About

Mary Wiggins was a Hollywood stuntwoman and actress in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s.

Born in Florida on November 8, 1909, she joined a traveling carnival straight out of high school and got her first screen credit in the short film The Campus Vamp in 1928. Her stunts in films included diving, crashing cars, parachuting and flying planes.

She was trained to be a pilot by the pioneering female pilot Bobbi Trout; “I taught Mary Wiggins, my real good friend, how to fly,” said Trout. “She paid her way around the world by jumping from high places into a tub of water. She hit the bottom with her head and wrecked her spine. She was our drillmaster” ‘Hut, two three, four, to the right!’”

Among the stars that Wiggins doubled for were Jane Wyatt (Lost Horizon), Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night), Ann Sothern (Hell-Ship Morgan) and Barbara Stanwyck (Union Pacific).

Mary had many admirers, both male and female. The son of famous female pilot Patty Willis said “When I was around ten years old, Mom told me she was attracted to Mary Wiggins, more than she had been to anyone else before.”

During WWII, Mary was one of the first Women Air Force Service Pilots (WAPs) when she reported in 1943. She flew as a ferry pilot for the army.

Tragically, Wiggins took her own life on December 19th, 1945 after reportedly being despondent over a financial transaction. She was 36 years old.