Deborah Walley (August 12, 1941 – May 10, 2001) was an American actress noted for playing the title role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and appearing in several beach party films.
During her sophomore year, Walley attended Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she was cast as Cinderella in a musical production at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse. She studied acting at New York City's American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[2]
Career
Walley appeared on television in episodes of Naked City ("To Walk in Silence ") and Route 66 ("Ten Drops of Water").
Early film career
Walley was discovered by agent Joyce Selznick while performing in a production of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, and she soon made her Hollywood film debut as Gidget in 1961's Gidget Goes Hawaiian.[4] The film was popular and established Walley as a name among teenage fans[5] and she won the Photoplay award for Favorite Female Newcomer.[4] She was named Photoplay magazine's most popular actress of 1961.[5]
Disney hired Walley to play an ingenue in two comedies, Bon Voyage! (1962) and Summer Magic (1963), and she sang in the latter.[6]
In 1967, with her film career in decline, Walley portrayed Suzie Hubbard Buell in the comedy series The Mothers-in-Law.[8] Actress Kay Cole had played Suzie in the original pilot, but Walley replaced her for the series' two seasons on the air.[citation needed]
She continued to guest-star on shows such as The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ("Mystery on the Avalanche Express") and Simon & Simon ("The Last Big Break"). She wrote and produced the short film The Legend of Seeks-To-Hunt-Great (1989), which won several awards including the National Cine Golden Eagle, the American Indian Film Festival's best short-subject award, the Oklahoma Tribal Council Award for best fiction film and the 1991 Algrave International Video Festival's best-of-festival award.[9]
Walley moved to Sedona, Arizona in 1991 to focus on raising her family while writing and producing. She cofounded Pied Piper Productions, a nonprofit theater company for children, and was a cofounder of the Sedona Children's Theater.[10]
She published her first book, Grandfather's Good Medicine, in 1993, which was based on the plot of The Legend of Seeks-To-Hunt-Great. She also wrote scripts and taught acting and production techniques to American Indians through her Swiftwind Productions company, and she continued to produce and appear in plays.[11][3]
Walley returned to Hollywood in 1999, where she pursued acting as a "hobby." She appeared on Baywatch and the daytime soap opera Passions. She continued to work with children through her Imagination Playshops, acting workshops for children in the U.S. and Australia. She also worked with the Educational Theater Company, a multiethnic organization based in Los Angeles.[12]
Personal life and death
Walley's first marriage was to John Reynolds, with whom she had a son named Justin. From 1962 to 1966,[note 1][2] Walley was married to actor John Ashley and had another son, Anthony.[note 2][2] Two years after divorcing Ashley, she married Chet McCracken, with whom she remained until divorcing him in 1975.
^Scheuer, Philip K. (August 10, 1961). "'Gidgets' Deborah Signed by Disney: Oboler Adding Two to Five; 'World by Night' Fascinating". Los Angeles Times. p. B13.
^Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 718. ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
