JAN WILEY
February 23rd, 1916 -- May 27th, 1993

Above: Jan Wiley, right, with Keye Luke in SECRET AGENT X-9 (Universal, 1945).

I've been unable to dig up any biographical information on Jan Wiley, other than the info that she was born Jan Wiley Greene in Indiana, and died in California in 1993. This is too bad, since she was a good actress, attractive and more sophisticated and distinguished-looking than the average serial heroine. Maybe it's the lack of background information on her that keeps her from being covered by serial scholars. However, even though she's not very well known, she made appearances in three cliffhangers—one for Republic and two for Universal. And in her two Universal outings, she displayed beauty of the highest order and more than her share of talent.

Her first movie role was the part of a showgirl in the musical/revue NEW FACES OF 1937. The big studios would usually introduce aspiring actresses as chorus members in their musicals. Kay Aldridge (her debut was in something called VOGUES OF 1937) and some other serial heroines entered films in similar fashion. That seems to be what happened to Jan. Her first serial appearance was in DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC (Republic, 1941) as June Chandler, the daughter of a murdered member of the Council of Eight. The council was a group of solid New York citizens that had combined years ago to rid the city of the crime ring of Rackets Reagan. With the help of Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) the council smashed Reagan's gang and sent him to the electric chair. Reagan's brother, who was secretly one of the council, vowed revenge and began murdering the others under the guise of the invisible villain the Ghost. When June's father was murdered by the Ghost, she teamed with Tracy and his assistant Steve Lockwood as they attempted to protect the surviving council members from the master villain. DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. was a great serial, but it wasn't an auspicious start for Jan Wiley's career; she appeared infrequently and briefly through most of the serial, only coming into the plot in Chapter Ten, when she aided Tracy in baiting a clever trap for the Ghost. In this sequence, she displayed the poise and talent that would stand her in good stead in her later, larger, serial roles.

Above: Ralph Byrd and Jan Wiley in DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (Republic, 1941).

Wiley appeared in several B-westerns over the next couple of years, mainly with the Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, John King, and Max Terhune) over at Monogram Pictures. Her other two serials were both Universals, and were both made in 1945. THE MASTER KEY was the first, in which she was given a very challenging and unusual heroine role. She played Janet Lowe, a reporter who becomes involved in the machinations of a Nazi spy ring operating in the US due to the apparent involvement of her brother (John Eldredge) with the spies. Dennis Moore and Milburn Stone were the police detective and G-man out to track down the spy ring and its leader (the Master Key), and, at first, Jan's character was forced to hinder them in their investigations to save her brother from arrest, while making investigations of her own with the aid of her own version of the Baker Street Irregulars, a gang of street kids headed by a young Lash LaRue. THE MASTER KEY is disliked by some, but others list it as a favorite. It certainly had above average acting, especially from Wiley. As another writer has commented, it would have been difficult for some actresses to portray Janet Lowe's dilemma of whether to cover for her brother or aid the forces of good, but Jan Wiley managed it well.

Above: Jan Wiley, Milburn Stone, and Dennis Moore in THE MASTER KEY (Universal, 1945).

Jan's final serial was SECRET AGENT X-9, based on the comic strip created by Leslie Charteris and Dashiell Hammet (and drawn by Alex Raymond. What an array of talent!). Like MASTER KEY, it was a wartime thriller, with government agent X-9 (the late, great Lloyd Bridges, in his first starring role) taking on a band of Axis spies headed by the evil Japanese agent Nabura (Victoria Horne). Jan was Australian agent Lynn Moore, who, together with Chinese agent Ah Fong (Keye Luke), aided X-9 by going undercover to infiltrate the spy ring. With those stars, and with a supporting cast including Cy Kendall, George Lynn, and Samuel S. Hinds, SECRET AGENT X-9 was a real "blockbuster" serial. Cliffhanger scholar William C. Cline once called it "one of the best serials to survive the onrushing demise of the genre at Universal", and I completely agree. I would even go farther--it was one of the best serials turned out by Universal in any era. Jan had probably her best serial role, as she precariously tried to stay in Nabura's good graces while giving covert aid to X-9 and Ah Fong and sending important information to Australia via coded propaganda broadcasts.

Above: George Lynn (far left), Victoria Horne (seated), and Clarence Fung watch suspiciously as Jan Wiley makes a phone call in SECRET AGENT X-9 (Universal, 1945).

Above: Jan Wiley is accosted by Clarence Fung (far left) and George Lynn in another scene from SECRET AGENT X-9 (Universal, 1945).

Jan continued to appear in films till 1946; her last movie was the Universal horror film THE BRUTE MAN, in which she played the female lead. This talented actress deserved more serial assignments, but we have to be happy with the few we have.

Above: Lloyd Bridges and Jan Wiley confront an off-camera foe in this still from SECRET AGENT X-9 (Universal, 1945).