She was the lovely and charming schoolteacher, "Miss Crabtree," in the Our Gang-Little Rascals movies of the early '30's.
She did, in fact, charm her way into the hearts of her students, especially that of young Jackie Cooper.
Even before that, June Marlowe was a popular leading lady in silent films. She'd made her first on screen appearance in 1923,
when a director who'd spotted her cast her in some short films to see how she would photograph.
Within a few years she was playing large parts in films at Warner Brothers, Universal and other studios.
She appeared with some of the biggest names of the era: the celebrated actor John Barrymore, the great comedians Stan Laurel
and Oliver Hardy, and many others.
All of that happened long ago. June is gone now; she died on March 10, 1984. But she has not been forgotten.
The Our Gang shorts have achieved a kind of immortality on television and home video. This immortality has touched June as well,
giving her the opportunity to charm viewers many decades after these films were made.
Part One
Gisela
This lovely starlet was born Gisela Goetten in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on November 6, 1903. She was raised a Catholic; and, at her confirmation, she took the first name of a relative--Valeria--as her own middle name. Gisela's parents were meat market owner John P. Goetten and Hedwig "Hattie" Himsl. She was the oldest of five children: Gisela, Louis, Alona, Armor, and Gerald. Gisela seems to have enjoyed a reasonably happy childhood. An old friend of hers thought her mother was a bit strict. In all fairness, though, most children manage to get their way a fair amount of the time, and likely Gisela was no exception. |
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 Recognize the beautiful smile? |
Gisela grew up in the days before radio and television, which cause people to be the audience and rarely the participants.
She did enjoy the movies--and she liked to imitate screen vamp Theda Bara. But Gisela and her family mainly created their own
entertainment. In those days people found their own amusements in the home. They sang together, danced and played
musical instruments by their fireside and indulged themselves in the pleasure of accomplishment. Or they practiced some craft that took
their minds from the everyday routine as well as giving them the pleasure of achievement. The Goetten family enjoyed such pleasures. Louis sang; Gisela read stories and the funny papers aloud to her family, and held them spellbound. John Goetten liked to participate in harness races around Lake George in St. Cloud. A friend of Gisela's recalled that he won many races there. Gisela herself became very fond of horses, and over the years she would often ride for pleasure at stables. |
On one occasion, the Goetten children decided to set up their own zoo. The menagerie included turtles, gophers and the family dog,
Trix, who was pressed into service as a leopard. Friends and neighbors handed over their pennies to see the exhibit. In the end,
the animals were released unharmed, and Gisela and her siblings took their coins and headed for the candy store.
On another occasion, lively young Gisela decided to start a newspaper: the "Avon Gazette"--named for Avon, Minnesota,
where her family spent their summers. She neatly printed it by hand. The paper covered such important stories as: the birth of a calf at
a neighbor's farm, and some relatives' visit in a brand new Model T Ford.
The Goettens sometimes visited the 'big city'--Minneapolis. "Minneapolis seemed so large," Louis Goetten recalled, "and the
Glass Block [a department store] seemed like a row of skyscrapers." Gisela held that St. Cloud was the "most handsome city in the
world." At the end of the teens, the Goettens decided to move to Minneapolis. |
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Years later, Louis recalled some of their old haunts there. "I am sorry good old West High is gone," he said. "The candy store across the street was sort of a hangout. I think it was called Shebat's. We often went to the Lagoon and Calhoun theaters." As young Gisela sat enjoying the movies at those theaters, she probably never dreamed that soon she herself would be appearing on theater screens.
Photograph at top of page courtesy of Scott Johnson.
(To see an additional photo from the same sitting, click here).