June Knight

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

June Knight
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
DiedJune 16, 1987(1987-06-16) (aged 74)
Los Angeles, California
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]

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]

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
1930Madam SatanZeppelin RevelerUncredited
1933Ladies Must LoveJeannie Marlow
1933Take a ChanceToni Ray
1934Cross Country CruiseSue Fleming
1934Gift of GabLottie Von Pepper
1934Wake Up and DreamToby Brown
1935Broadway Melody of 1936Lillian Brent
1935Redheads on ParadeChorus RedheadUncredited
1937The Lilac DominoShari de Gonda
1938Break the NewsGrace Gatwick
1938Vacation from LoveFlo Heath, Band Singer
1940The House Across the BayBabe(final film role)

References
  1. 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.
  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.
  4. "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.


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