Miss Crabtree Remembered

The lovely face above is that of actress June Marlowe (1903-1984) who is probably best remembered as the teacher in a number of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" comedies. She had a nice career modelling and in movies and a very interesting life. All of that is captured over on this website devoted to her, including rare photos and a nice, long biography.

I was amazed to see that Miss Crabtree only appeared in six of the "Our Gang" shorts. I've seen all those films and I would have guessed two dozen or so. I guess that's testimony to what a strong impression she made when she appeared. Shortly after she passed away, I got to spend a couple of hours with Hal Roach, who got to talking about her and who said (approximately), "She was the most beautiful woman we ever had on the lot. She could have been the biggest star in the business if she hadn't run off and married that guy."

A bit later, Mr. Roach told me a please-don't-repeat story about a lady who got roles in movies back then by sleeping with various studio execs. I didn't think he meant June Marlowe but he made a point of telling me it was not her; that there was no "hanky-panky" (his term) with June. Then, even though he was 93 years old at the time, he sighed and added, "…unfortunately." Guess that's why Miss Crabtree only appeared in six films.