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- Soundtrack
Although chiefly remembered for co-writing Norman Wisdom's famous signature tune Don't Laugh at Me 'Cos I'm a Fool, June Tremayne actually started out as a serious composer of concert works and classical songs. Daughter of an Essex paper manufacturer, she was born Florence Marie Boverton Reed and had her first composition (a musical setting of Robert Herrick's poem To Live and Love) performed in 1900 at the Queen's Hall in London when she was only eight.
Moving with her family to Holland, Florence married first husband Chretien in 1912, but this finished in divorce. Returning to England, she came to the rescue of Bournemouth farmer Tom Lander when he fell from his tractor, and this led to them marrying in 1926. As "June Tremayne" she became a composer of note in the Bournemouth area and two of her songs, The Hoodoo (originally written for Paul Robeson) and Land of the Free, were performed at the Little Theatre in 1932. Other songs included Narente (1930) for Gracie Fields and various work for Tommy Trinder.
After taking a few years off to raise three children, June moved to London in 1952 and switched to popular song writing with Wisdom and Max Bygraves frequent visitors at her Paddington flat. My Little Dog (1954) was another song she co-authored with Wisdom. Sadly, in 1960, June suffered from heart trouble and was admitted to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington where she died at the age of 67.
Special thanks to Michael Stead of Bournemouth Library and to local historian Alex McKinstry for their kind help on this biography.