June Travis was a talented actress born June Dorothea Grabiner on August 7, 1914, in Chicago. She was the daughter of Harry Grabiner, who was a team secretary and/or vice-president of the Cleveland Indians and later the Chicago White Sox. Her father would go on to be remembered for his famous diaries of his experiences.
June attended Parkside Grammar School and the Starrett School for Girls before moving to Los Angeles to study drama at the University of California. She was spotted by a talent agent while watching a White Sox spring training session and was soon signed by Warner Bros. in 1934.
June made her film debut the following year, but her career was short-lived, lasting only three years before she left Hollywood to focus on marriage. During her time in Hollywood, she appeared in a number of films, including "Jailbreak" (1936),"The Case of the Black Cat" (1936),"Ceiling Zero" (1936),"Earthworm Tractors" (1936),"The Gladiator" (1938),"Love Is on the Air" (1937),"Go Chase Yourself" (1938),"Mr. Doodle Kicks Off" (1938),"Little Orphan Annie" (1938),"Circus Girl" (1937),and "Over the Goal" (1937).
After leaving Hollywood, June returned to Chicago and married businessman Fred Friedlob in 1940. The couple had two daughters, Cathy and June Jr., and settled in the Lincoln Park area. June continued to work in theater, appearing in summer stock on the East Coast and in Chicago, and even helped inaugurate the Joseph Jefferson Awards to honor Chicago's best in theater.
June's husband passed away in 1979, and she never remarried. She was the companion of Erwin Gruen, a master metalworker, until his death in 2006. June herself passed away on April 14, 2008, at the age of 93, due to complications from a stroke she suffered weeks earlier.
