Deborah Walley

Deborah Walley (August 12, 1943 – May 10, 2001) was an American actress

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at fourteen she was playing summer-stock theatre. She studied acting at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began working on stage in New York City and made her Hollywood film debut in the 1961's Gidget Goes Hawaiian, a role for which she is most remembered. From then until 1974 she appeared in fifteen feature length films and after retiring to a home in Arizona she continued to make occasional guest appearances on television. While living there, she co-founded two children's theater companies and became involved with native-American culture and folklore, writing and creating plays about their lives.

Deborah Walley passed away from cancer in 2001 in Sedona, Arizona.