Tippy Walker

{{Infobox person | name = Tippy Walker | image =Tippy Walker.jpg | caption = Walker as part of the ''Peyton Place'' cast, 1969 | birth_name = Elizabeth Tipton Walker | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|2|19}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | occupation = actress, art gallery owner | years_active = 1964–1972 | relatives = Zachary Taylor (great-great-great grandfather) }}

'''Elizabeth Tipton Walker''' (born February 19, 1947) is an American former actress, best known for her role in the film ''The World of Henry Orient'' (1964).

== Early years == Walker was born Elizabeth Tipton Walker<ref name=t/> on February 19, 1947, in New York City.<ref name="tvkey">{{cite news |last1=Scheuer |first1=Steven H. |title=TV Key Mailbag |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-shreveport-journal/172530242/ |access-date=May 17, 2025 |work=The Shreveport Journal |date=September 27, 1968 |page=2 D}}</ref> Her father, Gordon Walker, was an engineer with Allied Chemical Corporation.<ref name=t/> Her mother, Nancy, was trustee of a society involved in restoring colonial homes. She was raised in Westchester County, New York,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Norcross |first1=Derek |title=Tippy Walker: The Calm Before the Storm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-huntsville-times-tippy-walker/172528013/ |access-date=May 17, 2025 |work=The Huntsville Times |date=July 21, 1968 |page=94|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> and attended The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York.<ref name=t>{{cite news|title=The Girls of Henry Orient |url=https://time.com/archive/6808674/show-business-the-girls-of-henry-orient/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024074016/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871047,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2012|work=Time magazine|date=May 15, 1964|accessdate=2008-05-19}}</ref> President Zachary Taylor was her great-great-great grandfather.<ref name="tvkey" />

== Career == Walker appeared in several television shows, such as ''Doctor Kildare'' and ''Peyton Place'', and the female lead role in the film ''Jennifer on My Mind''. She asked producers to bill her as Elizabeth Walker on ''Peyton Place'', partly "because I don't like strangers calling me Tippy".<ref name="sj">{{cite news |title=Tippy Gets Name Change |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-shreveport-journal-tippy-walker/172525018/ |access-date=May 17, 2025 |work=The Shreveport Journal |date=October 4, 1968 |page=D 17|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>

== Personal life == In 1968 Walker was engaged to David Milch, a Yale graduate who planned to be a writer.<ref name="sj" />

According to a 2012 article in The New Yorker by John Colapinto, director George Roy Hill handpicked Walker from hundreds of actresses who auditioned for the role of "Val" in the 1964 film ''The World of Henry Orient'' and reshaped the film during editing to focus more on her character. According to Colapinto, in the 2000s Walker revealed through a series of posts on IMDb that she and Hill began a relationship during filming that lasted throughout most of Walker's senior year in high school, even though Hill was married with children and, at age 44, nearly 30 years older than Walker.<ref name=colapinto>{{cite magazine |last=Colapinto |first=John |author-link=John Colapinto |date=2012-04-03 |title=A Star is Born, Lost, and Found |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-star-is-born-lost-and-found |magazine=The New Yorker |location=New York City |access-date=2015-12-12 }}</ref> In the posts Colapinto attributes to Walker, the retired actress describes being aggressively French-kissed by Hill as a 16-year-old while they were alone in his office.<ref name=walker>{{cite magazine |last=Walker |first=Tippy |author-link=Tippy Walker |date=2007-04-01 |title=Tippy Walker & George Roy Hill|url=https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/tippy-walker-george-roy-hill.17451/|access-date=2024-02-25 }}</ref> Walker also claimed that Hill swore her to secrecy about the resulting relationship, then himself told others,<ref name=walker>{{cite magazine |last=Walker |first=Tippy |author-link=Tippy Walker |date=2007-04-01 |title=Tippy Walker & George Roy Hill|url=https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/tippy-walker-george-roy-hill.17451/|access-date=2024-02-25 }}</ref> and she states the resulting Hollywood gossip made potential employers reluctant to cast her, contributing to her decision to stop acting in the early 1970s.<ref name=colapinto>{{cite magazine |last=Colapinto |first=John |author-link=John Colapinto |date=2012-04-03 |title=A Star is Born, Lost, and Found |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-star-is-born-lost-and-found |magazine=The New Yorker |location=New York City |access-date=2015-12-12 }}</ref> ==Filmography== *''The World of Henry Orient'' (1964) – Valerie Boyd *''The Jesus Trip'' (1971) – Anna *''Jennifer on My Mind'' (1971) – Jenny

===Television=== *''Dr. Kildare'' (4 episodes, 1965) – Lois Gibbon *''ABC Stage 67'' (1 episode, 1966) – Virginia Otis *''Peyton Place'' (79 episodes, 1968–1969) – Carolyn Russell *''Seven in Darkness'' (1969) – Christine Rohas *''The Sixth Sense (later edited for syndication to become part of The Night Gallery by Rod Serling)'' (1 episode, 1972) – Julie Desmond (final television appearance)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0908262}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Tippy}} Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Actresses from New York City Category:American child actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from New Haven, Connecticut Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women Category:The Masters School alumni