Donna Wilkes

Last updated
Donna Wilkes
Donna Wilkes (1979).jpg
Wilkes in 1979
Born (1959-11-11) November 11, 1959 (age 64)
East Harlem, New York, NY
OccupationActress
Years active1978–present
Known for
Spouse
(m. 1977;div. 1981)
[1]
Children1 [2]

Donna Consuelo Wilkes [3] (born November 11, 1959) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor in commercials before making her feature film debut in Jaws 2 (1978). She subsequently had a supporting role in Almost Summer (1978), followed by lead roles in the horror films Schizoid (1980) and Blood Song (1982). She also appeared in several television programs, including the soap opera Days of Our Lives (1982–1983), portraying Pamela Prentiss. She portrayed Diane Alder in the short-lived sitcom Hello, Larry (1979), a role she reprised in a crossover episode with Diff'rent Strokes .

Contents

Wilkes is perhaps best known for her starring role in the thriller Angel (1984), in which she portrayed a preparatory student in Los Angeles who lives a double life as a prostitute by night. [4] Her other credits include the horror film Grotesque (1988), opposite Linda Blair and Tab Hunter, and guest-starring roles on the series Dragnet (1989) and FBI: The Untold Stories (1991).

Wilkes abandoned her acting career in the early 1990s after the birth of her daughter. She returned to acting in 2013, appearing in the independent films My Stepbrother Is a Vampire!?! and 90210 Shark Attack (2014).

Biography

Early life

Wilkes was born in Manhattan, New York City [5] in Spanish Harlem. Her father was Wayman Otis Wilkes (1918 2013), an Irish American chiropractor originally from Texas, [6] while her mother, a nightclub singer from Dominican Republic, was of Spanish and French descent. [5] [3] Wilkes's parents divorced when she was 3 months old. [5] She was raised speaking both English and Spanish, and is fluent in both. [2]

When she was six she made her first commercial, for Keds sneakers. She trained in acting at Dominica American Theatre of Performing Arts, but stopped her training at age 11 to become a "normal student." At age 12, she went to live with her aunt and uncle in the Dominican Republic. Wilkes attended the Collegio Santo Domingo where she was an advanced student, graduating at age 14. [7] At age 15, she moved to Los Angeles, California, [5] but, unable to work at such a young age, convinced many employers that she was 18 and married. [7] Her first jobs included being a computer operator for an ambulance service, and as a secretary and administrative assistant for a large corporation. [7]

Career beginnings

Wilkes began acting again at age 17. Her first role was the part of Jackie Peters in the 1978 Universal Pictures film Jaws 2 . That same year, she starred as Meredith in Almost Summer , which earned her a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card. At around age 18, she married 39-year-old actor Billy Gray, known for his work on Father Knows Best . The marriage soon ended in divorce.

In 1980, Wilkes portrayed the mentally-unstable daughter of a psychologist (played by Klaus Kinski) in the horror film Schizoid . [8] She subsequently starred in the Oregon-shot slasher film Blood Song (1982) opposite Frankie Avalon, playing a disabled young woman stalked by a maniacal killer with whom she has a telepathic connection. [9]

Angel, hiatus, and later career

Press photo of Donna Wilkes as Molly "Angel" Stewart promoting Angel Donna Wilkes - Angel press photo.jpg
Press photo of Donna Wilkes as Molly "Angel" Stewart promoting Angel

Wilkes had a central role as Pamela Prentiss on the soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1983 to 1984.

She subsequently gained international attention for her leading role in the cult sexploitation film Angel , in which she played Molly "Angel" Stewart, a high school honor student by day, and a prostitute by night, opposite Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn, and Rory Calhoun. [10] The film spawned three sequels in which Wilkes had no involvement. Wilkes was 22 or so at the time she played the 15-year-old character. To prepare for the role, she spent time in halfway houses and rehabilitation centers in Los Angeles. [7] Released by New World Pictures in January 1984, Angel was a box-office hit, grossing $17.5 million in the United States. [11]

Following Angel, Wilkes continued to work in television, making guest appearances on the series Partners in Crime (1984), Hell Town (1985), and Dragnet (1989). She also had a supporting role in the horror film Grotesque (1988), co-starring with Linda Blair and Tab Hunter. [12]

Wilkes abandoned her acting career in the early 1990s after giving birth to her daughter. [2] She returned to acting in the 2010s, appearing in the independent films My Stepbrother Is a Vampire!?! (2013), 90210 Shark Attack (2014) and Buzz Cut (2021). [13]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978 Jaws 2 Jackie Peters
1978 Almost Summer Meredith
1979FyreCarol
1979 Hard Knocks ChrisAlternate titles: Mid-Knight Rider and Hollywood Knight
1980 Schizoid Alison FalesAlternate title: Murder by Mail
1982 Blood Song MarionAlternate title: Dream Slayer
1984 Angel Molly 'Angel' Stewart
1988 Grotesque Kathy
2013My Stepbrother Is a Vampire!?!Miss Fortune
201490210 Shark AttackPamela
2021Buzz CutBee Shop Lady

