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American actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wanda Wiley Atkinson (April 20, 1901 – March 29, 1987)[1] was an American silent film actress who appeared in dozens of comedy shorts between 1924 and 1927.
Wanda Wiley | |
|---|---|
Wanda Wiley, from a 1926 advertisement | |
| Born | April 20, 1901 New Boston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 1987 (aged 85) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Other names | Wanda Atkinson |
| Occupation | Actress |
Wiley was born in New Boston, Texas, the youngest of twelve children born to James Alexander Wiley Sr. and Ida Ione Barnett Wiley. Her mother was born in Mississippi. She studied at the Texas Dental College before seeking a film career.[2][3]
Wiley was a comedian who appeared in dozens of short films between 1924 and 1927. She was athletic, and her films often featured her performing slapstick physical stunts. She suffered an injury when she was thrown from a startled horse on one film set.[4] She played a football player in Gridiron Gertie (1925).[5]
Wiley was under contract with the Century Film Corporation in 1925.[6] and was described that year as "one of the biggest individual moneymakers of all the comediennes in the picture business."[3] She signed with Bray Productions in 1926.[7] She starred in a series of "What Happened to Jane" shorts in 1926 (Jane's Inheritance, Jane's Troubles, Jane's Engagement Party, Jane's Predicament, Jane's Honeymoon, and Jane's Flirtation),[8] before she was replaced in the role by Thelma Daniels in 1927.[9]
In the 1960s, Wanda Wiley Atkinson exhibited her paintings in New Mexico, and went to Paris to paint while her niece Patricia Boward pursued a modeling career.[10]
Wiley was injured during her silent film career,[18] and in a 1925 car accident in Los Angeles.[19] She married eye surgeon Donald Taylor Atkinson in 1935. Wiley's husband died in San Antonio in 1959,[20] and she died in 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 85. Most, but not all, of her films are considered lost. A Thrilling Romance (1926) is in the collection of the Library of Congress.
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