| Jay Wilsey | |
| Birth Date: | 6 February 1896 |
| Birth Place: | St. Francisville, Missouri, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Yearsactive: | 1924–1944 |
| Spouse: | Jeanette Boutelle (1933–1961) (his death) |
Jay Wilsey (February 6, 1896 – October 25, 1961) was an American film actor (born Wilbert Jay Wilsey). He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1924 and 1944. He starred in a series of very low-budget westerns in the 1920s and 1930s, billed as Buffalo Bill Jr.
Born in St. Francisville, Missouri (studio biographies claimed Cheyenne, Wyoming),[1] the six-foot one-inch, brown-haired, blue-eyed Wilsey rode in Wild West shows and rodeos before he became an actor. Producer Lester F. Scott Jr., who specialized in making low-budget silent westerns, signed Wilsey to a movie contract and billed him as "Buffalo Bill, Jr." One of his early credits, Thundering Romance (1924), cast Wilsey as "Lightning Bill", opposite novice film player and future star Jean Arthur.
Universal Pictures tried to build Jay Wilsey as an action star under his real name (a 1929 trade review lists him as "formerly Buffalo Bill, Jr."),[2] but his two starring roles in the serials A Final Reckoning (1928) and The Pirate of Panama (1929) did not lead to more assignments, as the studio was converting to the production of sound films.
Wilsey's career as an actor diminished as sound films increased in popularity, although he continued to find work with independent producers. Victor Adamson, whose westerns were so threadbare that he shot them in ramshackle California ghost towns on budgets of $1,000 or less, hired Wilsey for a series of features under the auspices of Adamson's ambitiously named Superior Talking Pictures. One of these has become notorious among bad-film enthusiasts: a 1934 production was announced as Lightning Bill, but the film title was clumsily misspelled as "Lighting Bill", and the cheapskate producer didn't bother changing the title. Adamson did give Wilsey a chance to direct as well as star in Riding Speed (1934); Wilsey receives performer credit as Buffalo Bill, Jr. and director credit as Jay Wilsey.
The Adamson features were Wilsey's last starring series. Producer Paul Malvern then signed him to appear in his John Wayne westerns. Thereafter Wilsey found work in western features and serials as a supporting player, often uncredited, and his riding skills gave him credentials as a stunt performer. A January 29, 1940, newspaper article reported that he had performed 6,000 stunts up to that time.[3]
Wilsey was married to actress Jeanette Boutelle.[3]