Wende Wagner Profile

Wende Wagner

	(Wendy Arnold Wagner)
6 December 41	is born in New London, Connecticut, of French, American Indian, Hawaiian, and German descent, to John H. and Rudy Arnold Wagner. Her father is an Olympic swimming and diving coach and will become Commander of the United States Naval Base in Panama.
?	graduates from Coronado High School, San Diego
?	is discovered by director Billy Wilder, but refuses to give up her life of travel. After a screen test opposite Jack Lemmon, she is off to the Bahamas for surfing.
?	is off to the Bahamas and then for four months to Hawaii, taking care of her expenses along the way by modeling
?	is a champion swimmer and stunt diver
?	is off to Europe and models in Paris. She lives for various periods in England, France, Germany, and Ireland.
?	makes her home in the Bahamas
60	is underwater stunt double for actress Joanne Dru in September Storm
27 May 60	marries fellow stunt diver, Courtney Lee Brown, whom she met when filming September Storm, in New Orleans
c. 62	her daughter, Tiffany, is born
?	divorces Brown and returns to California
Early 65	joins her friend, actress Sharon Tate, in London. Victor Lownes, founder of London’s Playboy Club, escorts them to parties and to exclusive clubs in Knightsbridge and Soho. They have lots of fun. At a party they meet Polish director Roman Polanski and actor Skip Ward.
?	settles in the Bahamas for three years. Does skin-diving and underwater stunts for TV shows such as “Sea Hunt” and “The Aquanauts“
August 66	while visiting New Orleans, she stays at the Roosevelt Hotel and gives two radio interviews. She lunches with the Naval Air Force at Callendar Field, has a press luncheon and cocktails at the Royal Orleans, and tapes promos at the ABC affiliate.
October 66	steadily dates Jim Mitchum, but is not interested in marrying
Mid-67	plays the girlfriend of Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, directed by her real-life girlfriend’s husband, Roman Polanski
6 March 69	marries James Robin Spence Mitchum in Las Vegas
16 April 69	her son by Mitchum is born in Los Angeles
26 February 97	as Wende Wagner, she dies at age 55 in Santa Monica, California, from cancer

Sources: Cathy Ellis, The Wende Wagner Tribute Pages, Drive-In Dream Girls by Tom Lisanti, 20th Century-Fox publicity, Movie Life, Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders by Greg King, www.Ancestry.com
Recommended Books:
Links: Filmography Green Hornet and Kato !WOm!WAm!. Wende Wagner