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==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
Taylor was born in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]],<ref name=Female>{{cite book|url=https:// | Taylor was born in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]],<ref name=Female>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FM9QAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA72|title=Dancing Female|editor-first1=Sharon E.|editor-last1=Friedler|editor-first2=Susan B.|editor-last2=Glazer|format=[[eBook]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=[[Milton Park]]|page=72|year=2014|isbn=9781134397976}}</ref><ref name=Hill>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HERDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA182|title=Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History|first=Constance Valis|last=Hill|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=[[Oxford]]|page=182|year=2014|isbn=9780190225384}}</ref> the daughter of Percival Guy Taylor (1893-1968)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L1HF-L1Y/percival-guy-taylor-1893-1968|title=Percival Guy Taylor|work=[[FamilySearch]]|publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]|accessdate=June 4, 2025}}</ref> and Angeline Veronica ([[Birth name#Maiden and married names|née]] Campbell) Taylor (1897-1977).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L1HF-VWJ/angeline-veronica-campbell-1897-1977|title=Angeline Veronica Campbell|work=[[FamilySearch]]|publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]|accessdate=June 4, 2025}}</ref><ref name=June/><ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2juntay.htm|title=June Taylor|publisher=StreetSwing.com|access-date=January 1, 2011}}</ref> Her sister, Marilyn, was born October 6, 1925.<ref name=Sister>{{cite news|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2019/04/03/jackie-gleasons-widow-marilyn-taylor-gleason-dies-in-fort-lauderdale/|title=Jackie Gleason's widow, Marilyn Taylor Gleason, dies in Fort Lauderdale|last=Rothaus|first=Steve|date=April 15, 2019|work=[[Sun Sentinel|Sun-Sentinel]]|publisher=[[Tribune Publishing]]|access-date=June 9, 2025}}</ref> | ||
==Career== | ==Career== | ||
===Early career=== | ===Early career=== | ||
Taylor started taking dance lessons at age eight; by age 13, she lied about her age to get into the chorus of ''[[George White's Scandals]]'' in her hometown<ref name=Female/><ref name=Osgood>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95BPAAAAIBAJ | Taylor started taking dance lessons at age eight; by age 13, she lied about her age to get into the chorus of ''[[George White's Scandals]]'' in her hometown<ref name=Female/><ref name=Osgood>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95BPAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA30&article_id=6959,4497244|title=June Taylor, She Gets Kick Out Of Career|first=Nancy|last=Osgood|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|publisher=[[Times Publishing Company]]|page=30|date=March 18, 1963|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate=June 3, 2025}}</ref> and became one of the dancers at the Chicago nightclub, [[Chez Paree]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/06/18/june-taylor-dancing-through-life/25526b06-76eb-4071-8559-63b3cdd0546a/|title=June Taylor - Dancing Through Life|first=Joeseph P.|last=Mastrangelo|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|publisher=[[Nash Holdings]]|date=June 17, 1978|accessdate=June 3, 2025}}</ref> At age 17, Taylor left Chicago to perform in [[London]] with the [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis Band]].<ref name=Female/> At age 19, she was touring the US and Europe as a dancer in various nightclubs. She returned from London and began performing again in Chicago. In 1938, at age 21, Taylor collapsed on stage, ill with [[tuberculosis]];<ref name=Female/><ref name=Hill/> she spent the next two years in a sanitarium,<ref name=bio/> after which she turned to [[choreography]], founding her own dance troupe in 1942,<ref name=Female/> which made its first professional appearance at Chicago's [[Blackhawk (restaurant)|Blackhawk restaurant]].<ref name=bio/><ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10913FC3E5B0C7B8DDDAC0894DC404482|title=June Taylor, 86, Dies: Created Gleason Dances|date=May 18, 2004|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 1, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lkvAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA10&article_id=2357,1794910|title=Precision Is Their Business June Taylor Is Known As Hardest-Driving Dancing Director|first=Celia|last=Webster|page=10|newspaper=[[Beaver Valley Times]]|publisher=[[Gannett]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|date=October 8, 1955|access-date=June 1, 2025}}</ref> | ||
