- June Taylor
June Taylor (
14 December 1917 -16 May 2004 ) was an American choreographer.Born in Chicago, Taylor was a nightclub dancer until she developed
tuberculosis at age 20. She took upchoreography , founding, in 1942, her own troupe of dancers, the "June Taylor Dancers", and took them on the road. She metJackie Gleason at a Baltimorenightclub in 1946, and made her television debut in 1948, on "The Toast of the Town" starringEd Sullivan , where six of the original dancers appeared as "The Toastettes", bringing thechorus line totelevision . Two years later, she joined Jackie Gleason's "Cavalcade of Stars", and followed him, with sixteen dancers, to "The Jackie Gleason Show ", where her signature camera shot was the overhead kaleidoscopicBusby Berkeley -type shot of the dancers making geometric patterns. The high-kicking, smiling routines that formed the first three minutes of each broadcast were Broadway-based and reminiscent ofThe Rockettes . In addition to Gleason's show, the June Taylor Dancers also made appearances at the General Motors "Motorama " auto shows in New York andBoston .Taylor won an
Emmy Award forchoreography in 1955.Gleason brought his show from
New York City toMiami Beach in 1964, apparently so he couldgolf year-round, which helped revitalize that area until it stopped taping in 1970.Taylor, who lived in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida began choreographing theMiami Dolphins cheerleading squad, the "Dolphin Starbrites ", and served in this capacity from 1978 until 1990. The Starbrites, famous for their one-piecebathing suit s andgo-go boot s, performed very popular Broadway-stylehalftime show s.June Taylor married attorney Sol Lerner. Her sister, and sometime dance partner,
Marilyn Taylor Horwich , married Jackie Gleason in 1975 as his third wife.On
May 9 2000 , Taylor was interviewed by theAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation 'sArchive of American Television . This interview can be seen at the Archive's offices inNorth Hollywood, California .In 2001, Taylor was featured on episodes of A&E's
TVOGRAPHY , a program telling the stories of America's favoriteTV show s.June Taylor died on
May 16 ,2004 inMiami , of natural causes. She was 87 years old.Credits
*Ed Sullivan's "
Toast of the Town " - 1948
*Jackie Gleason's "Cavalcade of Stars " - 1950
*"The Jackie Gleason Show " - 1952-1959 and 1962-1970
* "What's My Line " -1956External links
*imdb name|id=0852682|name=June Taylor
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