Wanda Ferlini

Wanda Ferlini is the main villainess from Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode 6.17, "The Last Escape."

She was played by the late Jan Sterling.

Wanda Ferlini is the wife of noted escape artist Joe Ferlini, and she also performs with him onstage. However, it is later revealed that Wanda was having an affair with another man, Tommy, and at her home, Wanda brings up her frustrations with Joe and his obsession with performing "The Water Trick," which had him attempting to escape from a locked trunk while handcuffed. As she stated to Tommy, Wanda decided to take that opportunity to kill Joe, doing so by replacing the key to the cuffs with a fake key. During the trick, Wanda's evil plan succeeds, and Joe drowns.

At Joe's funeral, however, Wanda is shocked to discover that the casket is empty, screaming in horror at the revelation. It was revealed at episode's end that Joe made an arrangement with his manager, Harry, in the event of his death; that Joe would be buried at a secret location and that the undertaker would deliver an empty casket--marking Joe's final escape trick. In the final scene, the villainous Wanda is shown in a straitjacket; driven insane and institutionalized.