# June Fairchild > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/June_Fairchild > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/June_Fairchild.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Fairchild > Source revision: 1357028958 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **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. ## Early life Fairchild was born June Edna Wilson on September 3, 1946,[2] in [Manhattan Beach, California](/source/Manhattan_Beach,_California).[3] Her father was a musician who specialized in writing gospel songs and music.[2] Fairchild was raised in Manhattan Beach and graduated in 1964 from [Aviation High School](/source/Aviation_High_School_(California)) in [Redondo Beach](/source/Redondo_Beach,_California).[2] She attended [El Camino College](/source/El_Camino_College) and acted the youthful role of [Arthur](/source/Arthur_I,_Duke_of_Brittany) in the college production of [Shakespeare's](/source/William_Shakespeare)*[The Life and Death of King John](/source/The_Life_and_Death_of_King_John)* in April 1965.[4][5][6] ## Career ### Gazzarri Dancer on *Hollywood A Go-Go* By mid-1965 Fairchild had been hired as a member of the [Gazzarri Dancers](/source/Gazzarri's) on the syndicated [variety show](/source/Variety_show) *[Hollywood A Go-Go](/source/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.[2][6] While on the show, June Fairchild and fellow dancer Mimi Machu created the Statue dance, a [fad dance](/source/Novelty_and_fad_dances) in which the dancers adopt stationary poses for a [measure](/source/Bar_(music)) 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](/source/Tommy_Sands_(American_singer)) 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.[6] ### Years of success During the 1960s, Fairchild lived with her then-boyfriend [Danny Hutton](/source/Danny_Hutton), the lead singer of [Three Dog Night](/source/Three_Dog_Night), for several years.[2] Despite some disagreement about the veracity of the claim,[7] Fairchild was credited with conceiving the band's name, Three Dog Night.[2] Fairchild co-starred in *[Head](/source/Head_(film))*, a vehicle for [The Monkees](/source/The_Monkees), in 1968; in *[Drive, He Said](/source/Drive,_He_Said)*, directed by [Jack Nicholson](/source/Jack_Nicholson); and *[Pretty Maids All in a Row](/source/Pretty_Maids_All_in_a_Row)*, directed by [Roger Vadim](/source/Roger_Vadim), in 1971; in *[Thunderbolt and Lightfoot](/source/Thunderbolt_and_Lightfoot)*, which starred [Clint Eastwood](/source/Clint_Eastwood) and [Jeff Bridges](/source/Jeff_Bridges), in 1974; and in the 1978 [Cheech & Chong](/source/Cheech_%26_Chong) film, *[Up in Smoke](/source/Up_in_Smoke)*, in which she appeared as a drug addict who snorts [Ajax](/source/Ajax_(cleaning_product)) soap powder.[2] ### Decline In her later life Fairchild lived on the streets of [Skid Row, Los Angeles](/source/Skid_Row,_Los_Angeles) due to her addictions.[2] In 2001, a reporter for the *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)* ran a story about Fairchild's past career in Hollywood and her present life on the streets of Los Angeles.[8] Fairchild was selling newspapers outside a Los Angeles courthouse at the time in an attempt to earn enough money for a [single-room occupancy](/source/Single-room_occupancy) hotel room.[2] On February 21, 2001, the same day that her story was published in the *Los Angeles Times*, police stopped her in [Van Nuys](/source/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](/source/Community_service) from a past [drunk driving](/source/Drunk_driving) conviction. Fairchild was sentenced to 90 days.[2] In 2002, Fairchild told the *Los Angeles Times* that her sentence had triggered a pledge of sobriety.[2] Friends told reporters that Fairchild remained sober until her death in 2015.[2] She spent the later years of her life living in single-room hotels in [downtown Los Angeles](/source/Downtown_Los_Angeles) using her [Social Security](/source/Social_Security_(United_States)) disability payments.[2] ## Death 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.[2] ## Partial filmography - *[Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows](/source/Where_Angels_Go,_Trouble_Follows)* (1968) - June[9] - *[Head](/source/Head_(film))* (1968) - The Jumper - *[Pretty Maids All in a Row](/source/Pretty_Maids_All_in_a_Row)* (1971) - Sonny - *[Drive, He Said](/source/Drive,_He_Said)* (1971) - Sylvie[2] - *[Summertree](/source/Summertree)* (1971) - Girl in Dorm - *[Top of the Heap](/source/Top_of_the_Heap_(film))* (1972) - Balloon Thrower - *[Your Three Minutes Are Up](/source/Your_Three_Minutes_Are_Up)* (1973) - Sandi - *[Detroit 9000](/source/Detroit_9000)* (1973) - Barbara (uncredited) - *[Thunderbolt and Lightfoot](/source/Thunderbolt_and_Lightfoot)* (1974) - Gloria[2] - *[Dirty O'Neil](/source/Dirty_O'Neil)* (1974) - Hitchhiker - *The Student Body* (1976) - Mitzi - *[Sextette](/source/Sextette)* (1978) - Woman Reporter - *[Up in Smoke](/source/Up_in_Smoke)* (1978) - Ajax Lady[2] (final film role) ## References 1. [https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-june-fairchild-20150219-story.html](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-june-fairchild-20150219-story.html) 1. Chawkins, Steve (2015-02-18). ["June Fairchild dies at 68; former actress lived on skid row"](http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-june-fairchild-20150219-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Retrieved 2015-03-15. 1. Lentz III, Harris (April 2015). "Obituaries". *Classic Images*. '***(478): 50–56.*** 1. "Actors to Stage Early Work of Shakespeare". *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. 28 March 1965. pp. CS16. 1. "Shakespeare's 'inner O' will rise again tonight during King John showing". *El Camino College Warwhoop*. 2 April 1965. p. 1. 1. Fairchild, June. ["Catch a Fallen Star"](http://www.barrsam.com/JuneFairchildBook/JuneFairchildBook.html). Retrieved 18 July 2020. 1. Van Dyke Parks (September 10, 2018). "I wuz nuts about Hutton's girlfriend. Quite a dancer. Yet, she didn't read Mankind magazine, nor have an inkling of anthtopology and the cold aboriginal nights that inspired my suggestion. Wiki duz need an edit.". No. 1039199643651821569. 1. Schwartz, Noaki (2001-02-21). ["A Fallen Star: Addiction: Former actress, now 54 and living on the streets, dreams of a movie comeback."](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-21-me-28123-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Retrieved 2015-03-15. 1. ["June's Easter Greeting (caption)"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2262129/where_angels_go/). *Independent*. Independent Press-Telegram. April 14, 1968. p. 36. Retrieved April 21, 2015. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) ## External links - [June Fairchild](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0265517/) at IMDb - [Draft of autobiography *Catch a Fallen Star*](http://www.barrsam.com/JuneFairchildBook/JuneFairchildBook.html) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [June Fairchild](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Fairchild) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Fairchild?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.