over all in 1939. One of her last film appearances was in Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade in 1948, but she continued to do guest television appearances both as herself on The Jack Benny Program in 1950 and The Fred Astair Songbook in 1991 and as a saleslady in an episode on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1962. She and her husband Oscar Levant were married on December 1, 1939. She and her husband did a talk show on KCOP-TV in 1956 but after an “on-air spat” she left to do her own show. In 1958 she went on as “The June Levant Show” with Lloyd Thaxton who as her announcer/sidekick would lead her on and ask questions. That show ran for about a year. They remained together until his death in 1972 and had three children Marcia, Lorna and Amanda. After her husband’s death she became a mentor to Michael Feinstein the pianist and singer. She died in Los Angeles, California of pneumonia.
Born
- July, 06, 1911
Died
- November, 13, 1996
- USA
- California
Cemetery
- Westwood Memorial Park
- California
- USA