Taylor's first troupe consisted of three friends and her sister, Marilyn, and opened for band leader [[Ted Weems]].<ref name=Female/><ref name=Esterbrook/> In 1946, she met [[Jackie Gleason]] at a [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] [[nightclub]].<ref name=Age>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPgoAAAAIBAJ | Taylor's first troupe consisted of three friends and her sister, Marilyn, and opened for band leader [[Ted Weems]].<ref name=Female/><ref name=Esterbrook/> In 1946, she met [[Jackie Gleason]] at a [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] [[nightclub]].<ref name=Age>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPgoAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA9&article_id=1930,5072991|title=Dancers With Precision|page=9|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|newspaper=[[The Age]]|publisher=[[Nine Entertainment]]|date=April 30, 1964|accessdate=June 7, 2025}}</ref><ref name=Coleman>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT178|title=Women in American Musical Theatre Essays on Composers, Lyricists, Librettists, Arrangers, Choreographers, Designers, Directors, Producers and Performance Artists|first=Bud|last=Coleman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2020|page=178|isbn=9781476607276}}</ref> The two became friends when Taylor helped Gleason overcome a case of stage fright.<ref name=Sun>{{cite news|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2004/05/18/june-taylor-diva-of-dance-for-jackie-gleason-dies-at-86/|title=June Taylor, diva of dance for Jackie Gleason, dies at 86|last=Zink|first=Jack|date=May 18, 2004|work=[[Sun Sentinel|Sun-Sentinel]]|publisher=[[Tribune Publishing]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref> In 1948, Taylor made her television debut on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|The Toast of the Town]]'' starring [[Ed Sullivan]],<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Sister/><ref name=Age/><ref name=Coleman/><ref name=Blade/> where six of her original dancers appeared as The Toastettes,<ref name=Coleman/> bringing the [[chorus line]] to [[television]].<ref name=Female/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MWQzAAAAIBAJ&pg=1198,3486819&dq=june+taylor&hl=en|title=I'm a Slave Driver Says June Taylor|date=November 10, 1959|last=O'Day|first=Billie|work=[[The Miami News]]|publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]|access-date=January 1, 2011}}</ref> In 1949, she crossed paths with Gleason on [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Broadway Spotlight]]''.<ref name=Coleman/> and joined Gleason's ''Cavalcade of Stars'',<ref name=Coleman/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xkkDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT331|title=The Golden Ham: A Candid Biography of Jackie Gleason|first=Jim|last=Bishop|page=331|publisher=Papamoa Press|location=[[London]]|year=2017|isbn=9781787204171}}</ref> and followed him, along with 16 dancers, to ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'',<ref name=Hill/><ref name=June>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QqAyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2859,2452478&dq=ted+weems&hl=en|title=June, As In Platoon; She's the Topkick|last=Schnier|first=Sanford|date=August 9, 1964|work=[[The Miami News]]|publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=December 31, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8LYwAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA1&article_id=1228,4432630|title=On The Screen. Gleason Dancers Belie Idea 2 Are Better Than 20.|first=Charles|last=Mercer|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]]|publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]]|date=January 30, 1957|accessdate=June 4, 2025}}</ref> where her signature was the overhead camera shot of the dancers making [[kaleidoscope|kaleidoscopic]] geometric patterns.<ref name=Blade>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWpPAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA8&article_id=5539,1093104|title=June Taylor|author=[[The New York Times]]|newspaper=[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|Toledo Blade]]|publisher=[[Block Communications]]|page=8|date=May 19, 2004|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate=June 3, 2025}}</ref> She opened up a dance school with instructors [[Tap dance|tap]], [[ballet]], and [[modern dancing]].<ref name=Age/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlJLAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA5&article_id=4639,5594866|title=16 Teenaged Girls Dance Summer Away At Fairs|first=Mary|last=Prime|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|page=5|newspaper=[[Oxnard Press-Courier]]|publisher=[[Thomson Corporation]]|date=August 29, 1958|accessdate=June 7, 2025}}</ref> | ||
[[File:June Taylor dancers gleason special.JPG|thumb|left|June Taylor Dancers with [[Jackie Gleason]] on one of his television specials.]] | [[File:June Taylor dancers gleason special.JPG|thumb|left|June Taylor Dancers with [[Jackie Gleason]] on one of his television specials.]] | ||
=== The June Taylor Dancers === | === The June Taylor Dancers === | ||
