Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 29 July 1964, page 15


He proposes to his wife eight

times a week j

. Eight times a week, actor John Meillon asks his wife to marry him. And although June Salter accepted his proposal six years ago she listens every time. For it's in the script.

TWO of Australia's

best-known stage

personalities, John and June star together in

"Rattle of a Simple Man," a warm, human comedy which finishes its Sydney season on July 25.

It opens at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre on July 28. goes to Adelaide on August 29, and perhaps to Brisbane

after that.

Since they met 12 years ago, they have starred to-gether in many radio plays and a few stage shows, in-cluding "Cross Section," during the running of which they married.

"We'd only been great mates until that revue," said June. "Then we got engaged and married in less than two months.

"After a lj-day honey-

moon we were back on stage again."

"Now we'll be appearing for months together before

we go our separate stage ways again," said John.

"And as I'm on stage with June for almost two and a half hours every night we'll really see a lot of each other.

"But we're individual actors, and although we enjoy working together we don't want to be billed as a husband-and-wife team

for ever," said John.

"I can't complain that I don't see enough of my husband, can I?" said June. "But I do wish I could see more of our son, Johnny.

"I love the theatre, but I'm not really satisfied with

trying to mix being a mother with a career."

"We've tried to explain our work to Johnny," John said, "but he's not very interested in acting yet."

"I want to be a taxi-cab driver," said Johnny, who wears his blond hair in a Beatle-cut.

"He's too young to take to the theatre," said June.

"I tried it once at rehear-

sals, but never again."

It seems that Johnny was sitting quietly watching his parents rehearse.

By KERRY YATES

Then the script called for June to cry and he started to cry himself.

It took a long time to convince him she was only acting.

While the show is on in Sydney, the Meillons are living at Mosman with John's mother, who looks after Johnny.

Before their current play, the Meillons spent four -and a half years in London, where June played in radio and John in stage and tele-

vision shows and about a dozen films.

John co-starred with Richard Harris, Laurence Harvey, and Richard Todd in "The Long and the Short

and the Tall."

He also co-starred in "Offbeat." "Watch It, Sail-or," "Cairo Story," "Billy Budd," "The Valiant," "The Longest Day," "Squadron 663," and completed an im-portant role in "The Guns of Batasi" with Jack

Hawkins and Richard Attenborough.

"I've had some big roles and some small ones," John

said.

"In 'The Longest Day' there were so many actors that you were a star if you spoke five words.

"I made the billing-I spoke six."

John went to England originally to finish studio work on the film "The Sun-downers," in which he played the major support-ing role of Bluey.

Film and television offers

came rolling in and June went over to join him.

Born in Sydney, John started in radio when he

was 11.

"When I was just 17, and acting in Shakespeare, I used to play at least three or four parts in every pro-duction," John said.

"It was wonderful train-ing.

"Why, the greatest rave notice I ever got was when I played Florizel in 'A

Winter's Tale.'

"A paper had a review saying, 'John Meillon played Florizel - why?'

"The review said I acted 'with all the aplomb of a front - row forward*," he laughed.

"And at the time I thought I'd conquered act-ing!"

He added: "You've really got to go overseas to make good.

"Look at my friend Rod Taylor. He had it tough for years before he made the top-away from home."

ACTOR John Meillon with his wife, actress June Salter, and their son, John, 3. June hopes to get a babysitter when acting interstate.

John said being.an actor was a challenging, exciting

life.

"There's always drama

on the set.

"In my last picture, 'Guns of Batasi,' Peter Sellers' wife, Britt Eklund, walked out when we'd nearly finished and we had to reshoot most of it."

John and June will re-

turn to London when

"Rattle of a Simple Man"

closes in Australia.