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Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017)US Federal Census1930; Census Place: Goldsboro, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: 1728; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 12; Image: 51.0; FHL microfilm: 2341462 was an American actress and singer. She was the female lead in the 1950s TV series Topper.
Her plans for an operatic career were sidelined when she was cast in a staged musical revue, Fun for the Money. Her appearance in that revue led to her being cast in her first movie role, in I Married an Angel (1942), starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. She was under contract to both RKO Pictures and Republic Studios during the 1940s, including several appearances as Tess Trueheart in the Dick Tracy series, and the 1944 Frank Sinatra musical Step Lively. She also appeared in the horror comedy Zombies on Broadway with Wally Brown and Alan Carney in 1945 and starred in Riffraff with Pat O'Brien two years later. Jeffreys also appeared in a number of western films and as bank robber John Dillinger's moll in 1945's Dillinger.
When her Hollywood career faltered, she instead focused on the stage, playing lead roles on Broadway in productions such as the 1947 opera Street Scene, the 1948 Cole Porter musical Kiss Me, Kate (having replaced Patricia Morison), the 1948 musical, My Romance, and the 1952 musical Three Wishes for Jamie. With long-term husband Robert Sterling, she appeared in the CBS sitcom Topper (1953–1955), in which she was billed in a voiceover as "the ghostess with the mostest".
In 1955, she appeared in two TV musicals. On April 9, she starred in the title role of the Widow in the Max Liebman production of the "Merry Widow". Later that year on November 26, she appeared with her husband in "Dearest Enemy", set during the American Revolution, also produced by Liebman.
On December 18, 1957, Jeffreys and her husband played a couple with an unusual courtship arrangement brought about by an attack of the fever in the episode "The Julie Gage Story", broadcast in the first season of NBC's Wagon Train.
After a semi-retirement in the 1960s, she appeared on television, appearing in episodes of such series as Love, American Style (with her husband), L.A. Law and Murder, She Wrote. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work in The Delphi Bureau (1972). From 1984 to 1985, she starred in the short-lived Aaron Spelling series Finder of Lost Loves. She also appeared in Baywatch as David Hasselhoff's mother, and also had a recurring role in the night-time soap Falcon Crest as Amanda Croft.
In 1979, she guest starred as Siress Blassie in the Battlestar Galactica episode "The Man with Nine Lives" as a love interest of Chameleon, a part played by Fred Astaire. She was the last person to dance with him onscreen. She also guest starred as Prime Minister Dyne in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Planet of the Amazon Women" as the leader of the titular planet.
Her most recent career was in daytime television; From 1984 to 2004, she appeared on the soap opera General Hospital (as well as its short-lived spinoff, Port Charles) in the recurring role of wealthy socialite Amanda Barrington, a long-time board member of both the hospital and ELQ. In her initial storyline, she was part of a blackmail scheme which led to the murder of Jimmy Lee Holt's mother, Beatrice, of whose death she was a suspect in. In the last year of Port Charles, Amanda last appeared on screen in 2004 when Amanda attended Lila Quartermain's funeral. In 2012, she appeared in an episode of California's Gold being interviewed, along with Ann Rutherford, by Huell Howser.
She married actor Robert Sterling in 1951. Sterling appeared with Jeffreys in one episode of the series Wagon Train ("The Julie Gage Story", in which their characters also married each other), and in Topper. In January 1958, the duo starred in another series, Love That Jill. It ran only three months, with 13 episodes shot. They had three sons: Jeffrey, Dana and Tyler. Robert Sterling died on May 30, 2006, at age 88.
A Republican, she and Sterling supported the campaign of Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election. Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers She was a Baptist.Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2).
In July 1956, Jeffreys' mother, Kate Jeffreys Carmichael, 67, was run down and killed by her own automobile in the driveway of her daughter's home. Police said Carmichael was taking books from the car's trunk when the emergency brake apparently slipped. The car rolled down the sloping driveway, dragging the actress's mother .Article in the Bartlesville Daily Enterprise, July 5, 1956 (page 20).
Recognition
Jeffreys' star in the Television category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 1501 Vine Street. It was dedicated February 8, 1960. In 1997, she was a recipient of a Golden Boot Award as one who "furthered the tradition of the western on film and in television." In 1998, she received the Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center.
Personal life
Jeffreys was married twice. Her first marriage, to Joseph Serena in 1945, was annulled in 1949. They had no children.
