Juanita Quigley

Juanita Quigley

Born: June 24, 1931
Died: October 29, 2017
in Los Angeles, California, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Juanita Quigley (24 June 1931 – 29 October 2017) was an American child actress in motion pictures of the 1930s and 1940s. She had a sister, Rita Quigley, who was also a child actress.

Juanita Quigley was billed as "Baby Jane" in several early roles. Her screen debut was as Claudette Colbert's three-year-old daughter in Imitation of Life (1934). She went on to play featured parts in several films, including The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) and was Jean Harlow's niece in Riffraff (1936). Quigley became a familiar face to moviegoers of the era, but major roles for children so young were few and she often played bits as well as featured roles. She was one of the most popular child stars of her day, and was Universal Pictures' youngest star in 1934.

Quigley was briefly involved in the Our Gang film series. In 1940, she was the guest-starring lead in The New Pupil when cast as Sally, who briefly takes Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer away from Darla Hood. Two years later, she reprised the character in Going to Press (1942), the only time in the MGM era where the female lead was played by someone other than Darla Hood (who had recently left the series) or Janet Burston.

Quigley acted alongside her older sister, Rita Quigley, in Whispering Footsteps (1943). Her last major role was in National Velvet (1944), in which she played Elizabeth Taylor's sister.

Quigley made only a handful of small appearances after National Velvet, her last being in 1950. At the age of 20, in August 1951, she became a religious sister in the order of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, teaching at Precious Blood Catholic School. After several years in her convent, she left the vocation and married.

Inaccurate documentation exists that Juanita made an uncredited appearance as an extra in the locally filmed Porky's II: The Next Day. At the time of this filming, Juanita lived in Pennsylvania pursuing her post-convent career full-time. Juanita was retired and was an intensely private person with regard to her past. Most who knew her as a friend were unaware of her previous life as an actress. As of 2016, Juanita lived a peaceful retired life with her son and daughter-in-law in Massachusetts.

Juanita Quigley died in Sudbury, MA, on 29 October 2017, aged 86.

Movies for Juanita Quigley...

