June Kenney

June Kenney
Kenney in 1957
Born
June Claire Kenney

(1933-07-06)July 6, 1933
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 25, 2021(2021-06-25) (aged 87)
Pahrump, Nevada, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1954–1962
Spouse
Lee A. Sebastian
​
​
(m. 1970; died 1998)​

June Claire Sebastian (née Kenney; July 6, 1933 – June 25, 2021) was an American actress known for her work in B movies in the late 1950s.

Early life

June Claire Kenney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of Frederick Kenney, a builder and plumber of Irish descent, and Edna (née Deslauriers), a homemaker of French-Canadian descent. She lived in suburban Malden, Massachusetts during her childhood.[1]

Kenney started singing and dancing when she was four.[2] Her appearances on Boston area radio attracted the attention of talent scouts looking for the next Shirley Temple. She signed with Warner Bros. and appeared in several musical shorts. The studio wanted to send her to Hollywood, but her father did not let her go as he wanted to keep the family together and not abandon his construction business.[3] Ultimately her parents decided to move west to escape the cold New England winters. The Kenneys relocated to Southern California around 1949, first to Gardena, California, before settling in West Hollywood.[4]

Career

As a teenager Kenney appeared in stage plays and studied at the Meglin School of Dance. She attended Hollywood Professional School in the morning and worked afternoons at Grauman's Chinese Theatre as an usherette. Walter Kohner spotted her during a performance and signed her to his brother Paul's talent agency.[5]

Kenney was on the verge of receiving her break into television when she was cast opposite Robert Hutton and Adele Mara in the television soap opera My Sister and I in 1954, but the show's sponsor pulled out before it went to production.[6][7] Instead she received her first television credits for supporting roles in episodes of The Loretta Young Show and Public Defender. That year, she received her first credited film role for the religious short City Story.

Through the rest of the 1950s, Kenney played bit parts and supporting roles on television in Fireside Theater, TV's Reader's Digest, Whirlybirds and The Millionaire. She was featured in commercials for Coppertone and Vaseline, and did voiceover work for Austin-Healey.

An interview with Roger Corman got Kenney her above-title billing when he gave her the lead role of Barbara Bonney, a good girl accused of murdering a jealous rival, in his 1957 film noir Teenage Doll. Impressed with her performance, Corman gave her work in two other pictures that year.[8] Kenney played Tina in Sorority Girl, in which a manipulative sorority sister (Susan Cabot) pressures her into blackmailing a lover. Kenney was also given the role of Asmild, the good-hearted but naive sister of the leader of a band of Viking women in The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent. She originally had not been considered for the part, but was brought in after production began when Abby Dalton's sister suffered a concussion from falling off a horse and Corman needed a blonde to replace her.[9][10]

Advertisement for "Hot Car Girl" and "Cry Baby Killer" double feature with live appearances by June Kenney and James Fillmore at the Clifton Theater in Lubbock, Texas on June 6, 1958.

In 1958, Kenney starred opposite Dick Bakalyan in the teen exploitation feature Hot Car Girl, produced by Roger's brother Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. The film was distributed in Texas on a double bill with Cry Baby Killer through a series of four wall engagements. Promotion included Kenney touring the state with Texas-born James Fillmore, a supporting actor in Cry Baby Killer. Kenney sang and Fillmore played piano in live stage performances between showings of their respective films.[11][12]

That year Bert I. Gordon cast Kenney as female lead in two horror films: Attack of the Puppet People and Earth vs. the Spider.

The late 1950s saw major changes in the movie industry as the growing popularity of television reduced audiences for A pictures. Large studios took note of the success of smaller B movie studios like American International Pictures and Allied Artists and began producing their own low-budget films aimed at the teenage and drive-in markets.[13] As a result, Kenney found herself facing stiff competition for movie roles. She mentioned this to Bill McReynolds of the Amarillo Globe-Times in 1958:

"Today the movie studios are using more and more young talent. About all a young actress can do is hope that she'll click and be able to go on to more and better things.”[14]

Kenney longed to expand her acting range, but a lack of opportunities made her take the role of Betty Scott in Bloodlust! in 1959 in order to stay active in movies. Critics panned the film upon its release in 1961. Kenney later said she accepted the part "almost as a favor” to Ralph Brooke, the film's director, despite her desire to move beyond "screaming” roles. She recalled that she and her co-stars (Robert Reed, Gene Persson and Joan Lora) felt out of place in the film, and the experience led her to question the direction her career had taken.[15]

