June St. Clair was a beautiful burlesque star who committed suicide in 1949
She was born Geraldine Margaret Ford on October 6, 1913 in Avon, Massachusetts. June and her sister Helen grew up in a very conservative family. When they were teenagers the family moved to New York City. Both sisters found jobs as chorus girls and eventually started working in burlesque clubs. With her platinum blonde hair and shapely figure June's career quickly took off. She danced in nightclubs all over the country and was called "The Platinum Princess". In 1937 she appeared in Life magazine where she showed women how to undress in front of their husbands. June made a screen test for MGM but they didn't offer her a contract.
Despite her sexy image she claimed to be very modest and rarely dated. Her mother often traveled with her as a chaperone. Then in 1948 she fell in love with a man in Chicago who started abusing her. She told her friends that he raped her and got her pregnant. When she found out her boyfriend was married she had an abortion. Soon after her beloved mother passed away. June tried to kill herself in February of 1949. Although she survived she was struggling with grief and depression. On October 21, 1949 she checked into a New York City hotel and committed suicide by overdosing on pills. She was only thirty-six years old. A note was found in her room that said she was sorry "for disgracing you all".
