June Hutton

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1930s, she joined the band of her older half-sister, Ina Ray Hutton, singing under the name of Elaine Merritt. In 1941 she joined Charlie Spivak's band as a member of a vocal group, The Stardusters (along with Glenn Calyon, Curt Purnell and Dick Wylder). The Spivak orchestra and the Stardusters appeared in a Betty Grable film, Pin-Up Girl, in 1943. She had two hits as a member of The Stardusters, "This Is No Laughing Matter" and "Brother Bill", and also made a solo hit recording, "Dreamsville, Ohio". In 1944, when Jo Stafford left The Pied Pipers to go solo, June replaced her in that group. With the Pipers, she recorded a number of hits: "Lily Belle", "Mam'selle", "In the Middle of May", "My Happiness", and the Pipers' trademark song, "Dream". In 1945, she dubbed the singing voice for Vera-Ellen in the film Wonder Man. In 1950 she left the group to become a soloist. The next year she married orchestra leader Axel Stordahl. Her recordings for Capitol Records were backed up by Stordahl's orchestra. In 1953 she had three charted hits on Capitol: "Say You're Mine Again", "No Stone Unturned", and "For the First Time". On her death in 1973, at the age of 52, June Hutton was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California next to her husband.