Actress. Born Margaret Ann Knudsen in Duluth, Minnesota. After making her movie debut with "A Stolen Life" (1946), she landed the small but pivotal role of Mona Mars in the classic film noir "The Big Sleep" (1946). A curvaceous but icy blonde, Knudsen confidently held her own in her one scene with stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Critics took notice and this success should have led to better things, but Warner Bros. wasted her promise by casting her as homewreckers in mostly minor films. By the 1950s she was playing "tough broads" in such programmers as the women's prison picture "Betrayed Women" (1955) and "The Bottom of the Bottle" (1956). Her other credits include "Humoresque" (1946), "Never Say Goodbye" (1946), "Stallion Road" (1947), "My Wild Irish Rose" (1947), "Trouble Preferred" (1948), "Unchained" (1955), and "Istanbul" (1957). In 1962 she made one last bid for celebrity as the co-star of the proposed TV sitcom "Howie", but CBS refused to buy the pilot episode. For the last 15 years of her life Knudsen was increasingly debilitated by arthritis and was eventually cared for by her longtime friend, actress Jennifer Jones. She died of cancer at 57.
Actress. Born Margaret Ann Knudsen in Duluth, Minnesota. After making her movie debut with "A Stolen Life" (1946), she landed the small but pivotal role of Mona Mars in the classic film noir "The Big Sleep" (1946). A curvaceous but icy blonde, Knudsen confidently held her own in her one scene with stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Critics took notice and this success should have led to better things, but Warner Bros. wasted her promise by casting her as homewreckers in mostly minor films. By the 1950s she was playing "tough broads" in such programmers as the women's prison picture "Betrayed Women" (1955) and "The Bottom of the Bottle" (1956). Her other credits include "Humoresque" (1946), "Never Say Goodbye" (1946), "Stallion Road" (1947), "My Wild Irish Rose" (1947), "Trouble Preferred" (1948), "Unchained" (1955), and "Istanbul" (1957). In 1962 she made one last bid for celebrity as the co-star of the proposed TV sitcom "Howie", but CBS refused to buy the pilot episode. For the last 15 years of her life Knudsen was increasingly debilitated by arthritis and was eventually cared for by her longtime friend, actress Jennifer Jones. She died of cancer at 57.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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Section G, Row 56, 22 graves from curb, near small tree.
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