Taylor was initially dubious about joining Gleason on his [[DuMont Network]] show because it meant signing a long-term contract; her husband, Sol Lerner, suggested she take the offer.<ref name=Sun/> The high-kicking, smiling routines that formed the first three minutes of each broadcast were [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]-based and reminiscent of [[The Rockettes]].<ref name=Hill/> In addition to Gleason's show, the June Taylor Dancers also made appearances at the [[General Motors Motorama]] auto shows in [[New York City]] and [[Boston]] and on ''[[Stage Show]]''. Gleason and Taylor also worked together to produce a television ballet, ''Tawny'',<ref name=Bud>{{cite book|url=https:// | Taylor was initially dubious about joining Gleason on his [[DuMont Network]] show because it meant signing a long-term contract; her husband, Sol Lerner, suggested she take the offer.<ref name=Sun/> The high-kicking, smiling routines that formed the first three minutes of each broadcast were [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]-based and reminiscent of [[The Rockettes]].<ref name=Hill/> In addition to Gleason's show, the June Taylor Dancers also made appearances at the [[General Motors Motorama]] auto shows in [[New York City]] and [[Boston]] and on ''[[Stage Show]]''. Gleason and Taylor also worked together to produce a television ballet, ''Tawny'',<ref name=Bud>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT179|title=Women in American Musical Theatre Essays on Composers, Lyricists, Librettists, Arrangers, Choreographers, Designers, Directors, Producers and Performance Artists|first=Bud|last=Coleman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2020|page=179|isbn=9781476607276}}</ref> in 1953; the music was done by Gleason and the choreography by Taylor.<ref name=bio/><ref name=NYT/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19530603&id=EsgtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5483,817946|title=Jackie Gleason Gets Ovation as Composer-Conductor|date=June 3, 1953|last=Butterfield|first=C. E.|work=[[Reading Eagle]]|page=5483|publisher=[[Digital First Media]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2011}}</ref> In 1954, Gleason doubled the size of the dancers from sixteen to thirty-two.<ref name=Women>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT180|title=Women in American Musical Theatre Essays on Composers, Lyricists, Librettists, Arrangers, Choreographers, Designers, Directors, Producers and Performance Artists|first=Bud|last=Coleman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2020|page=180|isbn=9781476607276}}</ref> Taylor won an [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography|Emmy Award]] for [[choreography]] in 1955.<ref name=June/><ref name=NYT/><ref name=Blade/><ref name=Esterbrook/> | ||
The group of sixteen female dancers that performed Taylor's choreography on ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', was an incredibly talented group of women who produced an immense body of work and had a profound impact on the development of [[tap dance]] as an art form through the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=Constance>{{cite book|url=https:// | The group of sixteen female dancers that performed Taylor's choreography on ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', was an incredibly talented group of women who produced an immense body of work and had a profound impact on the development of [[tap dance]] as an art form through the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=Constance>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HERDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA181|title=Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History|first=Constance Valis|last=Hill|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=[[Oxford]]|page=181|year=2014|isbn=9780190225384}}</ref> At this time, tap dancers were struggling to find work as the public lost interest in tap and the professional dance economy collapsed. This so-called “death of tap” occurred for a variety of reasons, including new styles of music like [[bebop]] and [[rock and roll]], musicals such as ''[[Oklahoma!]]'' bringing ballet to the Broadway stage, laws taxing [[cabaret]] performances, and the growing ubiquity of television in people's homes.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200217630/|last=Hill|first=Constance Valis|title=Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2010|location=[[Oxford]]|isbn=978-0190225384}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dancespirit.com/taps-renaissance/#gsc.tab=0|title=Tap's Renaissance|work=Dance Spirit|publisher=Dance Media LLC|date=November 9, 2008|accessdate=June 11, 2025}}</ref> | ||
