June Marlowe played "Miss Crabtree", Our Gang's schoolteacher. But there's more to her career.

June Marlowe

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June Marlowe

Born	Gisela Valaria Goetten (1903-11-06)November 6, 1903 St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	March 10, 1984(1984-03-10) (aged 80) Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1923–1932
Spouse(s)	Rodney Sprigg

June Marlowe (November 6, 1903 – March 10, 1984), was an American actress, who appeared in six Our Gang short subjects as the lovely schoolteacher Miss Crabtree.

Career

Marlowe was born Gisela Valaria Goetten of German parents in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She was a prolific actress in silent films during the 1920s, appearing in films opposite John Barrymore and Rin Tin Tin. She was one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1925. Her career did well until the introduction of talking pictures. Marlowe did not make an easy transition, and by 1930 she was starting to drift away from acting.

Miss Crabtree

By chance, she happened to meet Our Gang director Robert F. McGowan one day in a Los Angeles, California, department store. McGowan was searching for an actress to portray the schoolteacher in the Our Gang series of children's comedies. After producer Hal Roach suggested that brunette Marlowe don a blonde wig to match the hair of the lead kid in the series, Jackie Cooper, she was given the part of Miss Crabtree.

Marlowe in her signature role of Miss Crabtree from the film School's Out.

Marlowe and Cooper were paired together in three Our Gang films, Teacher's Pet, School's Out and Love Business. She also had a small role in 1931's Little Daddy. In addition to her work in Our Gang, Marlowe appeared in fellow Roach stars Laurel and Hardy's first feature film, Pardon Us.
After Cooper left Our Gang in 1931 to appear in MGM features, Marlowe's Miss Crabtree character was used in only two more shorts, 1931's Shiver My Timbers and 1932's Readin' and Writin'.
In 1933, Marlowe married Hollywood businessman Rodney Sprigg and retired from motion pictures to become a housewife.

Death

In her later years, she suffered from Parkinson's disease, dying from complications caused by it on March 10, 1984.
Marlowe was originally buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery but was interred in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles in 2002.

External links

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to June Marlowe.

June Marlowe at the Internet Movie Database
June Marlowe at Find a Grave (original burial site)
June Marlowe at Find a Grave
Teacher's Pet: The June Marlowe Website

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I liked June Marlowe in Our Gang comedies and Laurel and Hardy's PARDON US, but I don't remember her from much of anything else. She did work with Charlie Chase.