Anne Jeffreys

Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was the female lead in the 1950s television series Topper.

Early life and career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael on January 26, 1923, in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Jeffreys entered the entertainment field at a young age, having her initial training in voice (she was an accomplished soprano). She became a member of the New York Municipal Opera Company on a scholarship and sang the lead at Carnegie Hall in such presentations as La bohème, Traviata, and Pagliacci. However, she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model.

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 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.

Cast of Topper (1953) Jeffreys, Robert Sterling, Leo G. Carroll and Lee Patrick

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. 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.

Personal life

Jeffreys was married twice. Her first marriage, to Joseph Serena in 1945, was annulled in 1949. They had no children.

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.

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 .

Death Jeffreys died at her home in Los Angeles, on September 27, 2017, at the age of 94.

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.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1953–1955 Topper Marion Kerby 78 episodes 1955 Merry Widow Sonya Sadoya TV musical 1955 Dearest Enemy Betsy Burke TV musical 1957Wagon Train Julie Gage Episode: The Julie Gage Story 1957Wagon 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 La bohème (1940 New York City) Fun for the Money (1941 Hollywood) Tosca (1946 Brooklyn Opera House) The Merry Widow (1947 GreekTheatre, Los Angeles) Street Scene (1947 Broadway debut) My Romance (1947-1948 Broadway) Kiss Me, Kate (1949-1950 National Tour) Kiss Me, Kate (1950-1951 Broadway) Bitter Sweet (1951 San Francisco, Los Angeles) Three Wishes for Jamie (1952 Broadway) Bells Are Ringing (1958) Destry Rides Again (1960 National Tour) Kismet (1962 National Tour) Camelot (1964 National Tour) Anniversary Waltz (1964 Anaheim) Kismet (1965 National Tour) Do I Hear a Waltz? (1966) Ninotchka (1966) Pal Joey (1968 Kenley Players, Ohio) The Desert Song (1968 Milwaukee) Light Up the Sky (1969 Chicago) Song of Norway (1969) The Most Happy Fella (1970) The King and I (1974) Follies (1977) High Button Shoes (1978) The Sound of Music (1978 Tucson, Arizona, Southern Arizona Light Opera Company) And the Melody Lingers On (1979, Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts) A High-Time Salute to Martin and Blane (1991 benefit concert)