A casting call landed Kenney an uncredited role in Jerry Lewis's 1961 film The Ladies Man, her only appearance in an "A" movie. She attributed winning the part to Lewis's appreciation of her ability to walk down stairs in rhythm to music.[16] Her final feature film appearance was in The Cat Burglar, another Gene Corman production, released in 1961. Her last television roles were in a 1961 episode of Bonanza ("The Infernal Machine") as wife of inventor Daniel Pettibone. A bit part in an episode of Thriller, as a co-star with James Franciscus, James Philbrook, and Mary Murphy in the short-lived 1961 CBS crime adventure-drama series The Investigators, and in a supporting role in an episode of The Tall Man in 1962.

Kenney later reflected on how her break into movies ultimately affected her acting career:

"Roger Corman got me started but once you become under contract to someone like Roger, you are labeled a 'B' movie player. I learned the inner workings from Roger like camera shots and the on the set production process and so on...but when you're typecast into 'B' pictures, it's hard to grow out of it. When you go on an interview and your past credits are reviewed and all they see is 'teenage' this and 'monster' that, it's a turn-off...they do consider your past credits and those sort of pictures don't help the situation.”[17]

Kenney retired from acting in 1962. Around that time she took a job handling commercials for Los Angeles radio station KLAC. Feeling discouraged from the lack of call backs and interviews and unhappy with the roles she was being offered at the time, she later said she "thought it would be best to bow out gracefully.”[18]

Screen persona and image

In films Kenney typically plays the good girl who falls in with the wrong crowd or finds herself in situations beyond her control. Standing five feet, two inches tall, she was often described as "tiny” and "petite.”[19][20] Her height and youthful appearance helped make her convincing in teenage roles such as Barbara Bonney in Teenage Doll and Carol Flynn in Earth vs. the Spider. She admitted she wished she were taller even though her stature helped her land her a lead role in Attack of the Puppet People.[21]

Kenney furnished her own clothes for several of her film roles.[22] A friend from her dance school custom made the dress she wore in Attack of the Puppet People.[23]

Syndicated beauty columnist Lydia Lane praised Kenney's fitness. Kenney credited exercises she learned in ballet and continued to perform daily during her acting career.[24][25]

Kenney's co-stars appreciated her good nature and strong work ethic.[26][27][28] Jay Sayer, who worked with her in Teenage Doll and Viking Women, recalled:

"She was about as un-Hollywood as you can get...And just very sweet, very easy to work with, and a nice girl. You'd never guess she was an actress."[29]

Personal life

Kenney married Lee Sebastian in Los Angeles in 1970. The couple later moved to Las Vegas where they managed a horse ranch.[30] She continued working in radio and was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 1997.[31] Kenney died in Pahrump, Nevada on June 25, 2021, at the age of 87.[32]

Selected filmography

Sorority Girl lobby card, 1957.

References

  1. ^ United States Census 1940.
  2. ^ Hughes 1958.
  3. ^ American International Pictures 1958.
  4. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 54
  5. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 55
  6. ^ Variety 1954.
  7. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 55
  8. ^ Silver & Ursini 2006
  9. ^ O'Dowd 2011.
  10. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 66
  11. ^ McReynolds 1958.
  12. ^ Abilene Reporter-News 1958.
  13. ^ Encyclopedia.com. "The Film Industry in the 1950s.” Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  14. ^ McReynolds 1958.
  15. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 61
  16. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 68
  17. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 65
  18. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 68
  19. ^ Abilene Reporter-News 1958.
  20. ^ Lane 1958b.
  21. ^ Lane 1958a.
  22. ^ Hughes 1958.
  23. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010. p. 63
  24. ^ Lane 1958a
  25. ^ Lane 1962
  26. ^ Weaver 2004
  27. ^ O'Dowd 2011
  28. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010, p. 61
  29. ^ Weaver 2014
  30. ^ Di Salvo, Fetters & Parla 2010, p. 69
  31. ^ Nevada Broadcasters Association. "Hall of Fame Inductees for 1997.” Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  32. ^ "June Kenney". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

