June Mathis

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June Mathis (June 30, 1892, Leadville, Colorado USA - July 26, 1927, New York City, USA), was an influential screenwriter and Hollywood executive in the 1920s. Born June Beulah Hughes, she adopted her stepfather's surname, Mathis, and used it throughout her professional career.

June Mathis as a young woman.

Mathis began her career as a stage actress, working for several years with the female impersonator Julian Eltinge. She worked on her first script, House of Tears, in 1915. She rose quickly through the ranks and before she was thirty, she was appointed as the head of the Story Department at Metro Pictures.

During the early 1920s Mathis was the only female executive at Metro. She was arguably one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, with influence over casting, choice of director and many other aspects of production. Between 1916 and 1927, she was responsible for writing scripts or scenarios for over one hundred motion pictures.

Among Mathis' credits are the 1925 version of Ben-Hur starring Ramon Novarro. She was also responsible for editing Erich von Stroheim's film Greed from eighteen reels to ten at the request of Goldwyn Studios.

Mathis is perhaps best known for discovering Rudolph Valentino and writing the scripts and scenarios for many of his major films. She recommended Valentino for a major role in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, for which she wrote the screen adaptation, after seeing him in a minor role in the film The Eyes of Youth. The film launched Valentino to stardom.

Valentino and Mathis were never romantically involved, but there is evidence that they enjoyed a mutal, strong platonic friendship. The relationship was strained during Valentino's marriage to Natacha Rambova. However, eventually Valentino and Mathis reconciled after Valentino and Rambova separated. When Valentino died in 1926 and needed a burial site, Mathis offered one of her crypts at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (now called the Hollywood Forever Cemetery) in Hollywood. While the arrangement was originally intended to be a temporary one, it became permanent.

In the mid 20s Mathis married Sylvano Balboni, whom she had met on the set of Ben-Hur. She died in 1927 of a heart attack during a trip to New York City and was buried at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery as June Mathis Balboni, in a crypt adjacent to that of her friend Valentino.