The complexity and excitement of a live tap performance simply did not translate to the small television screens. Blurry, pixelated screens and crude camerawork meant that the nuances of the movement were lost, and a dance form as specific and precise as tap suffered the most. This required stylistic innovation, with choreography that focused more on the larger shapes of the body instead of the intricate rhythms of the feet, so that it would appear dynamic on a small screen. Additionally, while professional dancers could previously perform the same routines again and again, television required an entirely new routine week after week. June Taylor took this in stride, telling [[The New York Times]] that “one of the first things I learned in television was the necessity of varying the style of the dancing each week … people want something new.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/20/archives/the-dance-as-a-tv-art-form-june-taylor-discourses-on-how-to-stage-a.html|last=Adams|first=Val|title=The Dance as a TV Art Form: June Taylor Discourses On How to Stage a Dance on Video|work=[[The New York Times | The complexity and excitement of a live tap performance simply did not translate to the small television screens. Blurry, pixelated screens and crude camerawork meant that the nuances of the movement were lost, and a dance form as specific and precise as tap suffered the most. This required stylistic innovation, with choreography that focused more on the larger shapes of the body instead of the intricate rhythms of the feet, so that it would appear dynamic on a small screen. Additionally, while professional dancers could previously perform the same routines again and again, television required an entirely new routine week after week. June Taylor took this in stride, telling [[The New York Times]] that “one of the first things I learned in television was the necessity of varying the style of the dancing each week … people want something new.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/20/archives/the-dance-as-a-tv-art-form-june-taylor-discourses-on-how-to-stage-a.html|last=Adams|first=Val|title=The Dance as a TV Art Form: June Taylor Discourses On How to Stage a Dance on Video|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 20, 1953}}</ref> Taylor's choreography does show a remarkable amount of variety, both within a single dance to keep viewers entertained and from week to week. | ||
One dance from the April 21, 1956, episode, titled “Bumble Boogie,” features a 13-year-old violin prodigy playing live while the dancers in bumblebee costumes spin and tap around him. The dance features a range of steps from [[classical ballet]] pique turns and saut de basques to popular [[Lindy Hop|lindy hop]] and [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]] steps. The formational changes are complex, and the movement is all very precisely timed, requiring an immense amount of rehearsal in just one week. Other dances they performed on the show involve complex tap dance sequences, kicklines, and even twirling and throwing hula hoops. They often involve June Taylor's signature overhead kaleidoscopic [[Busby Berkeley]]-esque shots, in which the dancers lie on the floor in a circle and move their legs to create different shapes together, an effect that could not be produced in a traditional stage setting.<ref name=Hill/> Due to the specific demands of television, the expectations of dancers changed, and it seems that those expectations became much harder to fulfill, as many dancers were not able to keep up. This emphasizes the unique hard work and success of June Taylor and her dancers, as they stepped up to fill the new roles created by the medium of television. | One dance from the April 21, 1956, episode, titled “Bumble Boogie,” features a 13-year-old violin prodigy playing live while the dancers in bumblebee costumes spin and tap around him. The dance features a range of steps from [[classical ballet]] pique turns and saut de basques to popular [[Lindy Hop|lindy hop]] and [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]] steps. The formational changes are complex, and the movement is all very precisely timed, requiring an immense amount of rehearsal in just one week. Other dances they performed on the show involve complex tap dance sequences, kicklines, and even twirling and throwing hula hoops. They often involve June Taylor's signature overhead kaleidoscopic [[Busby Berkeley]]-esque shots, in which the dancers lie on the floor in a circle and move their legs to create different shapes together, an effect that could not be produced in a traditional stage setting.<ref name=Hill/> Due to the specific demands of television, the expectations of dancers changed, and it seems that those expectations became much harder to fulfill, as many dancers were not able to keep up. This emphasizes the unique hard work and success of June Taylor and her dancers, as they stepped up to fill the new roles created by the medium of television. | ||
[[Mercedes Ellington]], granddaughter of [[Duke Ellington]] and daughter of [[Mercer Ellington]], became the group's first and only African-American dancer in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|title=Show Business' Newest Ellington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tf7QCEexk4wC&pg=PA67|page=67|date=December 1963|work=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8EDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61|page=61|title=Pick Duke's Granddaughter As June Taylor Dancer|date=September 26, 1963|work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https:// | [[Mercedes Ellington]], granddaughter of [[Duke Ellington]] and daughter of [[Mercer Ellington]], became the group's first and only African-American dancer in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|title=Show