June Preisser

June Preisser (June 26, 1918 – September 19, 1984) was an American actress and acrobat from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose Broadway career spanned from 1934 to 1942 and whose acrobatic skills became a defining feature of her work in musical films during the late 1930s and 1940s. One of six children, Preisser began training at an athletic club as a child in an effort to build strength and gain weight. There she and her sister Cherry developed a proficiency in acrobatics. Following the sudden death of their father, their mother encouraged both daughters to pursue careers in show business. When Preisser was nine, an actor who observed the sisters performing acrobatics near their home facilitated their entry into vaudeville. The two eventually performed for the Ziegfeld Follies, with Broadway appearances in 1934 and 1936. The Preisser sisters also performed in Europe, including a performance for George VI of the United Kingdom.

Cherry Preisser retired from performing after her marriage on June 22, 1937, bringing the sisters' act to a close. June continued as a solo performer, appearing in 1938 in the Broadway musical You Never Know. She later appeared in the Broadway musical Count Me In, rounding out a stage career that included credits in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931.

MGM signed Preisser to a film contract, and her first feature, Dancing Co-Ed (1939), offered her a limited role. Her profile rose considerably with Babes in Arms (1939), in which she appeared alongside Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. She reunited with Rooney and Garland in Strike Up the Band (1940) and appeared with Rooney in two entries in the Andy Hardy series, Judge Hardy and Son (1939) and Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941). In 1940 she appeared in Gallant Sons, a comedic murder mystery, and in 1941 she took her first lead role opposite Jimmy Lydon in Henry Aldrich for President. The following year she appeared opposite Eddie Bracken in Sweater Girl (1942).

Preisser married radio announcer J. Moss Terry in 1942. The couple had a son, Richard Josiah Terry, the following year, and later divorced. As MGM reduced its investment in her career, Preisser moved to Monogram Pictures, where she appeared in a series of musical comedies. From 1946 to 1948 she played the character Dodie Rogers in seven films in The Teen Agers series, alongside Freddie Stewart, Frankie Darro, and Noel Neill. Her final film appearance came in Music Man (1948). She subsequently appeared in a Los Angeles theater production of Annie Get Your Gun before retiring from acting in the early 1950s.

Following her retirement, Preisser taught dancing and acrobatics in Los Angeles before relocating to Boca Raton, Florida, with her son. From 1972 until her death she worked at Pompano Office Supply alongside Richard Terry. In the early morning hours of September 19, 1984, Preisser was a passenger in her son's car in Pompano Beach, Florida, when a van crossed the median into their lane under rainy conditions. Richard Terry died at the scene. Preisser died later that day from her injuries at North Broward Medical Center.