{{Short description|English model and actress (1940–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = June Wilkinson | image = June_Wilkinson.jpg | caption = Wilkinson in 1960 | alt = B/w image of a busty brunette in a short, sleeveless, striped top with a scoop neckline, sitting knees tucked and both hands in her lap | birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|03|27|df=y}} | birth_place = Eastbourne, East Sussex, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|07|21|1940|03|27|df=y}} | death_place = Long Beach, California, U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|Dan Pastorini|1973|1982|end=divorced}} | children = 1 | height = {{height|ft=5|in=6}} | website = }}
'''June Rose Wilkinson''' (27 March 1940 – 21 July 2025)<ref name=nyt>{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Alex |date=11 September 2025 |title=June Wilkinson, Pinup Star and Screen Siren, Is Dead at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/movies/june-wilkinson-dead.html |access-date=11 September 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> was an English model and actress who appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine and in films of the 1960s. One of the world's most-photographed women in the late 1950s and early 1960s, at the height of her career she was called "the most photographed nude in America".<ref name="Wilkinson-42">{{cite magazine |date=Spring 1995 |title=June Wilkinson |magazine=Psychotronic Video |url=https://archive.org/stream/Psychotronic_Video_20/Psychotronic_Video_20_djvu.txt |page=42 |volume=20 |last=Wilkinson |first=June |interviewer-last1=Johnston |interviewer-first1=Ian}}</ref> She was married to NFL quarterback and B-movie star Dan Pastorini from 1973 to 1982.
==Life and career== June Wilkinson was born 27 March 1940 in Eastbourne, England.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=June |title=June's FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) |url=http://www.junewilkinson.com/june_wilkinson10.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219121926/http://www.junewilkinson.com/june_wilkinson10.htm |archive-date=19 December 2010 |access-date=30 December 2010 |website=junewilkinson.com}}</ref><ref name=sussexworld /> Having started as a stage performer at the age of 12, she went on to become the youngest topless dancer, at the age of 15, at the Windmill Theatre in London from 1957 to 1958.<ref name="Wilkinson-42" /> During a promotional tour in the United States, she was discovered by Hugh Hefner. Her first appearance in ''Playboy'', in September 1958, was titled "The Bosom".<ref name="Wilkinson-43">Wilkinson (1995), p.43.</ref> She was a brunette in those days, but in later shoots she was a blonde.
Wilkinson's second ''Playboy'' appearance was photographed by Russ Meyer. Meyer was an independent photographer at the time, and filming his ground-breaking ''The Immoral Mr. Teas'' (1959). Because she was under contract to Seven Arts at the time, Wilkinson could not officially appear in Meyer's film. However, as an uncredited and unpaid favor to the director, Wilkinson's breasts can be seen through a window in one scene.<ref name="Wilkinson-43" />
Wilkinson appeared in ''Playboy'' again in August 1959 in a spread titled "The Bosom in Hollywood".<ref name="Wilkinson-43" /> During this period, she appeared with Spike Jones' band, together with actor Billy Barty. Recalling this period in her career, Wilkinson later remembered Barty with affection, but commented that off-stage, Jones had no sense of humor.<ref name="Wilkinson-43" /> In 1960, Wilkinson was featured in ''Playboy'' five times, in June, July, August, October, and again in November. Her feature in the November issue was titled "The Bosom Revisits Playboy".<ref name="Wilkinson-46">Wilkinson (1995), p.46.</ref> Wilkinson appeared in the 1960 voodoo film, ''Macumba Love'', which promoted her measurements as "44-20-36".<ref name="Wilkinson-46" /> At times reported as up to "45-22-35", in 1963 Wilkinson stated that her measurements were actually "40-22-35".<ref name="Wilkinson-42" />
In 1961 Wilkinson made several stage appearances on the U.S. West coast with performers such as Louis Jourdan in ''The Marriage-Go-Round'', Sylvia Sidney in ''Come Blow Your Horn'' and Milton Berle in ''Norman, Is That You?''.<ref name="Wilkinson-47">Wilkinson (1995), p.47.</ref> She had a brief role in John Cassavetes' 1962 film, ''Too Late Blues''.<ref name="Wilkinson-47" />
In December 1962, Wilkinson made her last appearance in ''Playboy'', though her photos continued to appear in the magazine in anniversary and retrospective features.<ref name="Wilkinson-47" /> Though she was never an official Playboy Playmate, she was featured in the magazine on seven separate occasions and was one of the magazine's most popular photo subjects. She appeared in more than fifty other men's magazines and newspapers from 1958 to 1970, making her one of the most-photographed models of the era.
