Juanita Quigley

Born: 1931-06-24

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.


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Born to Dance

as Sally Saks
Released: 1936-11-27

On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but...

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Imitation of Life

as Baby Jessie Pullman, Age 3
Released: 1934-11-23

A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter....

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National Velvet

as Malvolia 'Mally' Brown
Released: 1945-01-26

Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside...

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The Blue Bird

as Child
Released: 1940-01-15

Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of...

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The Devil-Doll

as Marguerite Coulvet
Released: 1936-07-10

Wrongfully convicted of a robbery and murder, Paul Lavond breaks out of prison with a genius...

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Mystery Street

as Harkley's Daughter (uncredited)
Released: 1950-06-23

When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter...

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Men with Wings

as Patricia Falconer at Age 6
Released: 1938-07-16

Reporter Nicholas Ranson is jubilant when, on 17 Dec 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,...

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Happy Land

as Sally Pierce (uncredited)
Released: 1943-11-10

An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist...

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Riffraff

as Rosie
Released: 1936-01-03

Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired...

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Woman Against Woman

as Ellen
Released: 1938-06-24

A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling...

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The Lady and the Monster

as Mary Lou
Released: 1944-04-17

A millionaire's brain is preserved after his death by a scientist and his two assistants, only...

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Having Wonderful Time

as Mabel
Released: 1938-07-01

Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and...

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Whispering Footsteps

as Rose Murphy
Released: 1943-12-30

An Ohio bank clerk's life becomes a nightmare when his descriptions is a fit of a maniac killer.

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Gangs Inc.

as Rita as a Child (uncredited)
Released: 1941-06-13

Circumstances force naive Rita Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it...

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Code of the Streets

as Cynthia
Released: 1939-04-13

Frankie Thomas plays Bob Lewis, leader of a gang consisting of Sailor, Murph, Monk, Trouble and...

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The Vanishing Virginian

as Caroline Yancey
Released: 1942-02-01

The perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and...

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The Devil's Party

as Young Helen
Released: 1938-06-02

Adults who grew up as slum kids meet later in life, but murder disrupts their reunion.

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That Certain Age

as Butch Warren ("The Pest" in credits)
Released: 1938-10-06

Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss,...

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The Man Who Reclaimed His Head

as Linette Verin
Released: 1934-12-24

A writer discovers he's being used as a pawn by greedy businessmen.

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A Yank at Eton

as Jane 'The Runt' Dennis
Released: 1942-09-01

An American playboy is sent to a British boarding school to learn discipline.

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Assignment in Brittany

as Jeannine
Released: 1943-03-11

A French Resistance fighter discovers he's a dead ringer for a Nazi official.

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Alias Mary Dow

as Mary Dow
Released: 1935-05-01

A taxi-dancer agrees to pose as a girl who had been kidnapped as a child 18 years before.

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Bachelor Daddy

as Girl with Pigtails at Movie
Released: 1941-06-04

The lives of three bachelors is disrupted when one of them is left with a baby.

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Straight from the Heart

as Maggie Haines (as Baby Jane)
Released: 1935-03-22

In this romance, a slightly crooked and highly ambitious mayoral candidate convinces a woman to...

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The Family Next Door

as Susan Pierce
Released: 1939-03-30

Rose Pierce is discontent with her life as the wife of a small town plumber and has visions of...

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Going to Press

as Sally
Released: 1942-03-07

The Our Gang kids are running their own newspaper and are determined to get the big scoop by...

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We're Rich Again

as Child with Nanny (uncredited)
Released: 1934-07-13

A polo-playing grandmother and her broke brood get back in the money with a Wall Street bet.

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Hawaii Calls

as Doris Milburn
Released: 1938-03-12

After being nabbed while trying to stow away on board an ocean liner en route to Hawaii, young...

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Cinderella's Feller

as Cinderella
Released: 1940-06-08

The story of Cinderella with a children's cast.

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