Business' Newest Ellington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tf7QCEexk4wC&pg=PA67|page=67|date=December 1963|work=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8EDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61|page=61|title=Pick Duke's Granddaughter As June Taylor Dancer|date=September 26, 1963|work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RVBDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT48|title=Last Stage Manager Standing|first=Craig|last=Bohlin|page=4|publisher=Page Publishing|location=[[Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania|Conneaut Lake]]|year=2022|isbn=9781640828421}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssMBzqrUpjwC&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA204|title=Notable Black American Women: Book II|first=Jessie Carney|last=Smith|page=204|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Research]]|location=[[Farmington Hills, Michigan|Farmington Hills]]|year=1992|isbn=9780810391772}}</ref> In a [[Dance Magazine]] article after Taylor's death, Mercedes Ellington emphasized Taylor's role as a mentor in her career, saying that “she looked after me.”<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ellington|first=Mercedes|title=Choreographer-director Mercedes Ellington talks about June Taylor (1917-2004)|work=[[Dance Magazine]]|publisher=Dance Media LLC|date=October 2004}}</ref> | ||
In 1964, Gleason moved his television show to the [[Miami Beach Convention Center|Miami Beach Civic Auditorium]].<ref name=Theatre>{{cite book|url=https:// | In 1964, Gleason moved his television show to the [[Miami Beach Convention Center|Miami Beach Civic Auditorium]].<ref name=Theatre>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT181|title=Women in American Musical Theatre Essays on Composers, Lyricists, Librettists, Arrangers, Choreographers, Designers, Directors, Producers and Performance Artists|first=Bud|last=Coleman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2020|page=181|isbn=9781476607276}}</ref> As a result, Taylor closed her dance school in New York in 1964<ref name=Female/> and moved to Florida where she found that her health improved.<ref name=Theatre/> In 1965, the June Taylor Dancers added male performers to the troupe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IrgyAAAAIBAJ&pg=579,1421244&dq=june+taylor&hl=en|title=June Taylor Dancers Going to Add Men|last=Ash|first=Agnes|date=August 5, 1965|work=[[The Miami News]]|publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]|access-date=January 1, 2011}}</ref> | ||
===Later career=== | ===Later career=== | ||
In 1978, Taylor, who lived in [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]], after Gleason moved production of his show from New York to [[Miami Beach]], began choreographing the [[Miami Dolphins]] [[cheerleader|cheerleading squad]], the Dolphin Starbrites, and served in this capacity until 1990.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Blade/><ref name=Ledger>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODhOAAAAIBAJ | In 1978, Taylor, who lived in [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]], after Gleason moved production of his show from New York to [[Miami Beach]], began choreographing the [[Miami Dolphins]] [[cheerleader|cheerleading squad]], the Dolphin Starbrites, and served in this capacity until 1990.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Blade/><ref name=Ledger>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODhOAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA15&article_id=4893,6045540|page=15|title=Choreographer June Taylor Dies At 86|author=[[Associated Press]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|newspaper=[[Lakeland Ledger]]|publisher=[[Gannett]]|date=May 19, 2004|accessdate=June 4, 2025}}</ref> The Starbrites, famous for their one-piece [[bathing suit]]s and [[go-go boot]]s, performed Broadway-style [[halftime show]]s.<ref name=Esterbrook>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dance-legend-june-taylor-dies/|title=Dance Legend June Taylor Dies|last=Esterbrook|first=John|date=May 18, 2004|work=[[CBS News]]|publisher=[[CBS News and Stations]]|access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref> In February 1992, she produced and directed [[UNICEF]]'s ''A Tribute to the World's Children''.<ref name=Friedler>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FM9QAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA73|title=Dancing Female|editor-first1=Sharon E.|editor-last1=Friedler|editor-first2=Susan B.|editor-last2=Glazer|format=[[eBook]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=[[Milton Park]]|page=73|year=2014|isbn=9781134397976}}</ref> In 1991, Taylor was honored for her contributions to dance at the [[Capezio#Capezio Dance Award|Capezio Awards]].<ref name=Friedler/> | ||
==Personal life and death== | ==Personal life and death== | ||
