Evalyn Knapp
Evalyn Knapp (born Evelyn Pauline Knapp; June 17, 1906 – June 12, 1981) was an American film actress of the late 1920s, 1930s and into the 1940s. She was a leading B-movie serial actress in the 1930s. She was the younger sister of the orchestra leader Orville Knapp (1904–1936). Life and career. Knapp was born in 1906 in Kansas City, Missouri. She started acting in silent films, her first role being in the 1929 film "At the Dentist's". She was cast as leading lady in "Smart Money" in 1931, the only film starring both Edward G. Robinson  and James Cagney. In 1932, Knapp was one of 14 girls, along with Ginger Rogers and Gloria Stuart, selected as WAMPAS Baby Stars. Knapp achieved success in cliffhanger serials, which were popular at the time. She played the title character in the 1933 serial "The Perils of Pauline". The same year, she starred, with top billing, alongside 26-year-old John Wayne in "His Private Secretary", a light comedy in which Wayne portrays a playboy determined to win her over. She also appeared in "Corruption" that year opposite Preston Foster. One of her better known film roles was opposite Ken  Maynard in the 1934 film "In Old Santa Fe" featuring Gene Autry in his first screen appearance, in which he sang with a bluegrass band. She worked through 1941, but her career slowed afterward. In 1943, she played her last role, uncredited, in "Two Weeks to Live", one of the "Lum and Abner" films starring Chester Lauck and Norris Goff. Personal life. In 1931, Knapp spent several months in the hospital after she fell from a cliff during a hike with her brother, Orville. Two vertebrae were fractured. Her brother, orchestra leader Orville Knapp, died in a plane crash while  piloting the plane in 1936, smashing into the runway. He was 32 years old. Her brother was married to film actress Gloria Grafton (1909–1994). She married Dr. George A. Snyder in 1934. Following her retirement, she concentrated on her family. She and Snyder remained married until his death in 1977. On June 12, 1981, Knapp died of heart disease at St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles, California.