Sources

  • "The Spider is Bigger Than a House!". American Press. American International Pictures. 1958.
  • Di Salvo, Anthony; Fetters, Jim; Parla, Paul (January 2010). "Our Living Teenage Doll: An Exclusive Interview with June Kenney". Scary Monsters Magazine. No. 73.
  • "History of the American Cinema: The Film Industry in the 1950s". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  • Hughes, Betty (1958-06-06). "Diet-Less Miss Kenney: All That Dessert – And No Problem!". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 17.
  • Lane, Lydia (1958-01-07). "Beauty Care: Ballet Star Tells of Leg Exercises". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 13.
  • Lane, Lydia (1958-01-10). "Hollywood Beauty: Exercise for Trim Legs, Advises Petite June Kenney". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 7.
  • Lane, Lydia (1962-01-20). "She's Hip on How to Whittle Weight". Los Angeles Times. p. 31.
  • McReynolds, Bill (1958-06-05). "Entertainment Capers". Amarillo Globe-Times. p. 32.
  • "Hall of Fame Inductees for 1997". Nevada Broadcasters Association. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  • O'Dowd, John (2011-03-31). "Sally Todd Interview: Page 4". Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  • O'Dowd, John (2011-03-31). "Sally Todd Interview: Page 5". Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  • "Play Piano, Sing: Young Movie Stars Appear on Stage". Abilene Reporter-News. 1958-06-06. p. 34.
  • Silver, Alain; Ursini, James (2006). Roger Corman: Metaphysics on a Shoestring. Silman-James Press. ISBN 978-1-8795-0542-1.
  • "Sister Soap Opera Leads Set; Gunning in May". Variety. 1954-05-05. p. 37.
  • Weaver, Tom (2004). Science Fiction and Fantasy Flashbacks: Conversations with 24 Actors, Writers, Producers and Directors from the Golden Age. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0564-0.
  • Weaver, Tom (2014). I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 Veterans of Horror and Sci-Fi Films and Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9571-9.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to June Kenney.

Read other articles:

Kejuaraan Antarklub Wanita AFC 2022

Kejuaraan Antarklub Wanita AFC 2022Informasi turnamenTuan rumahThailandUzbekistanJadwalpenyelenggaraan15 Agustus – 22 Oktober 2022Jumlahtim peserta5 (dari 5 asosiasi)Hasil turnamenJuara College of Asian Scholars (Timur) Sogdiyona Jizzak (Barat)(masing-masing gelar pertama)Statistik turnamenJumlahpertandingan5Jumlah gol10 (2 per pertandingan)Jumlahpenonton717 (143 per pertandingan)Pencetak golterbanyak Su Yu-hsuan(2 gol)← 2021 2023 → Kejuaraan Antarklub Wanita AFC ...

 

Sesus Pusdikif

Sekolah Khusus Marinir Pusat Pendidikan Infanteri(Kodikmar)Dibentuk25 September 1965NegaraIndonesiaCabang TNI Angkatan LautTipe unitPendidikan Pasukan KhususBagian dariPusdikif KodikmarJulukanSesus PusdikifMotoTri Wira YudhaUlang tahun25 SeptemberSitus webwww.kobangdikal.mil.id Sekolah Khusus Marinir Pusat Pendidikan Infanteri atau (Sesus Pusdikif) adalah lembaga pendidikan di bawah kendali Pusat Pendidikan Infanteri Marinir, Komando Pendidikan Marinir. Sekolah Khusus Marinir merupakan satuan...

 

Batu Zuma

Untuk permainan video, lihat Zuma (permainan video). Batu ZumaTitik tertinggiKetinggian725 m (2.379 ft)Puncak300 m (980 ft)Koordinat9°7′49″N 7°14′2″E / 9.13028°N 7.23389°E / 9.13028; 7.23389Koordinat: 9°7′49″N 7°14′2″E / 9.13028°N 7.23389°E / 9.13028; 7.23389 GeografiLetakNegara bagian Niger, Nigeria Batu Zuma adalah sebuah monolit alam besar, atau inselberg yang tersusun dari intrusi batuan beku...

Malibu Creek State Park

Wilderness park in Santa Monica Mountains of southern California Malibu Creek State ParkMalibu Creek State Park, with the Goat Buttes in the backgroundShow map of CaliforniaShow map of the United StatesLocationLos Angeles County, California, United StatesNearest cityCalabasas, CaliforniaCoordinateslandmark 34°6′3″N 118°42′40″W / 34.10083°N 118.71111°W / 34.10083; -118.71111Area8,215 acres (33.24 km2)Established1974Governing bodyCalifornia Dep...