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978The Courage and the PassionTracyTelevision film
1978 The Incredible Hulk Alice MorrowEpisode: "Alice in Disco Land"
1979 Hello, Larry Diane AlderMain cast (14 episodes)
1979 Diff'rent Strokes Diane AlderEpisode: "The Trip: Part 1"
1979 The Runaways Episode: "Land of Honey"
1981Born to Be SoldCindy CarlsonTelevision film
1981 House Calls Episode: "The Sex Police"
1982 Father Murphy Emma WalkerEpisodes: "The First Miracle" (Parts 1 & 2)
1982 T. J. Hooker Karen StewartEpisode: "King of the Hill"
1982–1983 Days of Our Lives Pamela PrentissMain cast (14 episodes)
1983 Teachers Only Episode: "Praise the Lord and Pasta Ammunition"
1984 Gimme a Break! GinaEpisode: "The Center"
1984 Partners in Crime SandyEpisode: "Fantasyland"
1985 Hell Town MegEpisode: "The Rat Man Cometh"
1986 Superior Court Episode: "Date Rape"
1989 Dragnet Amy RedmondEpisode: "Safe in Jail"
1991 FBI: The Untold Stories Teresa StarrEpisode: "The Murder of Judge John Wood"

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <i>Beverly Hills, 90210</i> American TV series (1990–2000)

    Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ten seasons on Fox from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, and is the first of six television series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series follows the lives of a group of friends living in Beverly Hills, California, as they transition from high school to college and into the adult world. "90210" refers to one of the city's five ZIP codes.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Black</span> American actress, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter (1939–2013)

    Karen Blanche Black was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat characters, and established herself as a figure of New Hollywood. Her career spanned over 50 years and includes nearly 200 credits in both independent and mainstream films. Black received numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Golden Globe Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabrielle Carteris</span> American actress (born 1961)

    Gabrielle Anne Carteris is an American actress and trade union leader. Her best known acting role is as Andrea Zuckerman in Beverly Hills, 90210.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Bellamy</span> American actor (1904–1991)

    Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and awards, including a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Sunrise at Campobello as well as Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Awful Truth (1937).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Robertson</span> Canadian actress (born 1973)

    Kathleen Robertson is a Canadian actress. She has starred in a number of films, and from 2011 to 2012 played the role of Kitty O'Neill in the Starz political drama series Boss. From 2014 to 2016, Robertson starred as homicide detective Hildy Mulligan in the TNT series Murder in the First. She also played Tina Edison in the Canadian sitcom Maniac Mansion (1990–1993) and Clare Arnold in the Fox teen drama series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1994–1997). In 2019, she played a main character in the series Northern Rescue.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Jones</span> American actress (1930–1983)

    Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress of television and film. She began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957) and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising new actresses of 1959. Her film career continued for another 20 years. In 1964, Jones began playing the role of matriarch Morticia Addams in the black and white television series The Addams Family.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Langenkamp</span> American actress, director, disk jockey and producer (born 1964)

    Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp is an American actress, director, writer, producer, and disc jockey. Langenkamp played Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven's slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), which earned her recognition as a scream queen and in popular culture. She reprised the role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and played a fictionalized version of herself in the meta film Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). In 1995, she was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Hall of Fame.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Teefy</span> American actress

    Maureen Jane Teefy is an American actress. She is best known for her appearances in the films Fame (1980), Grease 2 (1982), Supergirl (1984), and Startime (1992). Her penultimate credit was in the 1997 film Men Seeking Women but reappeared 20 years later in 2017's Hollywood Girl: The Peg Entwistle Story.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty McCormack</span> American actress (born 1945)

    Patricia McCormack is an American actress with a career in theater, films, and television.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Paxton</span> American actress (born 1988)

    Sara Paxton is an American actress and singer. She began acting at an early age, appearing in minor roles in both films and television shows before rising to fame in early October 2002. She played Sarah Tobin from Greetings from Tucson (2002-2003), the title role in the television series Darcy's Wild Life (2004-2006) and Sarah Borden in Summerland (2004). Her other films include Aquamarine (2006), Return to Halloweentown (2006), Sydney White (2007), Superhero Movie (2008), The Last House on the Left (2009), The Innkeepers (2011), and The Front Runner (2018).

    Dana Kimmell is an American actress and model. She is known for her performance as Chris in the Steve Miner-directed 3D horror film Friday the 13th Part III (1982)—which debuted at number one at the United States box office. She also starred as teenaged characters in the slasher film Sweet Sixteen (1983) and the Western film Lone Wolf McQuade (1983).