Mystery Street
Title: Mystery Street
Character: Harkley's Daughter (uncredited)
Released: June 23, 1950
Type: Movie
When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter Moralas teams with Boston police and uses forensics, with the help of a Harvard professor, to determine the woman's identity, how she died, and who killed her.
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National Velvet
Title: National Velvet
Character: Malvolia 'Mally' Brown
Released: January 26, 1945
Type: Movie
Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse.
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The Lady and the Monster
Title: The Lady and the Monster
Character: Mary Lou
Released: April 17, 1944
Type: Movie
A millionaire's brain is preserved after his death by a scientist and his two assistants, only to create a telepathic monster.
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Whispering Footsteps
Title: Whispering Footsteps
Character: Rose Murphy
Released: December 30, 1943
Type: Movie
An Ohio bank clerk's life becomes a nightmare when his descriptions is a fit of a maniac killer.
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Happy Land
Title: Happy Land
Character: Sally Pierce (uncredited)
Released: November 10, 1943
Type: Movie
An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.
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Assignment in Brittany
Title: Assignment in Brittany
Character: Jeannine
Released: March 11, 1943
Type: Movie
A French Resistance fighter discovers he's a dead ringer for a Nazi official.
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A Yank at Eton
Title: A Yank at Eton
Character: Jane 'The Runt' Dennis
Released: September 1, 1942
Type: Movie
An American playboy is sent to a British boarding school to learn discipline.
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Going to Press
Title: Going to Press
Character: Sally
Released: March 7, 1942
Type: Movie
The Our Gang kids are running their own newspaper and are determined to get the big scoop by learning the identity of the leader of a gang of bullies.
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The Vanishing Virginian
Title: The Vanishing Virginian
Character: Caroline Yancey
Released: February 1, 1942
Type: Movie
The perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and does his best to adjust to change.
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Gangs Inc.
Title: Gangs Inc.
Character: Rita as a Child (uncredited)
Released: June 13, 1941
Type: Movie
Circumstances force naive Rita Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it a cynical criminal who rises to power in the local crime organization.
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Bachelor Daddy
Title: Bachelor Daddy
Character: Girl with Pigtails at Movie
Released: June 4, 1941
Type: Movie
The lives of three bachelors is disrupted when one of them is left with a baby.
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Cinderella's Feller
Title: Cinderella's Feller
Character: Cinderella
Released: June 8, 1940
Type: Movie
The story of Cinderella with a children's cast.
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The New Pupil
Title: The New Pupil
Released: April 27, 1940
Type: Movie
Spanky and Alfalfa both try to impress the new girl at school, much to Darla's dismay.
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The Blue Bird
Title: The Blue Bird
Character: Child
Released: January 15, 1940
Type: Movie
An ungrateful girl and her little brother are transported in their dreams by a fairy to a wonderland, tasked with finding the mythical blue bird of happiness, meeting friends and foes along the way.
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Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
Title: Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
Character: 'Junior'
Released: January 1, 1940
Type: Movie
In this musical comedy, a traveling salesman gets mixed up with a bratty heiress after she gets in a car wreck as she heads for her elopement. The two begin traveling together and get further mixed up with a fleeing bank robber, a crazy tourist camp, and other troubles. Songs include: "Oh Johnny, How You Can Love," "Maybe I Like What You Like," "Swing Chariot Swing," and "Make Up Your Mind."
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Code of the Streets
Title: Code of the Streets
Character: Cynthia
Released: April 13, 1939
Type: Movie
Frankie Thomas plays Bob Lewis, leader of a gang consisting of Sailor, Murph, Monk, Trouble and Yap. The son of disgraced police officer Lt. Lewis, Bob vows to clear his dad's name, and also to prove that accused murderer Tommy Shay is innocent.
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The Family Next Door
Title: The Family Next Door
Character: Susan Pierce
Released: March 30, 1939
Type: Movie
Rose Pierce is discontent with her life as the wife of a small town plumber and has visions of becoming a wealthy socialite. Consequently, when her smart aleck son Sammy hears that an electric railroad line is to be built through town, she decides that the family can become rich by purchasing the lots along the right of way. Patriarch George Pierce laughs at the idea, but when Rose and Sammy learn that Cora Stewart, the wealthy town widow, has withdrawn her savings from the bank, they jump to the conclusion that she is interested in buying the lots, and mother and son secretly invest the family bank roll in the land.
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That Certain Age
Title: That Certain Age
Character: Butch Warren ("The Pest" in credits)
Released: October 6, 1938
Type: Movie
Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss, newspaper magnate Fullerton, has more plans to send him off to China. However, first Fullerton invites Bullit to the peace and quiet of his own home to write a series of European affair articles. When Fullerton's adolescent daughter Alice develops a crush on Bullit, her suitor, boyscout Ken Warren, doesn't seem to stand a chance. Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton, Ken Warren, and even Vincent Bullit himself do their best to sway young Alice's feelings away from the older man. It's a difficult task though, as she is at 'that certain age.'
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Men with Wings
Title: Men with Wings
Character: Patricia Falconer at Age 6
Released: July 16, 1938
Type: Movie
Reporter Nicholas Ranson is jubilant when, on 17 Dec 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright take their first airplane flight. Back home in Underwood, Maryland, however, his uncle Hiram F. Jenkins, owner and editor of the local newspaper, refuses to print the story. Nicholas quits and continues to work on his own airplane, with the devoted help of his little daughter Peggy. Peggy is actually the first in her family to fly when her friends, Patrick Falconer and Scott Barnes, induce her to get inside a large kite they have made, and run with it in a field until she is airborne. The kite is caught in a tree, however, and Peggy gets a black eye. Later, Nicholas dies when his experimental airplane crashes, leaving his wife and children alone. By Peggy's adulthood, planes are capable of flying at an altitude of 11,000 feet, and speeds of nearly 100 m.p.h. Peggy continues her father's obsession with flight by helping Scott and Pat to build a plane.
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Having Wonderful Time
Title: Having Wonderful Time
Character: Mabel
Released: July 1, 1938
Type: Movie
Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.
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Woman Against Woman
Title: Woman Against Woman
Character: Ellen
Released: June 24, 1938
Type: Movie
A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling influence in his life and home.
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The Devil's Party
Title: The Devil's Party
Character: Young Helen
Released: June 2, 1938
Type: Movie
Adults who grew up as slum kids meet later in life, but murder disrupts their reunion.
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Hawaii Calls
Title: Hawaii Calls
Character: Doris Milburn
Released: March 12, 1938
Type: Movie
After being nabbed while trying to stow away on board an ocean liner en route to Hawaii, young Bobby Breen sings for his travel fare and, along with sidekick Pua, turns detective to recover stolen naval documents from crooks
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Born to Dance
Title: Born to Dance
Character: Sally Saks
Released: November 27, 1936
Type: Movie
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broadway star, who is also enamored by him.
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The Devil-Doll
Title: The Devil-Doll
Character: Marguerite Coulvet
Released: July 10, 1936
Type: Movie
Wrongfully convicted of a robbery and murder, Paul Lavond breaks out of prison with a genius scientist who has devised a way to shrink humans. When the scientist dies during the escape, Lavond heads for his lab, using the shrinking technology to get even with those who framed him and vindicate himself in both the public eye and the eyes of his daughter, Lorraine. When an accident leaves a crazed assistant dead, however, Lavond must again make an escape.
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Riffraff
Title: Riffraff
Character: Rosie
Released: January 3, 1936
Type: Movie
Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired from his job he leaves Hattie who steals money for him and goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.
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Alias Mary Dow
Title: Alias Mary Dow
Character: Mary Dow
Released: May 1, 1935
Type: Movie
A taxi-dancer agrees to pose as a girl who had been kidnapped as a child 18 years before.
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Straight from the Heart
Title: Straight from the Heart
Character: Maggie Haines (as Baby Jane)
Released: March 22, 1935
Type: Movie
In this romance, a slightly crooked and highly ambitious mayoral candidate convinces a woman to help him blackmail the incumbent by using a little baby as evidence in a paternity suit. The girl goes along with it until she learns that the mayor is innocent.
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The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
Title: The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
Character: Linette Verin
Released: December 24, 1934
Type: Movie
A writer discovers he's being used as a pawn by greedy businessmen.
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Imitation of Life
Title: Imitation of Life
Character: Baby Jessie Pullman, Age 3
Released: November 23, 1934
Type: Movie
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
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We're Rich Again
Title: We're Rich Again
Character: Child with Nanny (uncredited)
Released: July 13, 1934
Type: Movie
A polo-playing grandmother and her broke brood get back in the money with a Wall Street bet.