Wanda Hawley

Wanda Hawley (July 30, 1895 – March 18, 1963) was a veteran American actress of the silent film era. She entered the theatrical profession with an amateur group in Seattle, and later toured the U.S. and Canada as a singer. She co-starred with Rudolph Valentino in the 1922 The Young Rajah, and rose to stardom in a number of Cecil B. DeMille's and director Sam Wood's films.

Life and career

Hawley was born Selma Wanda Pittack in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but together with her family moved to Seattle, Washington, when she was a child. She received her education in Seattle. She made her screen debut with the Fox Film Corporation and after playing with them for eight months joined Famous Players-Lasky and appeared as leading lady in Mr. Fix-It (1918). She married Allen Burton Hawley in 1916, and adopted his surname professionally.

She had also appeared opposite William S. Hart, Charlie Ray, Bryant Washburn, Wally Reid and others. She was five feet three inches high, weighed a hundred and ten pounds, and had blond hair and greyish blue eyes. She was an able sportswoman. With the advent of sound, Hawley's career ended.

Death

She died in 1963, aged 67, in Los Angeles and is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Partial filmography