Elyse Knox, a talented actress, was born Elsie Lillian Kornbrath on December 14, 1917, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Austrian parents Hermine Sophie (Muck) and Frederick Kornbrath, who hailed from Vienna.
Initially, Knox's passion was not acting but art, as she began painting in oils during high school and continued to nurture this passion throughout her life. In 1981, she even had an exhibition of her work.
After graduating from the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City, Knox landed a job in a design studio as an artist's assistant, aiming to become a fashion designer. However, when a model failed to appear on schedule, Knox filled in and soon became a top fashion model, gracing the covers of major magazines. She even modeled some of her own creations in Vogue Magazine in 1937.
Knox's appearance in a newsreel as a fashion model caught the attention of 20th Century-Fox, leading to a Hollywood contract. She made her debut in an uncredited bit part in Wake Up and Live (1937),starring gossip columnist Walter Winchell.
It would take Knox three years to appear on-screen again, this time in Free, Blonde and 21 (1940). Throughout the 1940s, she made a total of 39 movies.
Knox worked with various studios, including Paramount and Universal, where she met Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, whom she eventually married in 1944. She was a contract player at Universal during this time, starring in the "Mummy" movie alongside Lon Chaney Jr.
Knox's real-life romance with a sports hero was mirrored in her on-screen roles, including playing Anne Howe, the girlfriend of fictional boxer "Joe Palooka," in a series of B-movies at Monogram.
After having two children with Harmon, Knox retired from acting in 1949, citing her desire to focus on her maternal instincts. Her son Mark, born in 1951, went on to become a top TV star, while her daughter Kristin Harmon (1945-2018) was an actress who married singer/actor Ricky Nelson (1940-1985). The twin singer-songwriters Gunnar Nelson and Matthew Nelson are her grandchildren.
Elyse Knox passed away on February 16, 2012, in Los Angeles, at the age of 94.