Death
Jeffreys died on September 27, 2017, at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 94. Anne Jeffreys Dies: ‘General Hospital’, ‘Topper’ Actress Was 94 Deadline Hollywood, September 28, 2017
Filmography
Film
1942 Billy the Kid Trapped Sally Crane Yokel Boy Witness at wedding Uncredited Tarzan's New York Adventure Young woman Uncredited Moonlight Masquerade Singer at Trio Uncredited I Married an Angel Polly Joan of Ozark Marie Lamont The Old Homestead Goldie Flying Tigers Nurse Uncredited X Marks the Spot Lulu 1943 Chatterbox Vivan Gale Calling Wild Bill Elliott Edith Richards The Man from Thunder River Nancy Ferguson Crime Doctor Reporter on telephone Uncredited Bordertown Gun Fighters Anita Shelby Wagon Tracks West Moon Hush Overland Mail Robbery Judy Goodrich Death Valley Manhunt Nicky Hobart 1944 Mojave Firebrand Gail Holmes Hidden Valley Outlaws June Clark Step Lively Miss Abbott Nevada Julie Dexter 1945 Dillinger Helen Rogers Zombies on Broadway Jean La Danse Those Endearing Young Charms Suzibelle, officer's club waitress Sing Your Way Home Kay Lawrence Dick Tracy Tess Trueheart 1946 Ding Dong Williams Vanessa Page Step by Step Evelyn Smith Genius at Work Ellen Brent Dick Tracy vs. Cueball Tess Trueheart Vacation in Reno Eleanor 1947 Trail Street Ruby Stone Riffraff Maxine Manning 1948 Return of the Bad Men Cheyenne 1962 Boys' Night Out Toni Jackson 1968 Panic in the City Myra Pryor 1976 Southern Double Cross 1994 Clifford Annabelle Davis 2008 Richard III Duchess of York Empire State Building Murders Betty Clark TV movie 2012 Sins Expiation Susanna 2015 Le Grand Jete Millie Halifax
Television
1953–1955 Topper Marion Kerby 78 episodes 1955 Merry Widow Sonya Sadoya TV musical 1955 Dearest Enemy Betsy Burke TV musical 1957 Wagon Train Julie Gage Episode: The Julie Gage Story 1957 Wagon Train Mary Beckett Episode: The Mary Beckett Story 1958 Love That Jill Jill Johnson 13 episodes 1966 Bonanza Lily Episode: "The Unwritten Commandment" 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Calamity Rogers Episode: "The Abominable Snowman Affair" 1969 My Three Sons Mrs. Carstairs Episode: What did you do today Grandpa 1972 Love, American Style the First Lady Segment "Love and the President"
Episode: "Love and the Clinic/Love and the Perfect Wedding/Love and the President/Love and the Return of Raymond"1972–1973 The Delphi Bureau Sybil Van Loween 1975–1976 Police Story Examiner Murphy / Marie Tabor 2 episodes 1978–1982 Fantasy Island Nancy Ogden / Cissy Darumple / Sally Dupres 3 episodes 1978 Flying High Mrs. Benton Episode: "In the Still of the Night" 1979 Battlestar Galactica Siress Blassie Episode: "The Man with Nine Lives" 1979 Vega$ Cynthia Episode: "Doubtful Target" 1979 Beggarman, Thief Honor Day TV movie 1982–1983 Falcon Crest Amanda Croft 7 episodes 1983 Matt Houston Elisabeth Davis Episode: "Here's Another Fine Mess" 1984 Hotel Mrs. Jenks Episode: "Tomorrows" 1984–1985 Finder of Lost Loves Rita Hargrove 23 episodes 1984–2004 General Hospital Amanda Barrington 361 episodes 1986 Murder, She Wrote Agnes Shipley Episode: "If a Body Meet a Body" 1992 L.A. Law Lilah Vandenberg Episode: "I'm Ready for My Closeup, Mr. Markowitz" 1993–1998 Baywatch Irene Buchannon 5 episodes 1999–2003 Port Charles Amanda Barrington 17 episodes 2013 Getting On Donna Hewler Episode: "If You're Going to San Francisco"
Selected musical theatre work
External links
Categories: 1923 Births, 2017 Deaths, Actresses From North Carolina, American Women Singers, American Film Actresses, American Stage Actresses, American Television Actresses, Rko Pictures Contract Players, People From Goldsboro, North Carolina, American Musical Theatre Actresses, 20th-century American Actresses, 21st-century American Actresses, North Carolina Republicans, California Republicans, Baptists From North Carolina, Baptists From California, 20th-century Baptists
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