June Dally-Watkins on the Jell-O Show, 1952

MLOH 910

fonds

1952

9585885

1 sound tape reel - 17.5 cm, 6 mm tape

June Dally-Watkins (1927-2020), born June Skewes to a single mother. June was a model and deportment school proprietor, grew up on a property at Watson's Creek in the New England district of New South Wales. As a teenager she was noticed on a Tamworth street by a photographer, who encouraged her to move to Sydney and try her luck at modelling.

She described herself as 'looking like a milkmaid' at the time she scored her first assignments for major department stores, but she was named Model of the Year in 1949. Famously romanced by actor Gregory Peck during a visit to Rome in the 1950s, she returned to Australia to continue her career, marry, and raise four children.

In 1950 she established the June Dally-Watkins School, which has since trained countless students in deportment and etiquette. She later established Australia's first modelling agency and a business college.

In 1993, Dally-Watkins received an Order of Australia Medal for her contribution to business. More recently, she took her etiquette lessons to students in China, co-founding the Dally Institute in Guangzhou in 2013.

Her autobiography The secrets behind my smile was published in 2002. Dally-Watkins died in February 2020 at the age of 92, leaving a lasting legacy.

Reference
https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/june-dally-watkins-1927

Audio tape recording featuring June Dally-Watkins, aged 25, on the Jell-O Show (U.S.A.) in 1952.

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Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Date and title provided by donor.