June MacCloy

June MacCloy
as Lulubelle in Go West (1940)
Born (1909-06-02)June 2, 1909
Sturgis, Michigan, U.S.
Died May 5, 2005(2005-05-05) (aged 95)
Sonoma, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1930–1941
Spouse(s) Wilbur Guthlein (?–1931)
Shuyler Schenk (1931–1934)
Neal Wendell Butler (1941–1985)

June MacCloy (June 2, 1909 – May 5, 2005) was an American actress and singer in the 1930s and 1940s.

Born in Sturgis, Michigan, MacCloy moved to Toledo, Ohio as a child.

Theater

In 1928 she joined Vanities, produced by Earl Carroll, but her mother forced her to quit due to her skimpy costume. When she was a teenager, MacCloy was chosen by song writer/producer Lew Brown (of the prolific team DeSylva, Brown & Henderson) to impersonate Broadway star Harry Richman, singing "I'm On The Crest of a Wave" in the ninth edition of George White's Scandals (Apollo Theater, July 2, 1928; 230 performances).

Just prior to making her first movie MacCloy was working in New York City clubs such as the Abbey and Chateau Madrid. She also toured with a Parkington Vaudeville Unit, which used the designing talents of a young Vincente Minnelli. After her film début she appeared with Lupe Vélez, Bert Lahr, Buddy Rogers and June Knight in "Hot-Cha", Florenz Ziegfeld's last production (Ziegfeld Theater, March 8, 1932; 119 performances). Her big number was "Little Old New York" by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson.

Movies

Signed by Paramount Pictures in 1930, she was loaned out to United Artists for her first feature, Reaching for the Moon (film) (1931), starring Bebe Daniels, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Edward Everett Horton and Claud Allister. She plays 'Kitty,' Bebe Daniels' flirtatious best friend. The director, Edmund Goulding, was casting another Fairbanks film when he heard about MacCloy and wired her to come and test. Her first Paramount film was June Moon (released March 21, 1931), based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner.

Subsequently, MacCloy appeared in a variety of shorts and some features with stars such as Jack Oakie, Frances Dee and ZaSu Pitts. With co-stars Gertrude Short and Marion Shilling, she made a series of shorts for RKO-Pathé called The Gay Girls. One of her directors was the then disgraced Fatty Arbuckle. She co-starred with Leon Errol in the second full Technicolor film Good Morning, Eve! (1934), released just after another Leon Errol short Service With a Smile (1934).

MacCloy is probably best remembered today for her last major film role in Go West (1940), starring the Marx Brothers.

Singer

MacCloy subsequently sang with dance orchestras, including Johnny Hamp, Henry King, Jimmie Grier and Ben Pollack. In San Francisco she was featured with the Williams-Walsh Orchestra (Griff Williams and Jimmy Walsh) at the Hotel Mark Hopkins. Her band work took her to Chicago and many other cities.

Private life

In March 1931, MacCloy was sued for divorce in Cincinnati, Ohio by Wilbur Guthlein, whom she married in the 1920s. MacCloy married Schuyler Schenck in 1931 and divorced him in 1933. In December 1941, she married architect and fellow jazz enthusiast Neal Wendell Butler, with whom she raised two children. They remained married until his death in 1985.

MacCloy died May 5, 2005 of natural causes.

Selected filmography

References

  • Lincoln Star, '"Likes Movies", January 2, 1931, Page 9.
  • Los Angeles Times, "College Days Linger In Memories of Stars", December 14, 1930, Page B28.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Absence Fails To Make Heart Fonder", March 24, 1931, Page 2.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Tuning In Along The Air Lines", April 29, 1935, Page A14.
  • New York Times, "June McCloy to Divorce Schenck", March 19, 1933, Page 29.
  • Syracuse Herald, "June MacCloy", Wednesday Evening, February 18, 1931, Page 10.
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