Vinnie Burns

Vinnie Burns (June 1, 1897 – August 3, 1969) was an American actress whose career spanned both stage and film. Born with the name she would carry through most of her professional life, Burns began performing at an exceptionally young age, taking the stage in a production of Ben Hur at the age of five.

Her Broadway work came in 1906, when she appeared in a theatrical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing the role of Moth. That same year marked her credited Broadway appearance, connecting her early stage work to the legitimate theater of the era.

Around 1911, Burns transitioned into film when she joined the Solax Film Company, where she worked on pictures directed by Alice Guy. Her most historically significant screen role came in 1912, when she portrayed the title character in an adaptation of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist — the first film version of that novel ever produced. The film survives to this day as an extant print.

Burns continued building her film career through the early to mid-1910s, appearing in such productions as The Beasts of the Jungle (1913), Dick Whittington and His Cat (1913), The Temptations of Satan (1914) in which she played Everygirl, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1914) in which she portrayed Rosa Budd. Beginning in 1915, she adopted the screen name June Daye, a credit she used through productions including Heartaches (1915), From Champion to Tramp (1915), Love and Bullets (1916), and The Heart's Tribute (1916). By 1919 she had returned to performing under her birth name. Her later film appearances included The Derelict (1917), Uncle John's Money (1917), Trooper 44 as Ruth Moreland, Wild Honey (1918) as Trixianita, His Model Day (1921), and The Rich Slave (1921). The Exhibitors' Times noted her fearlessness as a performer.