Taylor's father died in 1968 | Taylor's father died in 1968 after killing his current wife and himself in a murder-suicide.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSgsAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA12&article_id=817,1303361|title=June Taylor's Father Kills Himself|author=[[Associated Press]]|page=12|newspaper=[[Times Daily]]|publisher=Tennessee Valley Printing Co., Inc.|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|date=March 9, 1968|accessdate=June 1, 2025}}</ref> Her mother died in February 1977 at 79 years old.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-obituary-for-angelina-ta/37462463/|title=Angeline Taylor, dancer's mother|first=|last=|newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]]|publisher=[[Times Publishing Company]]|page=37|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|date=February 11, 1977|accessdate=June 12, 2025}}</ref> She married theatrical attorney Sol Lerner in 1945;<ref name=Osgood/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW5QAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22&pg=PA34&article_id=5256,2583365|title=From Chorus Line To Cheerleading|author=Day Digest|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|page=34|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|publisher=[[Times Publishing Company]]|date=June 26, 1978|accessdate=June 4, 2025}}</ref> the couple had no children.<ref name=June/><ref name=bio/> Lerner died in 1986<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-obituary-for-sol/37410161/|title=Obituary for SOL LERNER (Aged 77)|newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]]|page=24|date=October 17, 1986|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate=June 3, 2025}}</ref> Her sister, and sometime dance partner, Marilyn Taylor Horwich, became Jackie Gleason's third wife in 1975.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iwEkAAAAIBAJ&pg=6167,5582544&dq=jackie+gleason&hl=en|title=Jackie Gleason To Marry For Third Time Tuesday|date=December 12, 1975|newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]|publisher=[[Gannett]]|access-date=November 19, 2010}}</ref> | ||
Taylor died on May 16, 2004, at the [[Miami Heart Institute]], in [[Miami, Florida]], from natural causes, aged 86.<ref name=Sun/><ref name=Blade/><ref name=Esterbrook/> She is buried in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, near Gleason's outdoor mausoleum.<ref name=NYT/> and next to her husband and attorney, Sol Lerner.<ref>{{cite book|url=https:// | Taylor died on May 16, 2004, at the [[Miami Heart Institute]], in [[Miami, Florida]], from natural causes, aged 86.<ref name=Sun/><ref name=Blade/><ref name=Esterbrook/> She is buried in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, near Gleason's outdoor mausoleum.<ref name=NYT/> and next to her husband and attorney, Sol Lerner.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA735|title=Resting Places The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|first=Scott|last=Wilson|page=735|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2016|edition=3rd|isbn=9781476625997}}</ref> In addition to her sister, Taylor was survived by a nephew, Craig Horwich.<ref name=Ledger/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2004/05/18/Choreographer-June-Taylor-dies-in-Miami/38271084885836/|title=Choreographer June Taylor dies in Miami|author=UPI Staff|newspaper=[[UPI]]|publisher=[[News World Communications]]|date=May 18, 2004|accessdate=June 1, 2025}}</ref> | ||
==In popular culture== | ==In popular culture== | ||
| Line 62: | Line 62: | ||
==Credits== | ==Credits== | ||
*Ed Sullivan's ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|Toast of the Town]]'' - 1948 – 49<ref name=Musical>{{cite book|url=https:// | *Ed Sullivan's ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|Toast of the Town]]'' - 1948 – 49<ref name=Musical>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22June+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT182|title=Women in American Musical Theatre Essays on Composers, Lyricists, Librettists, Arrangers, Choreographers, Designers, Directors, Producers and Performance Artists|first=Bud|last=Coleman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|year=2020|page=182|isbn=9781476607276}}</ref> | ||
*''[[The Broadway Spotlight]]'' 1949<ref name=Musical/> | *''[[The Broadway Spotlight]]'' 1949<ref name=Musical/> | ||
*Jackie Gleason's ''Cavalcade of Stars'' - 1950 – 52<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Musical/> | *Jackie Gleason's ''[[Cavalcade of Stars (TV series)|Cavalcade of Stars]]'' - 1950 – 52<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Musical/> | ||
*''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'' - 1952 – 59; 1962 – 70<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Musical/> | *''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'' - 1952 – 59; 1962 – 70<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Musical/> | ||
*''[[Stage Show]]'' - 1955 – 56 | *''[[Stage Show]]'' - 1955 – 56 | ||
Latest revision as of 17:36, 4 December 2025
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Marjorie June Taylor (December 14, 1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American choreographer, best known as the founder of the June Taylor Dancers, who were featured on Jackie Gleason's various television variety programs.
