The June Hutton Centennial

Just a quick note to mark the centennial of the birth of singer June Hutton (June Cowan, 1919-1973).

The younger sister of the famous Ina Ray Hutton, June followed her sister into the biz as a teenager and started out with her band in the late ’30s. Through the end of the ’40s, she performed with a series of popular singing groups in succession: the Winston Trio, the Quintones, the Sande Williams Band, the Stardusters, and finally the Pied Pipers, replacing Jo Stafford in 1944 and staying with the group for six years.

In 1950, Hutton went solo. The following year she married arranger and bandleader Alex Stordahl, who had worked with people like Tommy Dorsey and Sinatra. His outfit backed her on records for the next dozen years. While never a chart topper, she was a regular on The Frank Sinatra Show from 1950 to 1952, while also appearing on programs like The All Star Revue, The Colgate Comedy Hour,The Stork Club, The Arthur Murray Party, Coke Time, The Gisele MacKenzie Show, and OF COURSE The Ina Ray Hutton Show. She also played prestigious live gigs at places like the Copacabana.

Stordahl passed away in 1963. She married actor Kenneth Tobey (The Thing from Another World, The Vampire, Airplane!) five years later. Hutton was only 53 years old at the time of her death.

For more on show biz history consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.