Wilkinson was the star of director Myron Gold's 1963 film, ''La Rabia'' or ''The Rage''. Directed in Mexico City, the film has Wilkinson as a stripper with a gigolo boyfriend.<ref name="Wilkinson-47" /> She met Dan Pastorini, NFL quarterback for the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders in 1972, and they were married in 1973.<ref name="Wilkinson-48">Wilkinson (1995), p.48.</ref> They co-starred in the 1974 film ''Florida Connection'' (also known as ''Weed''), for the producer of ''Rage''. The couple divorced in 1982, and Wilkinson never remarried.<ref name="Wilkinson-49">Wilkinson (1995), p.49.</ref> She has a daughter, Brahna, by Pastorini.
In the 1970s–1980s Wilkinson starred in a series of sex comedy teasers, such as "Three in a Bedroom", "The Ninety-Day Mistress" (with Eve McVeagh) and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"<ref>{{cite web |last=Brumburgh |first=Gary |title=June Wilkinson biography |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0929418/bio |access-date=14 September 2025 |publisher=IMDb}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=user-generated content|date=September 2025}}
In 1997, in her late 50s, June came back for another nude shoot in ''The Best of Glamour Girls: Then and Now'' vol. 2 (Winter 1997). In 1999 when ''Playboy'' published its list of the "100 Sexiest Stars of the Century", June came in at #30.
Wilkinson died on 21 July 2025, at home in Long Beach, California, at the age of 85.<ref name=sussexworld>{{Cite web |date=23 July 2025 |title=Obituary: June Wilkinson (27 March 1940 – 21 July 2025) |url=https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/community/obituary-june-wilkinson-27-march-1940-21-july-2025-5238990 |access-date=28 July 2025 |website=SussexWorld |language=en}}</ref><ref name=nyt />
==Filmography== * ''Thunder in the Sun'' (1959) as Buxom Blonde at Marie's Place (uncredited) * ''Mr. Tease and His Playthings'' as Nude Torso in the Window (uncredited) * ''Grand Jury'' (1960) as Unknown (uncredited) * ''The Private Lives of Adam and Eve'' (1960) as Saturday * ''Career Girl'' (1960) as Joan * ''Macumba Love'' (1960) as Sara * ''77 Sunset Strip'' (1961) as Little Maxine * ''Too Late Blues'' (1961) as 'Shorty', Girl at Bar (uncredited) * ''The Continental Twist'' (1961) as Jenny Watson * ''Lover Come Back'' (1961) as Sigrid Freud, Stripper On Standee * ''The Bellboy and the Playgirls'' (1962) as Madame Wimpepoole * ''The Rage'' (1962) as Rita, The Starlet * ''Who's Got the Action?'' (1962) as Bride (uncredited) * ''The Candidate'' (1964) as Angela Wallace * ''Batman'' (1968) as Evelina * ''The Doris Day Show'' (1971) as Laura * ''The ABC Comedy Hour'' (1972) as Unknown * ''The Mack'' (1973) as Unknown (uncredited) * ''The Florida Connection'' (1975) as Britt Claiborne * ''Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie'' (1984) as Randy * ''Texas Godfather'' (1985) as Audrey * ''Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter'' (1986) as Mrs. Cromwell * ''Talking Walls'' (1987) as Blonde * ''Medium Rare'' (1987) as Unknown * ''Keaton's Cop'' (1990) as Sandra 'Big Mama' Channing * ''Three Bad Men'' (2005) as Billie
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Parla|first=Paul|author2=Charles P. Mitchell |title=Screen Sirens Scream! Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s|chapter=June Wilkinson: Defying Macumba Love|pages=223–238|year=2000|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C. and London|isbn=0-7864-0701-8}}
==External links== * [http://www.JuneWilkinson.com Official site] * {{IMDb name|id=0929418}} * {{discogs artist|June Wilkinson}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, June}} Category:1940 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century English actresses Category:English female models Category:Actresses from Eastbourne Category:English expatriate actresses in the United States