June Laverick(1931-2017)

June was born in Laburnham Road, Redcar, North Yorkshire, England, where her parents ran The Royal Hotel on the sea front near the pier. Prior to that they ran various hotels and pubs at Redcar, and Easington before taking over the Castle Hotel in Bishop Auckland, co Durham in 1956 then the Royal Hotel in Redcar on 1965. June was educated at White House School in Redcar where after appearing in a school production of 'Romeo and Juliet' she was determined to become an actress. She took ballet lessons from the age of 11 winning cups and medals including the Junior Medal when 12 and the Senior Medal the following year. She joined Saddlers Wells Ballet Company in 1946 and performed with Saddlers Wells and Covent Garden. About 1951 she saw a production of ;Brigadoon' and realised that she would rather work in that type of production. . In 1952 she was in the second row of the chorus of Ivor Novello's 'Gays the Word' when a girl with a speaking part fell ill and June took over to much acclaim. The hairdresser Steiner asked to be introduced to her and used her as a model resulting in them appearing in an episode of Pathe Pictorial causing her to be recruited by the Rank Organisation in 1956 and joining the company's acting prep school, often known as 'The Charm School' which had launched the careers of such as Donald Sinden, Diana Dors, Dirk Bogarde and Christopher Lee. She made her film debut as a hospital receptionist in 'Doctor at Large'. which led her to be picked out by an Italian production company and after a screen test went to Rome to make 'Souvenir D'Italie' with Vittorio ge Sica. This was soon followed by a co-starring role with Tommy Steele in 'The Duke Wore Jeans' June quickly became a well known face on the covers of film magazines. Her big break came when she replaced Anthea Askey in the role of Dickie Henderson's wife in the TV series 'The Dickie Henderson Half Hour' which continued into 'The Dickie Henderson Show'.and combined ran for over 100 episodes. She retired from acting in 1966 before the next series,- 'A Present For Dickie' -but returned in 1970 to appear in the final episode then returned to Redcar where In February 1971 she became the owner of The Royal Hotel on the High Street, Redcar taking over the licence from her parents. and changed her name back to Laverick by deed poll. She eventually gave up the hotel in October 1975 and moved back to London to try and get back into show business. Her first marriage was in August 1952 to Denny Bettis, an I.C.I. worker but the marriage didn't last and they divorced in 1956 Her 2nd marriage was to Peter Glover in June 64, who died suddenly a short while later. In August 1965 she married I.C.I. worker Ian Welton and retired from show business. They had a son, Paul Harrison Welton in 1967, separated in 69 and divorced in 1971. She then married Charles Cooke, a Redcar engineer in August 1975 but separated soon afterwards. She returned South where she became romantically linked with the, Hughie Green the quiz master of tv's 'Double Your Money', living in adjoining flats in a block above Baker Street Tube Station in London. After his death she returned North to South Hetton, a mining village in County Durham, where she died at the age of 66. ,