June Marie Salter (22 June 1932 â 15 September 2001) was an Australian actress and author prominent in theatre and television. She is best known for her character roles, in particular as schoolteacher Elizabeth McKenzie in the soap opera The Restless Years and for her regular guest appearances in A Country Practice as Matron Hilda Arrowsmith.
June Marie Salter was born on 22 June 1932 in Bexley, New South Wales, the youngest of six children of Arthur Edward Salter (born c. 1887) and his wife Edna Edythe Salter (died 24 July 1969), who married in 1916 and had a home on Henderson Road, Bexley.
Salter attended Kogarah Central Domestic Science Secondary School, where her first stage role was playing Queen Elizabeth in their production of The Tudor Wench. She obtained her New South Wales Intermediate Certificate in 1947.
While working as a typist-receptionist, Salter joined the St George Players, performing at Sydney's St James' Hall (later renamed Mercury Theatre, then Phillip Street Theatre). She also took elocution lessons from Rosalind Kennerdale and her husband Lawrence H. Cecil).
In 1952, largely through Rosalind Kennerdale and Lawrence H. Cecil's influence, Salter began landing acting roles in 2GB's radio serial Night Beat, while continuing her office work part-time.
With the help of fellow actress Queenie Ashton, Salter was accepted onto the books of Central Casting (Ashton's husband John Cover's company) and further radio work followed on serials including Martin's Corner on 2UW, Undercover Carson and Shadows of Doubt on 2GB.
She also had a stint on long-running radio serial Blue Hills for the ABC, in which she played Sally Edwards, taking over the role from original actress Barbara Brunton.
After years of amateur productions, including St George United Artists' Rookery Nook at St James' Hall, Salter was invited to take part in Bill Orr's 1953 production of Hit and Run (the first Phillip Street Revue). She followed this with Hat Trick, opposite Charles Tingwell, Gordon Chater, Bettina Welch, John Ewart, Lyle O'Hara and Ray Barrett. This was followed by a prominent role in Hot from Hollywood starring Mel Tormé and Irene Ryan, then Laugh Around the Clock with Billy Russell and Gordon Chater at Tivoli Theatres in Sydney and Melbourne. Her next Phillip Street Revue was the long-running Cross Section co-starring first with Ruth Cracknell, then John Meillon.
Salter relocated to London after getting married in 1958, when husband John Meillon was offered a series of film roles in London. Apart from a few quick trips home, they remained in the UK together until 1963. But while Meillon was much in demand, no film opportunities arose for Salter, so when offered work in television, she jumped at the chance.
Back in Australia, Salter appeared on stage Rattle of a Simple Man at the Phillip Theatre, co-starring with Meillon who had just returned from London. She starred in There Will Be an Interval of 15 Minutes, again for Bill Orr. Comedy stints at Frank Strain's "Bull 'n' Bush" theatre restaurant followed.
Salter's next major role was in Crown Matrimonial as Queen Mary, a critically acclaimed performance and a role she regarded as her greatest achievement. This was followed by Night Mother with Jill Perryman for Edgar Metcalfe at the Perth Playhouse, before touring in the production nationally.
A string of comedy roles for Peter Williams followed, including playing Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Sheila in Relatively Speaking and Delia in Bedroom Farce. She also played Sophie in Mother's Day at the Ensemble Theatre for Edgar Metcalfe. In 1982, she performed in a production of The Anniversary with The Restless Years cast at Phillip Street Theatre, after the series had come to an end.
Another notable performance came when Salter teamed with Ruth Cracknell, to play eccentric spinsters in Lettice and Lovage for Sydney Theatre Company, which opened in 1989 at the Sydney Opera House. Additionally, she delivered an acclaimed performance as Mrs. Danvers in a 1991 stage adaptation of 1940 Hitchcock film Rebecca at Marian Street Theatre. The following year she performed again at Marian Street, with Love Letters and On Golden Pond, playing Ethel Thayer in the latter. She also performed Lettice and Lovage once more, this time with Judi Farr and directed by Peter Willams.
Salter's 1993 one-woman cabaret revue, June Salter â A Legend at the Tilbury Hotel in Woolloomooloo was met with rave reviews in the Sydney Morning Herald, before touring New South Wales. She followed this with The Last Night of the Proms at the Sydney Opera House, to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
In 1999, Salter appeared as Ann in The Cocktail Hour at Marian Street Theatre. That same year, she played Frau Schmidt in a touring production of The Sound of Music, alongside Lisa McCune and Rob Guest, continuing into 2000.
Salter was one of the earliest performers on Australian television, singing "I'm Getting Nothing for Christmas" from the current Phillip Street Revue at the ATN7 studios in December 1956. It was Channel 7's first television broadcast. Her next television appearance (having just returned from London) was a singing spot on Channel 7's Studio A with the Tommy Tycho orchestra, followed a successful run in The Mavis Bramston Show variety sketch series with Gordon Chater, Carol Raye, and Barry Creyton, initially as a guest then co-star.
Salter then starred in the short-lived Catwalk, a series created specially for her. This was followed with a starring role in long-running ABC drama series Certain Women as solicitor Freda Lucas, appearing in a total of 600 episodes. She also featured in 1976 film Caddie, playing Mrs Marks, opposite Jacki Weaver.
However, Salter remains best known for her role as one of the original characters, middle-aged spinster and schoolteacher Elizabeth McKenzie in the soap opera The Restless Years and for her regular guest appearances in A Country Practice as Matron Hilda Arrowsmith.
Salter played Lady Cliquot in the 1981 film Doctors and Nurses, Hannah Wilde in Wilde's Domain (1982) and Eleanor Roosevelt in The Last Bastion (1984). She then played Jim Robinson's mother Bess, in the first season of long-running soap opera Neighbours.
Salter also made guest appearances in numerous other series (mostly for Crawford Productions) including Cop Shop, Division 4, Matlock Police, Number 96, G.P., Murder Call, All Saints, Holiday Island, The Sullivans, The Adventures of Skippy and Farscape.
Salter was honoured as the subject of a 1978 episode of This Is Your Life.
In 1995, Salter published her autobiography, "A Pinch of Salt".
In 1958, Salter appeared opposite John Meillon in the Phillip Street revue Cross Section. In May of the same year, actor Meillon proposed to Salter and they were married on 21 June 1958 at St JamesâÂÂs Church of England, Sydney.
The pair had a son, John Meillon Jr. who was born in 1961, while they were in the UK. There were years of separation due to the demands of their separate careers. Meillon's problems with alcohol were also a contributing factor.
The relationship ended when Meillon found a new love and the couple divorced in 1971. Salter and John Jr. then lived for some time with longtime acquaintance Gwen Friend, sister of the painter Donald Friend. Salter never remarried and was distraught when Meillon died in 1989.
Salter underwent an operation for oesophageal cancer in 2001, but the cancer reappeared later that year. After being admitted to Mosman Hospital, she died two weeks later, on 15 September 2001 at the age of 69.
She was survived by her son, John Meillon jnr.