June McCall(1934-1990)
- Actress
June McCall was a strikingly gorgeous 50s pin-up model with a comely
face, bright red hair, and a shapely 36-24-36 figure. She was born as
Billie June Palinkas on July 27, 1934 in Los Angeles, California. Her
mother's maiden name was McClain. McCall attended Hollywood High
School. June started modeling in her mid teens and was a Vargas cover
girl in the early 50s. In 1951 McCall won a national contest sponsored
by a hosiery company and was a featured performer in Gypsy Rose Lee's
all-star show at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada in the summer of
that same year. June frequently posed for cheesecake pictures for noted
glamour photographers Andres de Dienes, Earl Moran, Tom Kelley, and
Bernard of Hollywood. Her signature shot was wearing fishnet stockings
that showed off her lovely legs. She wrote about her tumultuous
exploits as a pin-up model in the March, 1957 issue of the men's
magazine "Modern Man." McCall popped up in often uncredited minor parts
in such movies as Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), Battle Cry (1955), Running Wild (1955), Silk Stockings (1957), and the infamous science fiction camp classic Queen of Outer Space (1958). Moreover, June had guest roles on episodes of the TV
programs "Where Were You?" and The Dennis O'Keefe Show (1959). Among the men
she dated are Charles Chaplin, Jr. and Jackie Coogan. McCall was
married three times. She had a son named Michael Charles with her first
husband George Carl "Rusty" Meek II (he was an assistant director). A
very sweet and moral woman who was sadly taken advantage of by numerous
sleazy folks in show business.
June McCall died at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, California, at the
young age of 55 from alcoholic liver disease/cirrhosis of the liver,
April 14, 1990.
