June Vincent

June Vincent (born Dorothy June Smith, July 17, 1920 – November 20, 2008) was an American actress.

Vincent was born in Harrod, Ohio, the daughter of Sybil Irwin and the Rev. Willis E. Smith.

Stage

Vincent's acting career began in Keene, New Hampshire, where she acted in summer theater. A newspaper article published July 7, 1944, reported, "she was urged to go to Hollywood by talent scouts. Universal promptly signed her." (A different version of Vincent's going to Hollywood appears in the book Ladies of the Western: Interviews with Fifty-One More Actresses from the Silent Era to the Television Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers quote Vincent's recollection, "I was a model — someone saw my picture — and I landed a stock contract at Universal.")

She returned to the stage in 1957, appearing in The Man on a Stick at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Film and television

Vincent began her career in film in the early 1940s. After having made 50 films, she retired from that field when her second child was born.

She later became a successful television actress appearing in many programs throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. She appeared in three episodes of Have Gun - Will Travel and she made five guest appearances on Perry Mason including the roles of murderer Madge Wainwright in the 1959 episode, "The Case of the Bartered Bikini," and title character and murder victim/villainess Laura Randall in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Wintry Wife."

TV Guide once referred to her as "Television's Favorite Homewrecker" because of her many roles on TV playing someone trying to steal away a husband or boyfriend.

Vincent was married to William M. Sterling in 1940 by Vincent's father, Reverend Willis E. Smith. They had a son, William Thayer Sterling, born August 4, 1945, and a daughter, Tina Sterling, born on April 3, 1950. Their third child was singer songwriter Mindy Sterling (not to be confused with actress Mindy Sterling).

A Republican, Vincent supported Dwight Eisenhower's campaign during the 1952 presidential election. Like her parents, Vincent was a Congregationalist.

She died on November 20, 2008 in Aurora, Colorado. She is survived by her three children.