June Fairchild | |
---|---|
![]() Fairchild in 1970 | |
Born | June Edna Wilson September 3, 1946 |
Died | February 17, 2015
Los Angeles,
California, U.S. | (aged 68)
Alma mater | El Camino College |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1966–1978 |
June Edna Fairchild (born June Edna Wilson; September 3, 1946 – February 17, 2015) was an American dancer and actress. Fairchild starred or co-starred in more than a dozen film roles before her addictions to drugs and alcohol effectively ended her professional acting career.
Fairchild was born June Edna Wilson on September 3, 1946, [1] in Manhattan Beach, California. [2] Her father was a musician who specialized in writing gospel songs and music. [1] Fairchild was raised in Manhattan Beach and graduated in 1964 from Aviation High School in Redondo Beach. [1] She attended El Camino College and acted the youthful role of Arthur in the college production of Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John in April 1965. [3] [4] [5]
By mid-1965 Fairchild had been hired as a member of the Gazzarri Dancers on the syndicated variety show Hollywood A Go-Go after being recruited by the show's executive producer Al Burton. She remained on the show until its final episode, broadcast in February 1966. [1] [5]
While on the show, June Fairchild and fellow dancer Mimi Machu created the Statue dance, a fad dance in which the dancers adopt stationary poses for a measure or two before shifting to new poses. The dance was performed on a number of episodes, including the one broadcast on November 6, 1965, in which Tommy Sands performed his record "The Statue", a song about the dance. Host Sam Riddle's introduction acknowledged Fairchild and Machu as the originators of the Statue dance, which had already spread to some public dance venues. [5]
During the 1960s, Fairchild lived with her then-boyfriend Danny Hutton, the lead singer of Three Dog Night, for several years. [1] Despite some disagreement about the veracity of the claim, [6] Fairchild was credited with conceiving the band's name, Three Dog Night. [1]
Fairchild co-starred in Head, a vehicle for The Monkees, in 1968; in Drive, He Said, directed by Jack Nicholson, in 1971; in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, which starred Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, in 1974; and in the 1978 Cheech & Chong film, Up in Smoke, in which she appeared as a drug addict who snorts Ajax soap powder. [1]
In her later life Fairchild lived on the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles due to her addictions. [1]
In 2001, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times ran a story about Fairchild's past career in Hollywood and her present life on the streets of Los Angeles. [7] Fairchild was selling newspapers outside a Los Angeles courthouse at the time in an attempt to earn enough money for a single-room occupancy hotel room. [1] On February 21, 2001, the same day that her story was published in the Los Angeles Times, police stopped her in Van Nuys for carrying an open container. A police officer recognized her picture from the newspaper and arrested her for failure to complete her community service from a past drunk driving conviction. Fairchild was sentenced to 90 days. [1] In 2002, Fairchild told the Los Angeles Times that her sentence had triggered a pledge of sobriety. [1] Friends told reporters that Fairchild remained sober until her death in 2015. [1]
She spent the later years of her life living in single-room hotels in downtown Los Angeles using her Social Security disability payments. [1]
She died from liver cancer at a convalescent home in Los Angeles on February 17, 2015, at the age of 68. She had been divorced twice. [1]
June Fairchild | |
---|---|
![]() Fairchild in 1970 | |
Born | June Edna Wilson September 3, 1946 |
Died | February 17, 2015
Los Angeles,
California, U.S. | (aged 68)
Alma mater | El Camino College |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1966–1978 |
June Edna Fairchild (born June Edna Wilson; September 3, 1946 – February 17, 2015) was an American dancer and actress. Fairchild starred or co-starred in more than a dozen film roles before her addictions to drugs and alcohol effectively ended her professional acting career.
Fairchild was born June Edna Wilson on September 3, 1946, [1] in Manhattan Beach, California. [2] Her father was a musician who specialized in writing gospel songs and music. [1] Fairchild was raised in Manhattan Beach and graduated in 1964 from Aviation High School in Redondo Beach. [1] She attended El Camino College and acted the youthful role of Arthur in the college production of Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John in April 1965. [3] [4] [5]
By mid-1965 Fairchild had been hired as a member of the Gazzarri Dancers on the syndicated variety show Hollywood A Go-Go after being recruited by the show's executive producer Al Burton. She remained on the show until its final episode, broadcast in February 1966. [1] [5]
While on the show, June Fairchild and fellow dancer Mimi Machu created the Statue dance, a fad dance in which the dancers adopt stationary poses for a measure or two before shifting to new poses. The dance was performed on a number of episodes, including the one broadcast on November 6, 1965, in which Tommy Sands performed his record "The Statue", a song about the dance. Host Sam Riddle's introduction acknowledged Fairchild and Machu as the originators of the Statue dance, which had already spread to some public dance venues. [5]
During the 1960s, Fairchild lived with her then-boyfriend Danny Hutton, the lead singer of Three Dog Night, for several years. [1] Despite some disagreement about the veracity of the claim, [6] Fairchild was credited with conceiving the band's name, Three Dog Night. [1]
Fairchild co-starred in Head, a vehicle for The Monkees, in 1968; in Drive, He Said, directed by Jack Nicholson, in 1971; in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, which starred Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, in 1974; and in the 1978 Cheech & Chong film, Up in Smoke, in which she appeared as a drug addict who snorts Ajax soap powder. [1]
In her later life Fairchild lived on the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles due to her addictions. [1]
In 2001, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times ran a story about Fairchild's past career in Hollywood and her present life on the streets of Los Angeles. [7] Fairchild was selling newspapers outside a Los Angeles courthouse at the time in an attempt to earn enough money for a single-room occupancy hotel room. [1] On February 21, 2001, the same day that her story was published in the Los Angeles Times, police stopped her in Van Nuys for carrying an open container. A police officer recognized her picture from the newspaper and arrested her for failure to complete her community service from a past drunk driving conviction. Fairchild was sentenced to 90 days. [1] In 2002, Fairchild told the Los Angeles Times that her sentence had triggered a pledge of sobriety. [1] Friends told reporters that Fairchild remained sober until her death in 2015. [1]
She spent the later years of her life living in single-room hotels in downtown Los Angeles using her Social Security disability payments. [1]
She died from liver cancer at a convalescent home in Los Angeles on February 17, 2015, at the age of 68. She had been divorced twice. [1]