Elyse Knox (born Elsie M. Kornbrath, December 14, 1917 – February 16, 2012) was an American actress, model, and fashion designer.

Early life

Knox was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Austrian immigrants Hermine Sophie (née Muck) and Frederick Kornbrath. She had a brother, Fred. She attended

Hartford Public High School Hartford Public High School, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1638. It is the second-oldest public secondary school in the United States, after the Boston Latin School. It is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. Notable alumni ...

, graduating in 1936, and studied at the Traphagen School of Fashion in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. stat ...

Career

Knox performed mainly in minor or secondary roles until 1942, when she had a leading role with Lon Chaney Jr. in ''

The Mummy's Tomb ''The Mummy's Tomb'' is a 1942 American horror film directed by Harold Young and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Kharis the mummy. Taking place 30 years after the events of '' The Mummy's Hand'', where Andoheb (George Zucco) has survived and plans re ...

'', one of the series of ''Mummy''

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

s made by

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. She appeared as herself in the Universal Studios 1944 production '' Follow the Boys'', one of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

morale-booster films made both for the soldiers serving overseas and civilians at home. Knox also was a

pin-up girl A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion mode ...

during the war, appearing in such magazines as '' Yank'', a weekly published and distributed by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. In late 1945, Knox was signed by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

to portray Anne Howe, the love interest of fictional boxer Joe Palooka in ''

Joe Palooka, Champ ''Joe Palooka, Champ'' is a 1946 American film featuring the comic-strip boxer Joe Palooka. This film from Monogram Pictures is the beginning of a series with eleven sequels: * '' Gentleman Joe Palooka'' (1946) * '' Joe Palooka in the Knocko ...

''. Based on the very popular comic strip, the instant success of the May 1946 film led to Knox appearing in another five ''Joe Palooka'' productions. After acting in 39 films, Knox retired in 1949 following her performance in the musical film ''There's a Girl in My Heart''.

Personal life

While appearing on the

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

radio show, she met football star

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...

, winner of the Heisman Trophy in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

. They were engaged to be married, but ended the relationship when Harmon entered the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in 1942. On February 21, 1942, Knox married commercial photographer Paul Hesse in Coronado, California. Following her divorce and Harmon's return from

(during which he survived two plane crashes and being lost in the jungle), she and Harmon married in 1944. Her wedding dress was made of silk from the parachute Harmon used when bailing out of his plane.''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'', August 28, 1944. After Harmon's demobilization, they settled in the Los Angeles area.

Children

The couple had three children: Kristin, Kelly, and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

. Kristin became an actress and painter, who at 17 married recording artist

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

and gave birth to four children: Tracy, twins

Gunnar Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrio ...

and

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

, and Sam. Kelly, a model turned interior designer, was once married to automaker

John DeLorean John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean man ...

, and has two daughters and a son and two other stepchildren. Mark played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, became an actor, and has two sons with wife

Pam Dawber Pamela Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in ''Mork & Mindy'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell in '' My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988). Early life Dawber was bo ...

Death

On February 16, 2012, Knox died at her home 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 wor ...

at age 94.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''; accessed January 18, 2016. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Elyse 1917 births 2012 deaths American people of Austrian descent Female models from Connecticut American film actresses Actresses from Hartford, Connecticut Traphagen School of Fashion alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women