June Dayton

June Dayton, born Mary June Wetzel on August 24, 1923, in Dayton, Ohio, was an American actress whose career spanned Broadway, television, and film from the 1940s through the 1980s. She derived her professional surname from her Ohio hometown. Her path to acting began through a dramatic arts course she took in college.

Dayton's Broadway career ran from 1946 to 1949 and encompassed three productions. Her earliest credit was Lovely Me in 1946, followed by Tenting Tonight in 1947, and The Ivy Green in 1949. Beyond Broadway, she spent several years working in summer stock theater and in 1951 traveled to Australia to tour in a production of The Moon Is Blue.

Her television work was extensive, beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the 1980s. She held recurring roles on several series, portraying Mary Aldrich on The Aldrich Family, Patsy Hamilton on The Brighter Day, Jennifer on A Date with Life, Grace Baden on Lucas Tanner, and Lucy Spaulding on Paradise Bay. Among her most notable guest appearances was the role of Helen Turner in The Twilight Zone episode "A Penny for Your Thoughts," which also featured Dick York. She made five appearances on Perry Mason across different seasons: in 1957 as defendant Myrna Davenport in "The Case of the Runaway Corpse," in 1958 as defendant Sue Hardisty in "The Case of the Buried Clock," and in 1960 as Alice Gorman in "The Case of the Ill-Fated Faker." Dayton played Catherine Driscoll in the Dennis the Menace episode "The Party Line" on CBS, and appeared in an Armstrong Circle Theatre installment titled "Divorcees Anonymous."

Her guest work extended across a wide range of series, including Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Theatre, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, The Investigators, The Fugitive, The F.B.I., and Quincy, M.E. She appeared in two episodes of Cannon, playing Susan Kendrix in the September 1971 episode "Death Chain" and Nurse Laura Meader in the February 1974 episode "Blood Money." Dayton made three appearances on Barnaby Jones: as Mrs. Andrews in the January 1974 episode "The Platinum Connection," as Pam Hogan in the October 1974 episode "Odd Man Loses," and as Marie Adams in the March 1979 episode "Child of Love Child of Vengeance: Part 1." In 1965, she was cast as Virginia Farragut in "The Battle of San Francisco Bay" for the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days, and in 1969 she starred in the Land of the Giants episode "Home Sweet Home." She also appeared in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show involving a former army buddy whom Rob suspected of being a jewel thief.

Dayton's film credits included Twilight of Honor (1963), One Man's Way (1963), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Something for Joey (1977), Deadman's Curve (1978), and The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 (1978).

In her personal life, Dayton married actor Dean Harens in 1947, and the marriage continued until her death. She died of cancer in Sherman Oaks, California, on June 13, 1994, at the age of 70.