Life and Career Of Donna Wilkes, What Happened To The Jaws 2 Actress?

Donna Wilkes is a New York City native who gained prominence on the set of the movie Jaws 2. The actress seems to be really good in horror films, appearing in Schizoid and Blood Song, which were both released in the 1980s. Apart from the movies, Wilkes also has competence in television; she has proved her prowess on TV in a plethora of shows. The American actor equally knows her way around behind movie sets as she can double as a studio manager on set.

Donna Wilkes was born in the late 1950s

Donna – young and old

The records captured Donna Wilke’s place of birth as Spanish Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Named Donna Consuelos Wilkes at birth, the actress was born on the 14th of November 1958. The 66-year-old actress is of mixed ancestry – Irish on her father’s side with French and Spanish, on her mom’s side. The horror movie star’s dad, Wayman Otis Wilkes earned a living as a medical doctor while her mum (name not known) functioned as a nightclub singer.

Her parents’ marriage was very brief as it ended in a divorce when Donna was barely three months old. The movie star clearly ended up with her mother as most of her childhood stories are linked to her mother who registered Donna in a New York-based Meglin Kiddies School after her first brush with acting at the age of four. Donna’s years at Meglin School were quite eventful; the emerging actress starred in a lot of notable productions including the likes of Peter Pan, Singin’ in the Rain (the school’s version), and many more. When she clocked six, Donna Wilkes bagged her debut commercial, which was done for Keds Tennis Shoes while she continued with acting lessons.

In addition to acting lessons which continued at Dominica American Theatre of Performing Arts, Donna also enrolled in ballet, jazz dance, and gymnastics classes until she clocked 11. At that age, the emerging actress went back to the normal way of learning as she put a stop to everything associated with entertainment. The rest of her academic journey was finished as a “normal student” but at the age of 12, Donna was sent to the Dominican Republic to live with her uncle and aunt. Attending the Collegio Santo Domingo, the youngster who was pretty good at her studies was able to skip some grades and graduated from high school at just 14.

Donna’s pre-acting days saw her take menial jobs

After graduating at 14, Donna Wilkes needed to get a job to make ends meet and she eventually went job hunting at the age of 15; this happened after her move to Los Angeles. However, it didn’t take long for Donna Wilkes to find out that jobs were in short supply for underage children. Seeing no other option, the emerging star had to lie about her age, convincing employers that she already clocked 18 and married.

Under the cover of her lies, Donna was able to get menial jobs to keep her body and soul together. There was a time she functioned as a computer operator, working for an ambulance service, she also worked at a large Culver City-based corporation as a secretary. For the ensuing few years, Wilkes was engaged 16 hours a day and five days a week.

She went back to acting at the age of 17

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Donna Wilkes was already 17 when she decided to try acting again and before long, she was able to score a cameo in the 1978 Universal Pictures release entitled Almost Summer; this earned her a SAG card. Before the end of the year, she scored another role as Jackie in Jaws 2, Donna was 20 at the time; 1979 also marked her debut on the small screen, appearing in the television series, The Incredible Hulk as Alice Morrow. In 1979, the actress portrayed the character of Chris on the set of Hard Knocks and Carol in Fyre. She equally appeared in the television series The Runaways, Hello, Larry, and Diff’rent Strokes the same year.

Her most prolific decade was in the 1980s when the New York-born actress was seen in a lot of productions. On the small screen, she appeared in House Calls – 1981, Father Murphy and T.J. Hooker – both in 1982, Teachers Only and Days of Our Lives in 1983, Gimme a Break! and Partners in Crime in 1984. Others are Hell Town in 1985, Superior Court in 1986, and Dragnet in 1989.

Her 1980s movies are five in number, they include Grotesque – 1988, Angel – 1983 (this has remained her best-known role to date), Blood Song -1982, Born to Be Sold – 1981, and Schizoid – 1980. She didn’t do much in the 1990s; Donna made only two onscreen appearances in the TV series – FBI: The Untold Stories – 1991 and The New Adam-12 – 1991. After she took a long hiatus from acting, Donna Wilkes surfaced again in 2013, breathing life into the character of Miss Fortune in My Stepbrother Is a Vampire!?!. The next year, she appeared as Pamela in 90210 Shark Attack. Donna took another six-year beak to surface on the set of the 2020 Zombie Games series as Emma white. Her latest is acting the role of Bee Shop Lady in the 2021 movie Buzz Cut. Donna is set to be part of Once Upon a Time in Hollyweird but her role would be behind the camera as a studio manager.

Read Also: Stephanie Corneliussen – Biography, Fun Facts About the Mr. Robot Actress

Summary of Donna Wilkes movies and TV shows

Television

• Once Upon a Time in Hollyweird (pre-production)
• Studio Manager
• Zombie Games (TV Series) as Emma white – 2020
• FBI: The Untold Stories (TV Series) -1991
• The New Adam-12 (TV Series) – 1991
• Dragnet (TV Series) as Amy Redmond -1989
• Superior Court (TV Series) – 1986
• Hell Town (TV Series) – 1985
• Partners in Crime (TV Series) as Sandy – 1984
• Gimme a Break! (TV Series) as Gina – 1984
• Days of Our Lives (TV Series) as Pamela Prentiss – 1982-1983
• Teachers Only (TV Series) as Julie -1983
• T.J. Hooker (TV Series) as Karen Stewart -1982
• Father Murphy (TV Series) as Emma / Emma Walker – 1982
• House Calls (TV Series) -1981
• The Runaways (TV Series) – 1979
• Hello, Larry (TV Series) as Diane Alder -1979
• Diff’rent Strokes (TV Series) as Diane Alder -1979
• The Incredible Hulk (TV Series) as Alice Morrow -1978

Movies

• Buzz Cut as Bee Shop Lady – 2021/II
• 90210 Shark Attack as Pamela – 2014
• My Stepbrother Is a Vampire!?! As Miss Fortune – 2013
• Grotesque as Kathy -1988
• Angel as Molly ‘Angel’ Stewart – 1983
• Blood Song as Marion -1982
• Born to Be Sold (TV Movie) as Cindy Carlson – 1981
• Schizoid as Alison Fales – 1980
• Hard Knocks as Chris – 1979
• Fyre as Carol – 1979
• Almost Summer as Meredith – 1978
• Jaws 2 as Jackie – 1978
• The Courage and the Passion (TV Movie) as Tracy -1978

Personal life of Donna Wilkes

Donna Wilkes has only ever been married once in her life, the movie star was the wife of Billy Gray who equally works in the entertainment industry as an actor. Gray is best known for the role he played in Father Knows Best. The duo tied the connubial knot in 1977 but unfortunately, their union ended in a divorce. Donna was 18 when they tied the knot but the date of their divorce is not known.