Deborah Walley

Deborah Walley
Walley in the late 1960s
Born	(1941-08-12)August 12, 1941 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	May 10, 2001(2001-05-10) (aged 59) Sedona, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960 – 1999
Spouse(s)	John Reynolds (?-?) (divorced) 1 child John Ashley (1962-1966) (divorced) 1 child Chet McCracken (1968-1975) (divorced)

Deborah Walley (August 12, 1941 – May 10, 2001) was an American actress noted for playing the title role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and in several Beach Party films.

Life and Career

She was born in Bridgeport in southern Connecticut to Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She attended Central High School in Bridgeport. At fourteen, she was playing summer-stock theatre. She studied acting at New York City's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began working on stage in the city. She was discovered by agent Joyce Selznick in a performance in a production of Anton Chekov's Three Sisters. This led her to make her Hollywood film debut as Gidget^[1] in 1961's Gidget Goes Hawaiian. From then until 1974 she appeared in fifteen feature length films, including several of the "Beach Party" films produced by American International Pictures.^[2] She also co-starred in the Elvis Presley film Spinout where she and Elvis bonded over a shared interest in spiritual matters.^[3]

In 1967, with her movie career starting to decline, Walley portrayed Suzie Hubbard Buell in the comedy series The Mothers-in-Law, Comedienne Eve Arden playing her mother and singer-comedienne Kaye Ballard playing her mother-in-law. Actress Kay Cole (A Chorus Line) had played Suzie in the original pilot but was replaced by Walley, who played her through the series' two seasons on the air.

After moving to Sedona, Arizona to bring up her children, Walley co-founded two children's theater companies, Pied Piper Productions and the Sedona Children's Theatre.

Personal life

From 1962 to 1966, Walley was married to actor John Ashley, a costar of ABC's Straightaway series about auto racing from 1961–1962. The couple had a son, Anthony Brooks Ashley, before they divorced. John Ashley preceded his former wife in death by four years. On his gravestone, the inscription says that he was a "loving husband and father."

Walley succumbed to esophageal cancer on May 10, 2001, in Sedona.^[4] She was survived by two of her three sons: Anthony Brooks Ashley, a director, editor, and producer in Hollywood; and Justin Ashley Reynolds, an internet entrepreneur in Phoenix, Arizona.

Filmography

Awards

Walley was named Photoplay magazine's 'Most Popular Actress of 1961'.^[2]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deborah Walley.

• Deborah Walley at the Internet Movie Database
• Deborah Walley at Brian's Drive-in Theatre