Glamorous June Duprez was born in Teddington, England, during an air
raid on May 14, 1918. Her father,
Fred Duprez, was an American vaudevillian
who found stage and film work in England. She herself picked up an
interest in performing and eventually joined the Coventry Repertory
Company to gather the necessary stage experience.
June made her film debut as an extra in 1935. She married at a young
age and her career was initially encouraged by her first husband, a
Harley Street doctor. However, once she started flirting with stardom,
he became increasingly envious and possessive and their marriage fell
apart. Her sultry and exotic appearances in such British films as
Der Spion in Schwarz (1939),
Vier Federn (1939) and,
especially, Alexander Korda's
Der Dieb von Bagdad (1940)
made a star out of her and she was quickly ushered to Hollywood to
capitalize on this newly-found fame. Although she stayed in America
throughout WWII, both Korda and June's agent set her price too high--at
$50,000 per picture. This pretty much put her out of contention and she
found herself working very little in the next few years. Her most
notable American picture during that time was
None But the Lonely Heart (1944)
opposite Cary Grant.
June subsequently left Hollywood in 1946 and took a few roles on the
Broadway stage. She retired altogether when she married for a second
time in 1948 to a well-to-do sportsman. They had two daughters but
divorced in 1965. June lived in Rome for a time, then returned to
London to live out the remainder of her life. She died in 1984 at age
66 following an extended illness.