Early life
Taylor was born in Chicago,[1][2] the daughter of Percival Guy Taylor (1893-1968)[3] and Angeline Veronica (née Campbell) Taylor (1897-1977).[4][5][6] Her sister, Marilyn, was born October 6, 1925.[7]
Career
Early career
Taylor started taking dance lessons at age eight; by age 13, she lied about her age to get into the chorus of George White's Scandals in her hometown[1][8] and became one of the dancers at the Chicago nightclub, Chez Paree.[9] At age 17, Taylor left Chicago to perform in London with the Ted Lewis Band.[1] At age 19, she was touring the US and Europe as a dancer in various nightclubs. She returned from London and began performing again in Chicago. In 1938, at age 21, Taylor collapsed on stage, ill with tuberculosis;[1][2] she spent the next two years in a sanitarium,[6] after which she turned to choreography, founding her own dance troupe in 1942,[1] which made its first professional appearance at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant.[6][10][11]
Taylor's first troupe consisted of three friends and her sister, Marilyn, and opened for band leader Ted Weems.[1][12] In 1946, she met Jackie Gleason at a Baltimore nightclub.[13][14] The two became friends when Taylor helped Gleason overcome a case of stage fright.[15] In 1948, Taylor made her television debut on The Toast of the Town starring Ed Sullivan,[2][7][13][14][16] where six of her original dancers appeared as The Toastettes,[14] bringing the chorus line to television.[1][17] In 1949, she crossed paths with Gleason on NBC's The Broadway Spotlight.[14] and joined Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars,[14][18] and followed him, along with 16 dancers, to The Jackie Gleason Show,[2][5][19] where her signature was the overhead camera shot of the dancers making kaleidoscopic geometric patterns.[16] She opened up a dance school with instructors tap, ballet, and modern dancing.[13][20]
The June Taylor Dancers
Taylor was initially dubious about joining Gleason on his DuMont Network show because it meant signing a long-term contract; her husband, Sol Lerner, suggested she take the offer.[15] The high-kicking, smiling routines that formed the first three minutes of each broadcast were Broadway-based and reminiscent of The Rockettes.[2] In addition to Gleason's show, the June Taylor Dancers also made appearances at the General Motors Motorama auto shows in New York City and Boston and on Stage Show. Gleason and Taylor also worked together to produce a television ballet, Tawny,[21] in 1953; the music was done by Gleason and the choreography by Taylor.[6][10][22] In 1954, Gleason doubled the size of the dancers from sixteen to thirty-two.[23] Taylor won an Emmy Award for choreography in 1955.[5][10][16][12]
The group of sixteen female dancers that performed Taylor's choreography on The Jackie Gleason Show, was an incredibly talented group of women who produced an immense body of work and had a profound impact on the development of tap dance as an art form through the 1950s and 1960s.[24] At this time, tap dancers were struggling to find work as the public lost interest in tap and the professional dance economy collapsed. This so-called “death of tap” occurred for a variety of reasons, including new styles of music like bebop and rock and roll, musicals such as Oklahoma! bringing ballet to the Broadway stage, laws taxing cabaret performances, and the growing ubiquity of television in people's homes.[25][26]
The complexity and excitement of a live tap performance simply did not translate to the small television screens. Blurry, pixelated screens and crude camerawork meant that the nuances of the movement were lost, and a dance form as specific and precise as tap suffered the most. This required stylistic innovation, with choreography that focused more on the larger shapes of the body instead of the intricate rhythms of the feet, so that it would appear dynamic on a small screen. Additionally, while professional dancers could previously perform the same routines again and again, television required an entirely new routine week after week. June Taylor took this in stride, telling The New York Times that “one of the first things I learned in television was the necessity of varying the style of the dancing each week … people want something new.”[27] Taylor's choreography does show a remarkable amount of variety, both within a single dance to keep viewers entertained and from week to week.
