- Wende Wagner
Wende Wagner also known as Wendy Wagner (born
6 December 1941 in New London,Connecticut died26 February 1997 inSanta Monica ,California ) was an actress famed for her roles in "The Green Hornet " and "Rio Conchos".Biography
Born to a career U.S. Navy officer and swimming and diving coach father John H. Wagner and a mother Rudy Arnold Wagner who was a champion skier, Wagner lived in nearly all the Continental United Staes with her family's various naval postings. Whilst in Florida,
Billy Wilder then filming "Some Like It Hot " saw Wagner swimming and offered her ascreen test . Her parents forbade it until she finished high school. After graduating she visited Wilder, did a screen test, but turned down a role in "The Apartment ". [p.319 Lisanti, Tom "Drive-In Dream Girlss: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets" 2003 McFarland]Wagner travelled the world as a
fashion model then made her television debut in an episode of "Wagon Train " in 1959. Whilst living in theBahamas she became an underwater stunt double in "Sea Hunt " [ [http://home.comcast.net/~bill.jones.scubaguy/SEA_HUNT/SeaHuntPrincipalCastCrew.html#Wende%20Wagner Sea Hunt Principal Cast Crew Trivia Lloyd Bridges Zale Parry Argonaut Scuba Guy Diving Bill Jones Tors Ziv United Artists Television TV Series Authorized Official ] ] and "The Aquanauts " television series. [ P.318 Lisanti, Tom "Drive-In Dream Girlss: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets" 2003 McFarland] She also doubled forJoanne Dru in underwater sequences in the 1960 film "September Storm". Wagner appeared on "What's My Line " in December 1960 as a "Stunt skindiver for television films". [ [http://www.tv.com/whats-my-line/show/5501/episode_guide.html&printable=1 TV.com: What's My Line? Episode Guide ] ] She married fellow underwater expert Courtney Brown who she had met whilst working on the shows.In addition to her scuba diving and swimming she was also a surfer.
After having a daughter named Tiffany, she later divorced Brown and became contracted to
20th Century Fox leading her to roles in "Rio Conchos", "The Green Hornet" and "Rosemary's Baby ". She married and divorced actorJames Mitchum . Wagner was also friends withSharon Tate with the two sharing a flat for awhile. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/1943/pge3.html page 3 ] ]Despite such major credits Wagner also appeared in many lesser films such as playing an assassin named "Scuba" in "Out of Sight" and a photographer in "Destination Inner Space" both in 1966. Wagner also appeared in several other television shows such as "
Flipper ".Wagner lived in
Malibu but lost her home and belongings in a fire. She was active with the Malibu Historical Society.Wagner died of cancer in 1997. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906147/bio Wende Wagner - Biography ] ]
References
External links
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* [http://home.comcast.net/~bill.jones.scubaguy/SEA_HUNT/SeaHuntPrincipalCastCrew.html "Sea Hunt Trivia Guide, Wende Wagner"] from [http://home.comcast.net/~bill.jones.scubaguy/ The Scuba Guy]
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