Voluptuous would be an
understatement when describing the
incredibly-endowed June Wilkinson whose
va-va-voom 43-22-37 contours filled out a 5' 6"
frame that rivaled
Jayne Mansfield and
Mamie Van Doren during the heyday of the
pneumatic blonde bombshell. Of the titillating,
top-heavy trio, June wound up a distant third in
film popularity but has to be acknowledged and
complemented for her continued perseverance in a
tough business. Still seen around town here and
there broaching age 70, June was one of the most
popular cheesecake models lensed nationally
during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The British-born stunner was born on March 27,
1940 in Eastbourne, England and wasted little time. Intially trained in dance (Sussex School of
Dancing) to become a ballerina, she was
performing on stage from age 12. The one-time
brunette began as a topless dancer at age 15 and
joined the legendary Windmill Theatre in London
as a fan dancer in 1957. Discovered by
Hugh M. Hefner within a short time, June
came to America and first appeared in Playboy
magazine in September 1958. Hefner rather
unimaginatively but appropriately dubbed her
"The Bosom." The tag stuck and enhanced her
eventual transformation from a stunning brunette
to platinum blonde in 1960. A sensation on the
pages of Playboy, she appeared again in both
August 1959 and November 1960, and in several
other issues over the years, although she would
never become an official "Playmate."
The uninhibited June took her "Playboy"
publicity and ran with it. She started appearing
in scores of girlie magazines and newspapers
from 1958-1970, Like fellow pneumatics Mansfield
and Van Doren, June vied for attention in films.
Under contract to Seven Arts, her attempt at
movie stardom, however, fell flat (sorry). After
being unbilled in such low-grade films as
Thunder in the Sun (1959) and
The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959) (here she
appeared faceless as a topless figure called
"Torso"), she was showcased in
Career Girl (1960), the tale of a girl
trying to make it in Hollywood. With such lurid
tag lines as "June is bustin' out all over!"
promoting her pictures, one need not be a rocket
scientist to see where her film career was
headed. Subsequent romps in "Golden Age" turkeys
like
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960),
Macumba Love (1960) (her best known), and
The Continental Twist (1961) sealed her fate
as a serious movie actress.
June, however, kept her name alive throughout
the 1960s and 1970s in nightclubs (notably as a
sexy foil to
Spike Jones), and on the live stage in such
sex comedy teasers as "Three in a Bedroom," "The
Ninety-Day Mistress" and "Will Success Spoil
Rock Hunter?" via the dinner theater and Las
Vegas hotel circuits. Her most successful
vehicle was in "Pajama Tops," a show which
amplified her still-gorgeous figure as well as
her comedy timing. She returned to this
well-received show quite frequently for decades
and took it briefly to
Broadway in 1963. She also appeared
glamorously in such TV shows as "Batman," as the
villainess Evilina, and "The Doris Day Show." In
1972, June married
Dan Pastorini, the NFL quarterback for the
Houston Oilers and L.A. Rams, who was known for
his playboy-like reputation. He sometimes
appeared as an actor in films and TV, and the
couple appeared together in the film
The Florida Connection (1974). They had a
daughter, Brahna, before divorcing ten years
later.
A savvy, health-conscious businesswoman, her
later projects have included running a
successful string of fitness centers in Canada,
hosting the Encore cable show "The Directors" in
which she interviews filmmakers, and a
historical fashion show called "Glamour's First
5000 Years." June recently made a rare film
appearance in the low budget western
Three Bad Men (2005) with
George Kennedy.
She is now busy writing a new
book which will reveal many of her relationships
and many Hollywood stories.
IMDb Mini Biography By:
Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Spouse
Trivia
Playboy featured her in a
1958 photo spread.
Measurements (at age 56):
44DD-22-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Measurements: 44DD-23-36
(during prime of her career in late 1950s-early
1960s), 42DD-26-37 (re-measured in 1997),
(Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Profiled in Steve Sullivan's
book about "Golden Era" pinups, entitled Va Va
Voom. June also wrote the forward to another of
Sullivan's books, Bombshell.
In 1997, in her late 50's,
June came back to Playboy for another nude shoot
in "The Best of Glamour Girls: Then and Now". In
1999 when Playboy published its list of the "100
Sexiest Stars of the Century," June came in at
No. 30.
Dated
Elvis Presley a couple of times while he was
filming
King Creole (1958).
In her private life she has
always been modest and chaste. She never
indulged in the drug and alcohol life style that
surrounded her in the business, which may have
contributed to her being ageless. She is also
kind and considerate, especially to those facing
misfortune. She also was friends with Henry
Kissinger when he was Secretary of State.
Interviewed in Tom Weaver's
book "I Was a Monster Movie Maker" (McFarland &
Co., 2001).
Personal Quotes
"The best exercise is the
exercise that you will do on a regular basis.
And it doesn't matter what it is, if it's
walking, swimming, playing tennis, or lifting
weights. Whatever you enjoy doing and can get
yourself to do on a regular basis is the right
exercise. ... The main thing is to feel good,
because if you feel good, you look good and live
longer. ... Life is so fabulous. A little effort
is all it takes."
"Sex doesn't have to stop
when you reach sixty. If you're worried about
performance, remember: Doing it one time well is
a lot better than doing it fourteen times
badly."
"Breasts are like
fingerprints...no two are alike."