Juanita Quigley

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.[1]

Juanita Quigley
Born	June 24, 1931 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	October 29, 2017 (aged 86) Sudbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other names	Sister Quentin Rita
Occupation	Actress Religious sister
Years active	1934–1950 (nun 1951–1964)
Spouse(s)	Dr. Donald Robert Schultz ​ ​ (m. 1964; died 2012)​
Children	2

Career

Juanita Quigley was billed as "Baby Jane" in several early roles.[2] Her screen debut was as Claudette Colbert's three-year-old daughter in Imitation of Life (1934).[3] 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.[4]

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 "Alfalfa" (played by Carl 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.[5]

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 Catholic religious sister, Sister Quentin Rita in the order of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph,[6] teaching at Precious Blood Catholic School.[3] After several years in her convent, she left the vocation and married Dr. Donald Robert Schultz in 1964.[5] The couple had two children, Erik and Marta, before his death in 2012.[7][8]

Inaccurate documentation exists that Juanita made an uncredited appearance as an extra in the locally filmed Porky's II: The Next Day.[9] At the time of this filming, Juanita lived in Pennsylvania pursuing her post-convent career full-time.[10][11][12] 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, Massachusetts, on 29 October 2017, aged 86.[8] She and her husband Donald R. Schultz (1927–2012) are buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.[13]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	In Love with Life	Little Girl with serving tray	Uncredited
	We're Rich Again	Child with nanny	Uncredited
	Have a Heart	Rosy	Uncredited
	Imitation of Life	Baby Jessie Pullman
	The Man Who Reclaimed His Head	Linette Verin
1935	Straight from the Heart	Maggie Haines
	Alias Mary Dow	Mary Dow
1936	Riffraff	Rosie
	Absolute Quiet	Young girl (in trailer only)	Uncredited
	The Devil-Doll	Marguerite Coulvet
	Born to Dance	Sally Saks
1938	Hawaii Calls	Doris Milburn
	The Devil's Party	Helen McCoy, as a child	Uncredited
	You and Me	Nasty little girl	Uncredited
	Woman Against Woman	Ellen
	Having Wonderful Time	Mabel
	Men with Wings	Patricia Falconer, aged 6	Uncredited
	That Certain Age	The pest
1939	The Family Next Door	Susan Pierce
	Code of the Streets	Cynthia
1940	Oh, Johnny, How Can You Love!	Junior
	The Blue Bird	Child
	The New Pupil	Sally	Short
1941	Bachelor Daddy	Girl with pigtails at movie
	Paper Bullets	Rita, as a child	Uncredited
1942	The Vanishing Virginian	Caroline Yancey
	Going to Press	Sally	Short
	A Yank at Eton	Jane Dennis
1943	Assignment in Brittany	Jeannine
	Happy Land	Sally Pierce	Uncredited
	Whispering Footsteps	Rose Murphy
1944	The Lady and the Monster	Mary Lou
	National Velvet	Malvolia Brown
1948	Luxury Liner	Jean	Uncredited
1950	Mystery Street	Daughter	Uncredited
1983	Porky's II: The Next Day	Woman at Rally	(final film role)

References

1. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. (2 volume set). McFarland. p. 608. ISBN 9780786479924. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
2. "Movie Star Biography – Juanita Quigley". Premiere.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
3. "Former Child Star Now Working as Nun". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. November 1, 1956. p. 21. Retrieved December 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. http://www.classicmoviekids.com/quigley.htm
5. Staggs, Sam (2009). Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life. Macmillan. p. 370. ISBN 9780312373368. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
6. "Eugene Register-Guard". news.google.com. Retrieved Aug 11, 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
7. "Donald (Dutch) Robert Schultz (Dr.) – Arizona Obituary Directory". obits.arizonagravestones.org. Retrieved Aug 11, 2019.
8. "Obituary: Juanita Q. (Quigley) Schultz 1931–2017". Verde Independent. Retrieved Aug 11, 2019.
9. Hans J. Wollstein. "Juanita Quigley Biography". AllMovie.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
10. Interview with her son on 09 Aug 2010
11. Interview with her son on 21 Sept 2010
12. Personal interview with Juanita Quigley on 20 Sept 2010
13. Juanita Quigley at Find a Grave

Bibliography

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

External links

• Juanita Quigley at IMDb