June Haver
| June Haver | |
|---|---|
June Haver, 1946
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| Born |
June Stovenour June 10, 1926 Rock Island, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | July 4, 2005 (aged 79) Brentwood, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | respiratory failure |
| Years active | 1941–1953 |
| Spouse(s) | Jimmy Zito (m.1947–1948; divorced) Fred MacMurray (m.1954–1991; his death) |
| Children | Kathryn and Laurie (adopted) |
June Haver (born June Stovenour, June 10, 1926 – July 4, 2005) was an American film actress. Once groomed by 20th Century Fox to be "the next Betty Grable," Haver appeared in a string of musicals. But she never achieved Grable's popularity. Haver's second husband was the actor Fred MacMurray, whom she married after she retired from show business.
Born June Stovenour, June Haver was born in Rock Island, Illinois. She later took the last name of her stepfather Bert Haver. After the family moved to Ohio, seven-year-old Haver entered and won a contest of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. At age 10, she moved back to Rock Island, where she began performing for Rudy Vallee. Her mother being an actress and her father being a musician, Haver often doubted who she - careerwise - wanted to follow. At age eight, she won a film test by imitating famous actresses including Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn and Helen Hayes. Haver's mother, however, prohibited her daughter from becoming a child actress in the film industry, feeling she was too young.
Working regularly as a band singer by her teens, she performed with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra for $75 a week. Other bandleaders she worked for were Dick Jurgens and Freddy Martin. Furthermore, she became a well-known child star on the radio.
In the summer of 1942, Haver moved to Hollywood, where she finished high school. She acted in plays in her spare time and during a performance as a southern belle, she was discovered by a scout from 20th Century Fox. In 1943, Haver signed a $3,500 a week contract with the studio and made her film debut playing an uncredited role as a hat-check girl in The Gang's All Here. She was dropped shortly after, because the studio executives felt that she looked too young, but was later re-signed, after her costume and hairstyle were changed.
20th Century Fox had plans to mold Haver as a glamour girl stand-in for the studio's two biggest stars, Alice Faye and Betty Grable . She debuted on screen in a supporting role as Cri-Cri in Home in Indiana (1944). According to the actress, she had just turned seventeen years old when her scenes were filmed. Even before Home in Indiana was released, she was assigned to replace Alice Faye in the Technicolor-musical, Irish Eyes Are Smiling. Later that year she co-starred with future husband, Fred MacMurray, in Where Do We Go From Here?, which was the only time the pair appeared together in a film.
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