Juanita Quigley

Juanita Quigley
Born	24 June 1931 Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names	Sister Quentin Rita[1]
Occupation	Actress Nun
Years active	1934–1950

Juanita Quigley (born 24 June 1931) is a former child actress in American motion pictures of the 1930s and 1940s.

Career

Juanita Quigley was billed as "Baby Jane" in several early roles.^[2] She first attracted major attention 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.^[3]

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.

Later career

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 nun in the order of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph,^[4] but after several years in her convent, 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^[5] but these rumors and citations are inaccurate. At the time of this filming, Juanita lived in Pennsylvania pursuing her post-convent career full-time.^[6][7][8] Juanita is now retired and is an intensely private person with regard to her past. Most who know her as a friend are unaware of her previous life as an actress. As of 2016, Juanita lives a peaceful retired life with her son and daughter-in-law in Massachusetts.

Selected filmography

• Straight from the Heart (1935)

References

1. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19510818&id=qC0gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CPEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6755,5953260
2. "Movie Star Biography - Juanita Quigley". Premiere.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
3. http://www.classicmoviekids.com/quigley.htm
4. Child Actress Now A Nun: Juanita Quigley Takes Vow as Catholic, Eugene Register-Guard, Aug 18, 1951, page 30.
5. Hans J. Wollstein. "Juanita Quigley Biography". AllMovie.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
6. Interview with her son on 09 Aug 2010
7. Interview with her son on 21 Sept 2010
8. Personal interview with Juanita Quigley on 20 Sept 2010

Bibliography

• Willson, Dixie (1935). Little Hollywood Stars. Akron, OH, and New York: Saalfield Pub. Co.

External links

• Juanita Quigley at the Internet Movie Database