Actress. Born in Leadville, Colorado she began her career as a stage actor and did scriptwriting work on several films starting in 1917. She was hired by MGM in 1918 to write scenarios for films. She successfully adapted Vicente Blasco Ibanez’s novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse into a film version starring Rudolph Valentino, the man she discovered in an earlier film Eyes of Youth. June staked her reputation at Metro by casting Valentino as the lead and it paid off. Her other credits include Blood and Sand (1922), The Sheik  (1921), and The Young Rajah (1922). She helped to establish the importance of a script in American silent films. She is also considered to be one of the most significant women in Hollywood’s history. Her life came to a tragic end on July 26, 1927 when she died of a heart attack at a theatre show with her mother. Her contributions to Hollywood are legendary and she garnered great respect. (bio by: Marta Monk)  Family links:  Parents:  William Dabney Mathis (1852 – 1923)  Virginia Ruth Wilcox Mathis (1868 – 1922)  Siblings:  Laura M. Mathis (1876 – 1956)**  George Warren Mathis (1878 – 1942)**  Samuel J. Mathis (1881 – 1938)**  June Mathis (1892 – 1927) *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling