June Angela facts for kids

June Angela is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for playing Julie, a main member of the Short Circus band. This band was featured in the PBS children's TV show The Electric Company for its entire six-year run.

Early Life and Beginnings

June Angela has both Italian and Japanese family roots. Her father met her mother in Osaka, Japan, after the Korean War. As a child, June learned to speak Japanese when visiting her mother's relatives. However, she later forgot the language.

She started performing in stage shows when she was very young. Her younger brother also worked as a child actor. An acquaintance of her mother encouraged June to try modeling. She even played the live version of Remco's "Jan Doll" in a toy commercial.

Starring in The Electric Company

June Angela grew up on The Electric Company playing the character Julie. In 1976, she received an Emmy of Honor for her work on the series. She also sang on The Electric Company's 1971 soundtrack album, which won a Grammy Award. June Angela shared that she named her character Julie after her favorite actress at the time, Julie Andrews.

Career Highlights and Other Roles

After The Electric Company finished production, June Angela joined the first Asian American TV comedy series, Mr. T and Tina (ABC). In this show, she and her brother played the children of Pat Morita's character.

Many other roles in theater and television followed. A big moment in her career was being nominated for Broadway's Tony and Drama Desk Award. These nominations were for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role in Shogun: The Musical.

In 2017, she acted alongside Danny Glover in the play Yohen in Los Angeles. She also appeared as Madame Xing, a psychic, on the ABC TV series Fresh Off the Boat.

More Stage and Screen Work

June Angela co-starred as Tuptim with Yul Brynner in the Broadway and London Palladium revival of The King and I (1977). She also starred in many new plays for the first time, including Sayonara. For her role in Velina Hasu Houston's Tea, she won a Theater Guild Award for Best Lead Actress.

On television, she starred with Cloris Leachman and Pat Morita again in a TV drama called Blind Alleys. Later, she went to Kyoto, Japan, to film the TV movie American Geisha (CBS).

Voice Acting and Other Appearances

June Angela has had many other TV roles. She appeared on Mad TV, ER, Step By Step, Hannah Montana, and Dexter. She was also part of the Emmy Award-winning special Free to be You and Me.

Her voice acting work includes the Emmy Award-winning series The Big Blue Marble, Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberrys, and Danny Phantom. She also did voice work for Walt Disney Studios' English version of Kiki's Delivery Service, where she helped write the song "Soaring."

June Angela made her solo soprano debut at age 10. She played Flora in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw with the New York City Opera. Her solo album features songs from shows she has done, including music from The Electric Company.

In 2006, June Angela and other cast members of The Electric Company, like Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno, were interviewed for The Best of The Electric Company DVD.

June Angela was once levitated (lifted into the air) on top of the World Trade Center by magician Doug Henning. This was called the "highest levitation in the world." A photo of this event was on the cover of The Electric Company Magazine in June 1976.

She has also recorded over 40 Audible audiobooks. Many of these are for children and feature her using different character voices.

Selected TV Roles

June Angela has appeared in many television shows. Here are some of her notable roles:

• 1971–1977: The Electric Company as Julie (780 episodes)
• 2000: The Wild Thornberrys as Arioka (voice)
• 2003–2007: Danny Phantom as Shelly Makamoto, Principal Ishiyama, Harriet Chin (voice)
• 2006: Hannah Montana as Cassie
• 2006: ER as Mariko Shimane
• 2006: Dexter as Doctor
• 2015–2018: Fresh Off the Boat as Madame Xing (2 episodes)