Linda Bent

Linda Bent
Bent in the 1960s
Born
Linda Jean Opie

(1939-03-30)March 30, 1939[a]
DiedJuly 26, 2024(2024-07-26) (aged 85)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active1964–1966 (film)
Spouse
Phillip Gordon Bent
​
​
(m. 1964; died 1966)​

Linda Jean Bent (née Opie; March 30, 1939[a] – July 24, 2024) was an American actress and model, best known for her appearances in beach party films in the mid-1960s.

Early life

Born Linda Jean Opie, she was crowned Miss La Jolla only one year apart from her future beach party film co-star Salli Sachse.[3]

Career

Her first appearance was as a surfer girl in the film Muscle Beach Party (1964). She also appeared in Bikini Beach and Pajama Party, both also from 1964.

She made appearances in various beach party films, including Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965).[3][4] She often appeared in the beach party films as part of a group of beach girls that usually surrounded the films' recurring leading couple of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.[5] Bent in particular was often paired with Salli Sachse, with both wearing similar topknot hairdos, and they were known as "Bookend Girls", as they were often positioned on the opposite ends of a crowd of surfers in the films.[6][7] She also appeared in the non-beach party film Fireball 500 (1966), which nonetheless featured many beach party film regulars, including Sachse.[7]

Later life

Bent retired from acting following the death of her husband, but in August 2006 she was reunited with beach party film regulars like Sachse, Mary Hughes, and Patti Chandler for an interview for an article celebrating surf culture in the 1950s and 1960s for Vanity Fair.[3][4]

Personal life

In 1964, she married Phillip Gordon Bent, taking up his last name as her professional name. On July 12, 1966, Phillip died alongside Peter Sachse, the husband of Linda's beach party film co-star Salli Sachse, when the civilian-converted AT-6 owned and piloted by Phillip crashed near the Windansea Beach area of La Jolla when it pulled too low.[3][8] The accident took place in front of Linda Bent and other beachgoers.[3][8] Some sources referred to Phillip as Linda's "estranged husband" at the hime of his death.[8]

Bent later remarried to a man described on her 2006 Vanity Fair interview as turning out to be "violently abusive", a marriage which produced a son.[3] The marriage was described as having ended as of 2006.[3]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ a b Some sources give 1944 as her year of birth and her being 80 years old at the time of her death, yet still give March 30, 1939 as a date of birth.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ Elkins, Hillard (March 31, 2025). "Linda Opie Bent 1944 – 2024". 24 Femmes Per Second.
  2. ^ Elkins, Hillard (March 31, 2025). "Linda Opie Bent 1944 – 2024". Beach Party Movies.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Weller, Sheila (February 7, 2011). "When Surfing, Malibu, and the Beach Life Became a National Phenomenon". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Lisanti, Tom (January 23, 2010). "CATCHING UP WITH SALLI SACHSE...YEARS AFTER THE BEACH PARTY ENDED". Sixties Cinema. Retrieved August 12, 2025. Also available in "CATCHING UP WITH SALLI SACHSE...YEARS AFTER THE BEACH PARTY ENDED". Cinema Retro. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  5. ^ Lisanti 2015a, pp. 56–57.
  6. ^ Lisanti 2015b, p. 225.
  7. ^ a b Barnes, Mike (September 11, 2025). "Salli Sachse, Actress in Beach Party Movies and 'The Trip,' Dies at 82". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "Plane crashes into sea off La Jolla, 2 dead". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, CA. UPI. July 13, 1966. Retrieved November 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

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