 

Speed metal

Speed metal Données clés Origines stylistiques NWOBHM, heavy metal traditionnel Origines culturelles Fin des années 1970, début des années 1980 ; Europe et États-Unis Instruments typiques Basse, batterie, chant, clavier, guitare Scènes régionales Amérique du Nord, Royaume-Uni, Allemagne Voir aussi Sous-genres du heavy metal Genres dérivés Thrash metal, power metal modifier Le speed metal est un sous-genre du heavy metal, ayant émergé au début des années 1980. Le terme est...

 

Palais de Tokyo

Koordinat: 48°51′50″N 2°17′50″E / 48.86389°N 2.29722°E / 48.86389; 2.29722 Palais de Tokyo merupakan sebuah museum seni kontemporer di Paris, Prancis. Museum ini terletak di bangunan eponim, Palais de Tokyo dibangun tahun 1937, terletak dekat Trocadéro, di arondisemen ke-16 dan juga berperan sebagai Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Museum Seni Modern Kota Paris). Museum ini dibuka bulan Januari 2002. Lihat pula Daftar museum di Paris Pranala luar...

Human uses of birds

Overview of humans' uses of birds Detail of two falconers from the Medieval De arte venandi cum avibus, c. 1240 Human uses of birds have, for thousands of years, included both economic uses such as food, and symbolic uses such as art, music, and religion. In terms of economic uses, birds have been hunted for food since Palaeolithic times. They have been captured and bred as poultry to provide meat and eggs since at least the time of ancient Egypt. Some species have been used, too, to he...

 

Utah Democratic Party

American political party in Utah Utah Democratic Party Senate Minority LeaderLuz EscamillaHouse Minority LeaderAngela RomeroHeadquartersSalt Lake CityMembership (2023)268,095[1]IdeologyProgressivismModern liberalismPolitical positionBig tentNational affiliationDemocratic PartyColors  BlueSeats in the United States Senate0 / 2 Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives0 / 4 Seats in the Utah Senate6 / 29 Seats in the Utah House of Representatives14 / 75 Websitewww.utahdemocra...

 

Der Herr der Ringe Online

Der Herr der Ringe Online Originaltitel The Lord of the Rings Online Entwickler Turbine Inc.,Standing Stone Games Publisher Daybreak Game Company Komponist Chance Thomas,Stephen DiGregorio,Bill Champagne,Matthew Harwood Veröffentlichung 24. April 2007 Plattform Windows, macOS Genre Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Thematik Fantasy Spielmodus Mehrspieler Sprache u. a. Deutsch und Englisch Aktuelle Version 38.1 Altersfreigabe USK USK ab 12 freigegeben PEGI PEGI ab 12 Ja...

Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher

1968 British film by John Krish Decline and Fall... of a BirdwatcherTheatrical release posterDirected byJohn KrishWritten byIvan FoxwellAlan HackneyHugh WhitemoreBased onDecline and Fall1928 novelby Evelyn WaughProduced byIvan FoxwellStarringRobin PhillipsDonald WolfitGeneviève PageFelix AylmerColin BlakelyCinematographyDesmond DickinsonEdited byArchie LudskiMusic byRon GoodwinProductioncompanyIvan Foxwell ProductionsDistributed byTwentieth Century Fox Film CorporationRelease dates 25 S...

 

John Harris (footballer, born 1917)

Scottish footballer For other people named John Harris, see John Harris (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: John Harris footballer, born 1917 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) John Harris Harris in a Ch...

 

Niphad Assembly constituency

Constituency of the Maharashtra legislative assembly in India NiphadConstituency No. 121 for the Maharashtra Legislative AssemblyConstituency detailsCountryIndiaRegionWestern IndiaStateMaharashtraDistrictNashikLS constituencyDindoriReservationNoneMember of Legislative Assembly14th Maharashtra Legislative AssemblyIncumbent Diliprao Shankarrao Bankar PartyNationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar Faction)Elected year2019 Niphad Assembly constituency is one of the 288 Vidhan Sabha (legislative asse...

Contea di Ellis (Texas)

Contea di EllisconteaContea di Ellis – VedutaIl tribunale della contea di Ellis. LocalizzazioneStato Stati Uniti Stato federato Texas AmministrazioneCapoluogoWaxahachie Data di istituzione1849 TerritorioCoordinatedel capoluogo32°21′00″N 96°47′24″W / 32.35°N 96.79°W32.35; -96.79 (Contea di Ellis)Coordinate: 32°21′00″N 96°47′24″W / 32.35°N 96.79°W32.35; -96.79 (Contea di Ellis) Superficie2 465 km² Abitanti149 61...

