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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

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. 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. 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. At age 19, she appeared in the last

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

show, ''Hot-Cha!'' (1932). She was featured in four other Broadway shows, '' Take A Chance'' (1932), ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

'' (1935) (where she introduced the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

classic "

Begin the Beguine "Begin the Beguine" is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song between Kalabahi, Indonesia, and Fiji during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard Cunard's ocean liner ''Franconia''. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Kni ...

"), ''

The Would-Be Gentleman ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act '' comédie-ballet'' – a play intermingled with music, dance and singing – written by Moliè ...

'' (1946) (her only non-musical) and '' Sweethearts'' (1947). JuneKnight

She also had a short-lived film career, appearing in 12 films from 1930 to 1940, most notably in ''

Broadway Melody of 1936 ''Broadway Melody of 1936'' is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site ...

'' (1935), in which she sang the hit song "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" with co-star Robert Taylor.

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. She then married Texas oilman Arthur A. Cameron. After their divorce she wed Lockheed Aircraft Corporation co-founder Carl B. Squier, whose wife had 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. Knight died in 1987, aged 74, due to complications from a stroke. She was interred in

Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood and Burbank, California. The cemetery has an entrance called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for aviation ...

. 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.

Recognition

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Knight on 3 February 1960 received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

at 6247

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

Filmography

References

External links

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Photographs of June Knight
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June Knight
1935) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, June 1913 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California American film actresses American musical theatre actresses Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery People from Greater Los Angeles 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers