June L. Walker Rogers (1927-2024) was a Broadway singer,
dancer and comedienne who appeared on television and authored 13 published
plays and musicals. Rogers was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and
raised in Queens, New York. She started dancing at the age of 5 and
eventually developed a nightclub act, performing on bills with many of the
major stars of the ’50s and ’60s including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Louis
Prima, Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield and Louis Farrakhan when he performed
under the name “Calypso Louie.” Rogers graduated from high school at 15 and
received a scholarship to Columbia University. She left college early to make
her Broadway debut in the hit show Laffing Room Only starring Olsen and
Johnson. After that, she starred alongside Bert Lahr and Dick Van Dyke in Girls
Against the Boys on Broadway. Rogers went on to star in many shows in New York
City and regionally, including Guys and Dolls playing opposite Tony
Bennett and Little Me opposite Orson Bean, as well as starring in
such shows as Bells Are Ringing, Mame and Oklahoma. She
was a darling of early television performing on the Steve Allen Show and
Jack Paar’s show as well as becoming a beloved recurring performer on Jackie
Gleason’s variety show and the Ed Sullivan Show. In fact, Ed Sullivan
was so taken with Rogers that he brought her to perform at the White House for
President Truman and then again for President Eisenhower. After starting a
family, she turned to writing, penning more than 13 plays including the
musicals All American written with Charles Strouse and Lee
Adams, The Dream on Royal Street written with Alan Menken and
David Rogers and 45 Minutes From Broadway, based on the work
of George M. Cohan. Her play Heidi was produced at the
Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena to introduce cultural arts to California
schools, and her book How to Make It in Showbiz (A Survival Kit) became
required reading for university theatre departments all over the country. In later years, she
returned to the stage to perform in The Perfect Party at the
Westport Country Playhouse with George Grizzard and then acted in The
Perfect Wedding alongside her husband, two daughters and
sons-in-law. A longtime resident of Westport, Conn., Rogers was a founding
member of the Theatre Artists Workshop and a member of the National League
of American Pen Women, Inc. She was married for 50 years to
the late Tony-nominated writer and actor David Rogers, who passed away in 2013.
Together they had two daughters, Dulcy and Amanda, and four
grandchildren: Lucy, Sebastian, Dashiell and Ondine.
