• Name: Deborah Walley
  • Date of Birth: August 12, 1943
  • Place of Birth: Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
Mini-bio: Deborah Walley's parents were professional figure skaters with the Ice-Capades; as a result, she spent much of her childhood in dressing rooms surrounded by people in bear suits. After studying at the... read more American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Walley racked up an impressive list of Broadway and off-Broadway credits. Her first film appearance was in the title role Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), a "break" that nearly stopped her career cold before it began. She avoided being forever typecast as Gidget thanks to a brace of interesting appearances in two Disney flicks, Bon Voyage (1962) and Summer Magic (1963). Then came a long association with American-International's Beach Party series, ending with the benighted Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). Her favorite film role was as the hoydenish "gal pal" to Elvis Presley in Spinout (1966). From 1967 through 1969, Walley appeared as Susie Hubbard on the weekly sitcom The Mothers-in-Law, reportedly spending much of her free time fending off the advances of producer Desi Arnaz. She left show business in the 1970s to raise her family and to write books. In 1986, Deborah Walley made a welcome return before the cameras in an episode of TV's Simon and Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Post it anywhere Link it anywhere

Deborah Walley Wiki Profile


EasyEdit tools are temporarily disabled for maintenance.
What's going on here?
Flixster members are collaborating to create the definitive resource for Deborah Walley information on the Internet. We're adding all the images, info, and ideas that best tell this actor's unique story. To add your knowledge of Deborah Walley, just log in and click the EasyEdit button at the top of the wiki pages. (
Click here for help.)
Replace this image with an actor photoDeborah Walley mini-bio: Actress, author, producer, and Photoplay's "Most Popular Actress of 1961," the daughter of Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She was skating with her parents at age three, but resisted her father's urging to continue, opting to study acting at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her stage debut was at 14, in a summer-stock production of "Charley's Aunt". When she moved to Arizona to raise her three sons, she co-founded two children's theater companies (Pied Piper Productions and Sedona Children's Theater), introducing live theater and teaching acting to disadvantaged children. She also founded the Swiftwind Theater Company, writing film scripts and training American Indian actors and production-crew members. Her 1990 short film Legend of 'Seeks-To-Hunt-Great' (1989), starring Michael Horse, was awarded the National Cine Golden Eagle, the Oklahoma Tribal Council Award for best fiction film, the 1991 Algrave (Portugal) International Video Festival best-of-festival award, and the American Indian Film Festival's best short-subject award. She incorporated the story line -- an Indian boy's appreciation of nature while following a mountain lion -- into her 1993 children's book "Grandfather's Good Medicine." Deborah Walley also wrote scripts for her own production companies, for other children's films, and for Disney Animation, for which she supplied cartoon voice-overs.

VITAL STATS

Deborah Walley Information:
Eye color:
Height:
Nickname(s):
Notable feature(s):
Education:
Family:
Resides in:
Religious affiliations:
Political affiliation:
Personal interests/hobbies:
Charities/Causes:
Other:



Deborah Walley Movies


Deborah Walley Movies
Deborah Walley at LocateTV.com

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

Actor Skins


Deborah Walley Trivia


  • Deborah Walley was the first star to play "Gidget".  Answer »

Actor Quizzes


Deborah Walley Quizzes

No quizzes for Deborah Walley. Want to create one?