    <i>Schizoid</i> (film) 1980 film by David Paulsen

    Schizoid is a 1980 American slasher film directed and written by David Paulsen, and starring Klaus Kinski, Marianna Hill, Craig Wasson, Christopher Lloyd, and Donna Wilkes. It follows a Los Angeles advice columnist who is subject to a series of threatening anonymous letters, while members of a group therapy she attends are being stalked and murdered by a killer armed with shearing scissors.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Lake</span> American actress (1904–1980)

    Florence Lake Owens was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Laurence</span> American actress

    Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film Hellraiser (1987), a role she later reprised in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002). The film franchise established her as a prominent actress in horror, and she subsequently starred in Mikey (1992) and Lurking Fear (1994).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Lowndes</span> Canadian actress and singer

    Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress, singer, and songwriter. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Lowndes began her acting career at a young age, appearing in various television shows and films before landing her breakout role as drug-addicted teen Adrianna Tate-Duncan on The CW TV series 90210. Originally written as a 3-episode arc, the character became a series regular on 90210 for five seasons.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Stroup</span> American actress (born 1986 or 1987)

    Jessica Stroup is an American actress, best known for her role as Silver on 90210 (2008–2013), Max Hardy on The Following (2014–2015) and Joy Meachum on Iron Fist (2017–2018), which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). She is regarded as a scream queen for starring in the horror films Vampire Bats (2005), Left in Darkness (2006), The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Prom Night (2008) and Homecoming (2009).

    <i>Angel</i> (1984 film) 1984 American film directed by Tom DeSimone

    Angel is a 1984 American exploitation thriller film directed by Robert Vincent O'Neil, written by O'Neil and Joseph Michael Cala, and starring Donna Wilkes, Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn, and Rory Calhoun. Its plot follows a teenage prostitute in Los Angeles who faces danger "don"when a serial killer begins stalking and murdering young prostitutes.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex McKenna</span> American actress and voice-over artist

    Alex McKenna is an American actress and voice-over artist. She gained fame by playing Petunia Stupid in The Stupids (1996) and Mickey Apple in You Wish (1997). She resumed her acting career with guest appearances in The CW hit teen drama series 90210 in 2010. In 2012, she had recurring appearances in the television series, including Dallas, Guys with Kids and Two and a Half Men. McKenna is also known for her role as Sadie Adler in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Arielle Kebbel</span> American actress and model

    Arielle Kebbel is an American actress and model. She has appeared in various television series, including Gilmore Girls (2003–2004), The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), Life Unexpected (2010), 90210 (2011–2013), Ballers, Midnight Texas (2017–2018), and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2019–2020). Kebbel has also appeared in films such as American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005), John Tucker Must Die (2006), The Grudge 2 (2006), Forever Strong (2008), The Uninvited (2009), Think Like a Man (2012), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), After We Fell (2021), After Ever Happy (2022), and After Everything (2023).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Conor Leslie</span> American actress (born 1991)

    Conor Marie Leslie is an American actress. Beginning her career in the late 2000s, her first major role was in the thriller film Chained (2012). She has worked frequently on television, including as a series regular on the Discovery Channel historical Western Klondike (2014), the Yahoo! Screen science fiction comedy Other Space (2015), and the Fox crime drama Shots Fired (2017). From 2015 to 2018, she also appeared on the first three seasons of the Amazon Prime Video alternate history thriller The Man in the High Castle. Leslie gained further prominence for portraying Donna Troy / Wonder Girl on the DC Universe / HBO Max superhero series Titans (2018–2021) and was part of the main cast during the second and third seasons.

    References

    1. Lamparski 1982, p. 303.
    2. 1 2 3 "Playing Both Sides: An Interview with Donna Wilkes". Schizoid (Blu-ray bonus short). Vinegar Syndrome. 2019.
    3. 1 2 Mejia, Antonio (1984). "Entertainment". Hispanic Link Weekly Report . 1–3. Hispanic Link News Service Incorporated: 8. OCLC   0295017. Donna Wilkes, the young film actress who plays a bright high school student by day, Hollywood hooker by night in the recently released Angel, has a Spanish middle name—Donna Consuelo Wilkes' mother is a native of El Salvador.
    4. Canby, Vincent (January 13, 1984). "Angel (1984) FILM: 'ANGEL,' IN SCHOOL AND OUTSIDE THE LAW". The New York Times .
    5. 1 2 3 4 People Staff (March 19, 1984). "She's No Angel in Her New Movie, but for Donna Wilkes, Being the Star Is Heavenly". People . 21 (11). Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
    6. "Obituary: Wayman Otis Wilkes (1918–2013)". Preciado Funeral Home. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020.
    7. 1 2 3 4 Bonnellie, Winnie (January 13, 1984). "Turning tricks was in 'Angel' was no joy for Donna Wilkes". The Paterson News. p. 11 via Newspapers.com.
    8. Stine 2003, p. 264.
    9. Stine 2003, p. 50.
    10. Shary 2009, p. 113.
    11. "Angel". The Numbers . Retrieved April 3, 2022.
    12. Drebit, Scott (December 20, 2020). "Drive-In Dust-Offs: Grotesque (1988)". Daily Dead. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021.
    13. Barton, Steve (December 30, 2014). "90210 Shark Attack Takes a Bite Out of Home Video". Dread Central . Archived from the original on July 24, 2019.

    Sources