June Vincent

Life and career

Vincent was born Dorothy June Smith 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 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.

Personal life

Vincent was married to William M. Sterling. They had a son, William Phayer Sterling, born August 4, 1945. Her daughter is singer Mindy Sterling (not to be confused with actress Mindy Sterling).

Death

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