German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4170/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4796/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. June Collyer and Richard Dix in The Love Doctor (Melville W. Brown, 1929).
One of 13 WAMPAS Baby Stars
June Collyer was born Dorothea Heermance in New York City in 1904. Her father was Clayton Heermance, an attorney in New York. Collyer was her mother's maiden name.
Her grandfather, Dan Collyer, had a 54-year career as a stage actor. She was the sister of actor Bud Collyer, who was married to actress Marian Shockley, and film editor Richard V. Heermance.
June began her acting career in the film East Side, West Side (Allan Dwan, 1927) starring George O'Brien and Virginia Valli.
In 1928, she was one of 13 girls selected as WAMPAS Baby Stars. That year, she had major roles in Woman Wise (Albert Ray, 1928) with William Russell, and Me, Gangster (Raoul Walsh, 1928).
June Collyer worked with director John Ford in such films as the War drama Four Sons (John Ford, 1928) starring James Hall and the thriller Hangman's House (John Ford, 1928) with Victor McLaglen and Larry Kent.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4682/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Charles Rogers and June Collyer in the period piece River to Romance (Richard Wallace, 1929), an early sound film.
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5571. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox.
A successful change to the sound era
After making the successful change to the sound era, June Collyer continued to work, something some of her counterparts couldn't do.
In 1930, Collyer starred opposite Louise Dresser and Joyce Compton in The Three Sisters (Paul Sloane, 1930), and the same year, she starred with Claudia Dell in Sweet Kitty Bellairs (Alfred E. Green, 1930). She starred in 19 films from 1930 to 1936.
In 1931, Collyer married actor Stuart Erwin. Her last meaningful film was A Face in the Fog (Robert F. Hill, 1936), opposite Lloyd Hughes. She took a break in the 1940s, either by choice or due to her not receiving starring roles.
During the 1950s, she returned to acting in her husband's television series The Stu Erwin Show (1950-1955). She played in one episode of the 1958 series Playhouse 90, then retired.
Stuart Erwin died in 1967. Three months later, June Collyer died of bronchial pneumonia in 1968. She was 63. The couple had two children, producer Stuart Erwin Jr. and Judy Erwin. Erwin and Collyer have a crypt at the Chapel of the Pines in Los Angeles.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4801/1. 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Charles Rogers and June Collyer, perhaps in the early sound film Illusion (Lothar Mendes, 1929).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5551/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Paramount.
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
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