Valda Hansen(1932-1993)

Valda, the sensitive girl with the lovely smile. In the late 1950s, Valda was doing a play called "Accidentally Yours," when Ed Wood came backstage, and he considered her an ingenue. Ed originally wanted to cast Valda for the short film "The Night the Banshee Cried" (1957), but wound up casting her in her first movie Night of the Ghouls (1959); Valda said during filming that she was "sweet 16 and innocent" (so according to that, she would have been born in 1943). Ed had been impressed with the hand gestures of Bela Lugosi, and had Valda do a scene where she eerily moved her hands with her long, silver fingernails, and it was a quite striking effect. Valda also caught the attention of another famous actor-- Ed had written a zany script "Operation Salami" and Joe E. Brown, who had just finished filming "Some Like It Hot" (1959) wanted Valda for his leading lady (nothing ever came of Ed's proposed movie, and eventually Joe died in 1973). Valda would go on to appear in other movies such as "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973), "Bikini Bandits"; "Outer Space"; "Norma"; "Outlaw Riders" and others. Valda retired from acting in the late 1970s, and died in Hollywood in 1993. Valda is still fondly remembered by fans as one of the nicest, sweetest members of Ed Wood's circle of actors.