June Cross is an American documentary film director and producer.[1][2]

June Cross
Born (1954-01-05) January 5, 1954 (age 70)
Occupations
  • Director
  • writer
  • producer
  • professor
SpouseMike Clark

Life and career

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Cross was born in New York City. She is the daughter of James Cross, half of the vaudeville team of Stump and Stumpy and Norma Booth, an actor.[3] She is the stepdaughter of comedian and actor Larry Storch; and her half sister is the actor Lynda Gravatt.[4] She attended public school in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1971. She attended Harvard- Radcliffe College, and graduated in 1975.[5]

Cross started her career as a copygirl at The Press of Atlantic City while still in college. After graduation, she got a job at WGBH-TV for the broadcast Say Brother.[5] She moved to New York City to take a job as a reporter at the PBS NewsHour in 1979, and eventually became a Producer/Correspondent there. Her work covering the Grenada Invasion won a 1983 News & Documentary Emmy Award. She left the NewsHour in 1986, for a job as a producer for West 57th at CBS News.[6] She also worked as a producer for Face to Face with Connie Chung, America Tonight, and The CBS Evening News.

In 1991, Cross joined PBS' Frontline, where she produced eight documentaries. Her first documentary, A Kid Kills, won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 1993.[7] In 1996, she co-directed and produced, Secret Daughter, which won a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 1997 and the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award in 1998.[8] A memoir by the same title was published by Viking in 2006.

In 2001, Cross joined the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where in 2010, she founded the documentary specialization.[9] She received an honorary degree from Knox College in 2015.[10] Her PBS Frontline documentary, Whose Vote Counts, won a Peabody Award in 2020.[11]

Filmography

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Year Title Contribution Note
1992 A Kid Kills Producer Documentary
1994 Showdown in Haiti Writer and producer Documentary
1995 The Confessions of RosaLee Director and producer Documentary
1996 Secret Daughter Co-director and producer Documentary
1998 The Two Nations of Black America Writer and producer Documentary
1999 Russian Roulette Director, writer and producer Documentary
2003 This Far by Faith Director and producer Documentary
2009 The Old Man and the Storm Director, writer and co-producer Documentary
2013 Two American Families Producer Documentary
2015 Wilhemina's War Director, writer and producer Documentary
2020 Whose Vote Counts Director and writer Documentary

Publications

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  • 2006 - Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away ISBN 978-0-1431121-1-2

Awards and nominations

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Year Result Award Category Work Ref.
1997 Won News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Informational or Cultural Programming - Programs Secret Daughter [10]
2017 Nominated Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary Wilhemina's War [12]

References

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  1. ^ "June Cross". pbs.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  2. ^ "DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet June Cross — 'Wilhemina's War'". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  3. ^ "BIRTH RIGHT". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  4. ^ "Norma Storch, 81; Focus of Daughter's PBS Documentary". Los Angeles Times. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  5. ^ a b "June Cross". thehistorymakers.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  6. ^ "June Cross". wmm.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  7. ^ "ROBERT F. KENNEDY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION RECORDS". jfklibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  8. ^ Gelder, Lawrence Van (15 January 1998). "DuPont Prize for 'Frontline'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  9. ^ "June Cross". journalism.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  10. ^ a b "June Cross Awarded Honorary Degree". knox.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  11. ^ "'Whose Vote Counts' Wins FRONTLINE's Second Peabody Award of 2021". pbs.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  12. ^ "38th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards" (PDF). cdn.emmyonline.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
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