One dance from the April 21, 1956, episode, titled “Bumble Boogie,” features a 13-year-old violin prodigy playing live while the dancers in bumblebee costumes spin and tap around him. The dance features a range of steps from classical ballet pique turns and saut de basques to popular lindy hop and Charleston steps. The formational changes are complex, and the movement is all very precisely timed, requiring an immense amount of rehearsal in just one week. Other dances they performed on the show involve complex tap dance sequences, kicklines, and even twirling and throwing hula hoops. They often involve June Taylor's signature overhead kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeley-esque shots, in which the dancers lie on the floor in a circle and move their legs to create different shapes together, an effect that could not be produced in a traditional stage setting.[2] Due to the specific demands of television, the expectations of dancers changed, and it seems that those expectations became much harder to fulfill, as many dancers were not able to keep up. This emphasizes the unique hard work and success of June Taylor and her dancers, as they stepped up to fill the new roles created by the medium of television.
Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of Duke Ellington and daughter of Mercer Ellington, became the group's first and only African-American dancer in 1963.[28][29][30][31] In a Dance Magazine article after Taylor's death, Mercedes Ellington emphasized Taylor's role as a mentor in her career, saying that “she looked after me.”[32]
In 1964, Gleason moved his television show to the Miami Beach Civic Auditorium.[33] As a result, Taylor closed her dance school in New York in 1964[1] and moved to Florida where she found that her health improved.[33] In 1965, the June Taylor Dancers added male performers to the troupe.[34]
Later career
In 1978, Taylor, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after Gleason moved production of his show from New York to Miami Beach, began choreographing the Miami Dolphins cheerleading squad, the Dolphin Starbrites, and served in this capacity until 1990.[10][16][35] The Starbrites, famous for their one-piece bathing suits and go-go boots, performed Broadway-style halftime shows.[12] In February 1992, she produced and directed UNICEF's A Tribute to the World's Children.[36] In 1991, Taylor was honored for her contributions to dance at the Capezio Awards.[36]
Personal life and death
Taylor's father died in 1968 after killing his current wife and himself in a murder-suicide.[37] Her mother died in February 1977 at 79 years old.[38] She married theatrical attorney Sol Lerner in 1945;[8][39] the couple had no children.[5][6] Lerner died in 1986[40] Her sister, and sometime dance partner, Marilyn Taylor Horwich, became Jackie Gleason's third wife in 1975.[41]
Taylor died on May 16, 2004, at the Miami Heart Institute, in Miami, Florida, from natural causes, aged 86.[15][16][12] She is buried in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, near Gleason's outdoor mausoleum.[10] and next to her husband and attorney, Sol Lerner.[42] In addition to her sister, Taylor was survived by a nephew, Craig Horwich.[35][43]
In popular culture
- The character June from Playhouse Disney's Little Einsteins is named after her as an honor.
- On May 9, 2000, Taylor was interviewed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television. This interview can be seen at the Archive's website.[44]
- In 2001, Taylor was featured on episodes of A&E's TVOGRAPHY, a program about America's favorite TV shows.
Credits
- Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town - 1948 – 49[45]
- The Broadway Spotlight 1949[45]
- Jackie Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars - 1950 – 52[2][45]
- The Jackie Gleason Show - 1952 – 59; 1962 – 70[2][45]
- Stage Show - 1955 – 56
- What's My Line? - 1956
References
- Notes
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External links
- Template:Trim/ June Taylor at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata
Watch
- June Taylor Interview Seven part interview at Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation.
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Categories:
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1917 births
- 2004 deaths
- American female dancers
- Dancers from Illinois
- Dancers from Florida
- American choreographers
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Artists from Chicago
- Artists from Miami
- 20th-century American dancers
- 20th-century American women
- 21st-century American women