Walt Willey

Class of 1973 Walt Willey, a 1973 Ottawa High graduate has become a successful star as an actor in the daytime television soap operas, and also as a stand-up comedian. He is best known for his role as Jackson Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children, a role he originated in 1987. He attended Southern Illinois University majoring in sculpture. In 1981 Walt Willey pursued a career in acting in New York City, first appearing in a soap opera as Joe Novak on Ryan’s Hope, and in numerous offBroadway productions, including Dust Off, Another World, and Ryan’s Hope, before joining the cast of All My Children. He branched out into stand-up comedy in 1989, headlining at such famous comedy clubs as Caroline’s in New York City and the Comedy Store in California. For his work in All My Children he was a People’s Choice Award nominee in 1992, and was named Most Valuable Player by Soap Opera Update’s Reader’s Poll in both 1992 and 1993. Walt Willey has frequently hosted charity fundraisers and has established the Willey World Endowment Fund to benefit children’s charities. In 2009, he starred in a live theater performance of The Odd Couple at Ottawa Township High School, and later, Arsenic and Old Lace in an ongoing effort to reprise community theater in Ottawa, Illinois.