June Miller was born in Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (Miller would mention she was 'of Romanian origin' in Sexus) as Juliet Edith Smerdt (or Smerth) (later Juliette), the daughter of Wilhelm and Frances Budd Smerdt, a poor Jewish family.

June is quoted as saying, "My formal education amounted to about three and a half years of high school.

She would reside in New York City for much of her life, excepting a tour of Europe and stints in Paris and Arizona.

June, who was likely bisexual, cultivated a very close relationship with her, often preferring Jean's affections to Henry's.

[5] The following year, June and Henry left for a tour of Europe, settling in Paris for several months before again returning to New York.

[6] June's relationship with Jean is the central piece of Henry's autobiographical novels Crazy Cock (1930, unpublished until 12 years after Miller's death) and Nexus (1959), the third volume of The Rosy Crucifixion.

She was in touch with Miller during this period through the post, and he sent her money through friends and bookstores such as the Gotham Book Mart.

[11] The notebooks Miller kept on his 1940 trip across the United States that would become The Air-Conditioned Nightmare included a handful of stray references to June.

"[12] During the 1950s, June was admitted to psychiatric wards where she received electric shock treatments, during which she broke several bones after falling off the operating table.