 

Ruth (given name)

RuthThe Biblical Naomi entreating her daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah in this image by William Blake based on the Book of Ruth.Pronunciation/ˈruːθ/ ROOTHGenderfemaleOriginWord/nameHebrewMeaningFriend Ruth (Hebrew: רות rut, IPA: [ʁut]) is a common female given name, noted from Ruth, the eponymous heroine of the eighth book of the Old Testament. History of usage Not evidently in regular usage among the ancient Hebrews, the name of the Biblical figure Ruth is generally equated wit...

 

2020年夏季奧林匹克運動會波蘭代表團

2020年夏季奥林匹克运动会波兰代表團波兰国旗IOC編碼POLNOC波蘭奧林匹克委員會網站olimpijski.pl（英文）（波兰文）2020年夏季奥林匹克运动会（東京）2021年7月23日至8月8日（受2019冠状病毒病疫情影响推迟，但仍保留原定名称）運動員206參賽項目24个大项旗手开幕式：帕维尔·科热尼奥夫斯基（游泳）和马娅·沃什乔夫斯卡（自行车）[1]闭幕式：卡罗利娜·纳亚（皮划艇）&#...

Tsukemono

Tsukemono Tsukemono (漬物, secara harfiah berarti semua hal yang diacar ) adalah makanan Jepang berupa sayuran yang dibuat acar dengan mencampur garam, larutan garam,[1] atau bekatul beras).[2] Makanan ini dijadikan pendamping nasi atau teman minum sake. Bisa pula sebagai sayuran atau bagian dari ritual minum teh di Jepang. Jenis-jenis tsukemono Jenis Tsukemono[1] Jenis Kanji Bahan campuran Shiozuke 塩漬け garam Suzuke 酢漬け cuka Amasuzuke 甘酢漬け gula da...

 

NGC 6755

NGC 6755Ammasso apertoNGC 6755ScopertaScopritoreWilliam Herschel Data1785 Dati osservativi(epoca J2000)CostellazioneAquila Ascensione retta19h 07m 49s[1] Declinazione+04° 16′ 00″[1] Distanza4630[2] a.l. (1420[2] pc) Magnitudine apparente (V)7,5[1] Dimensione apparente (V)14' Caratteristiche fisicheTipoAmmasso aperto ClasseII 2 r Età stimata52 milioni di anni[2] Altre designazioniCr 397; OCl 96&...

 

赤ちゃん本舗

セブン&アイ・ホールディングス > 赤ちゃん本舗 株式会社赤ちゃん本舗AKACHAN HONPO CO.,LTD. 本社種類 株式会社略称 アカチャンホンポ本社所在地 日本〒541-0054大阪府大阪市中央区南本町3-3-21設立 1941年（昭和16年）2月27日（有限会社赤ちゃん本舗）業種 小売業法人番号 6120001077342 事業内容 マタニティ・ベビー・チャイルド用品の販売代表者 代表取締役社長 味志謙司...

Grammoptera

Grammoptera Grammoptera ustulata Klasifikasi ilmiah Kerajaan: Animalia Filum: Arthropoda Kelas: Insecta Ordo: Coleoptera Famili: Cerambycidae Genus: Grammoptera Grammoptera adalah genus kumbang tanduk panjang yang tergolong famili Cerambycidae. Genus ini juga merupakan bagian dari ordo Coleoptera, kelas Insecta, filum Arthropoda, dan kingdom Animalia. Larva kumbang dalam genus ini biasanya mengebor ke dalam kayu dan dapat menyebabkan kerusakan pada batang kayu hidup atau kayu yang telah dite...

 

Andreas Tiffner

Austrian footballer Andreas Tiffner Tiffner in 2010Personal informationDate of birth (1991-02-10) 10 February 1991 (age 33)Place of birth Feldkirchen in Kärnten, AustriaHeight 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)Position(s) StrikerTeam informationCurrent team SK Austria KlagenfurtNumber 20Youth career Red Bull Salzburg JuniorsSenior career*Years Team Apps (Gls)2007–09 Red Bull Salzburg Juniors 14 (1)2009–10 FC Blau-WWWW Linz 24 (10)2010–2012 FK Austria Wien 1 (0)2011 → Fi...