June Knight

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June Knight
Knight Vélez Rogers.jpg
L-R: Lupe Vélez, Buddy Rogers, and
June Knight in the Broadway musical
Hot-Cha! (1932)
Born
Margaret Rose Valliquietto

(1913-01-22)January 22, 1913
Los Angeles, California, U.s.
DiedJune 16, 1987(1987-06-16) (aged 74)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeValhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
OccupationActress
Years active1930–1947
Spouse(s)Paul Ames (1934-1935)
Arthur Cameron (1938-1943)
Carl B. Squier (1949-1967) (his death)
Jack Buehler (1969-1987) (her death)[1]

June Knight (born Margaret Rose Valliquietto; January 22, 1913 – June 16, 1987) was an American theatre and film actress and singer.

Early years[]

Knight was born in Los Angeles in 1913. Sickly throughout the first years of her life, she suffered from tuberculosis when she was 4 years old and doctors told her parents that there was a strong chance that she would not live to maturity. Due to infantile paralysis, she was unable to walk until she was five years old.[1]

She started to perform songs and dance publicly at age ten.

Career[]

Dancer John Holland changed her name to June Knight when she became his partner, assigning her the same name as that of his previous partner.[2] That change led to a court case in 1940 when the actress June Knight filed suit against the original dancer with that name. The actress said that she had made the name famous and that the dancer had previously agreed to stop using that name.[3]

At age 19, she appeared in the last Ziegfeld Follies show, Hot-Cha! (1932). She was featured in four other Broadway shows, Take A Chance (1932), Jubilee (1935)[4] (where she introduced the Cole Porter classic "Begin the Beguine"),[5] The Would-Be Gentleman (1946) (her only non-musical) and Sweethearts (1947).[4]

June Knight and Robert Taylor in a scene from "Broadway Melody of 1936"

She also had a short-lived film career, appearing in 12 films from 1930 to 1940, most notably in Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), in which she sang the hit song "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" with co-star Robert Taylor.[6]

Personal life and death[]

Knight married four times, first to Palm Beach stockbroker Paul Ames, with whom she lived nine days before he petitioned for a divorce.[7] She then married Texas oilman Arthur A. Cameron.[8] After their divorce she wed Lockheed Aircraft Corporation co-founder Carl B. Squier, whose wife died in a plane crash 11 years earlier. Their union lasted 18 years. Following Squier's death, she married his Lockheed colleague and friend Jack Buehler.[1]

Knight died in 1987, aged 74, due to complications from a stroke. She was interred in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park.

In 1935, Knight was bound, gagged, and robbed of jewelry by two men who gained access to her 19th-story New York apartment by posing as film executives. Police believed it was the work of the same men who similarly robbed actress Janice Dawson, that time posing as literary agents.[9]

Recognition[]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Knight on 3 February 1960 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6247 Hollywood Boulevard.[10]

Filmography[]

Year Title Role Notes
1930 Madam Satan Zeppelin Reveler Uncredited
1933 Ladies Must Love Jeannie Marlow
1933 Take a Chance Toni Ray
1934 Cross Country Cruise Sue Fleming
1934 Gift of Gab Lottie Von Pepper
1934 Wake Up and Dream Toby Brown
1935 Broadway Melody of 1936 Lillian Brent
1935 Redheads on Parade Chorus Redhead Uncredited
1937 The Lilac Domino Shari de Gonda
1938 Break the News Grace Gatwick
1938 Vacation from Love Flo Heath, Band Singer
1940 The House Across the Bay Babe (final film role)

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c American Heritage Center. "Woman's Experience of Show Business Documented in June Knight Papers". The blog of the American Heritage Center. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. ^ Skolsky, Sidney (August 21, 1933). "Tintypes". Daily News. New York, New York City. News Syndicate Co., Inc. p. 26. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  3. ^ "June Returns to Court Fight". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. United Press. November 25, 1940. p. 10. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "June Knight". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. ^ Tyler, Don (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era. McFarland. p. 426. ISBN 9780786429462. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. ^ "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" from Broadway Melody of 1936 on YouTube
  7. ^ "Ames Divorces June Knight". timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  8. ^ "June Knight Wed on Coast". timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  9. ^ "INTRUDERS BIND AND ROB FILM ACTRESS". September 18, 1935. p. 1 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "June Knight". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.

External links[]

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