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{{short description|American actress and singer (1923 - 2017)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}{{Lead too short|date=November 2019}}

factoids

| birth_place = Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S.2017271|26}}| death_place = Los Angeles, California| occupation = Actress, singer| othername = Anne Jeffries, Ann Jeffries| years_active = 1941–2015

• {{marriage|Joseph R. Serena|1945|1949|end={{abbr|annul.|annulled}}}}
• {{marriage|Robert Sterling|1951|2006|end=died}}

}}| children = 3 annejeffreys.com/}} }}File:Pat O’Brien-Anne Jeffreys in Riffraff.jpg|right|thumb|262px|Pat O’Brien and Jeffreys in Riffraff (1947)]]File:Topper cast 1953.JPG|thumb|right|261px|Cast of Topper (1953) Jeffreys, Robert Sterling, Leo G. Carroll and Lee Patrick ]]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: 2341462NEWS,mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/obituaries/anne-jeffreys-glamorous-ghost-of-50s-tv-is-dead-at-94.html?referer=https://www.google.se/, Anne Jeffreys, Glamorous Ghost of ‘50s TV, Is Dead at 94, The New York Times, September 28, 2017, October 7, 2018, Gates, Anita, was an American actress and singer. She was the female lead in the 1950s TV series Topper.

Career

Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael on January 26, 1923, in Goldsboro, North Carolina,NEWS, Buck, Jerry, Actress Anne Jeffreys juggles two television roles, Indiana Gazette,www.newspapers.com/clip/4043583/indiana_gazette/, The Indiana Gazette, January 22, 1985, Pennsylvania, Indiana, 9, Newspapers.com, January 14, 2016, {{Open access}} 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.NEWS, Boesen, Vic, Meet the Stars, The San Bernardino County Sun,www.newspapers.com/clip/3814582/the_san_bernardino_county_sun, The San Bernardino County Sun, June 28, 1942, California, San Bernardino, 16, Newspapers.com, December 12, 2015, {{Open access}} 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.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.WEB, Anne Jeffreys,www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/37789/Anne-Jeffreys, Playbill Vault, January 16, 2016, 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 roleof 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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}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.WEB,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19840318&id=QVpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=4370,6402227, Soap opera scenes, Boca Raton News, May 1, 2014, 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.

Recognition

Jeffreys’ star in the Television category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 1501 Vine Street. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.WEB, Anne Jeffreys,www.walkoffame.com/anne-jeffreys, Hollywood Walk of Fame, January 15, 2016, 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.“NEWS, Golden Boots Go To Film Greats,books.google.com/books?id=AesCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Anne+Jeffreys%22&pg=PA13, January 16, 2016, American Cowboy, September 1997, In 1998, she received the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center.WEB, Anne Jeffreys,www.wic.org/bio/ajeffrey.htm, Women’s International Center, January 16, 2016,

Personal life

File:Anne Jeffreys Robert Sterling Topper 1956.jpg|thumb|right|Jeffreys and Robert SterlingRobert Sterling(File:AnneJeffreysApr10.jpg|thumb|right|Jeffreys in 2010)Jeffreys was married twice. Her first marriage, to Joseph Serena in 1945, was annulled in 1949.WEB,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19471011&id=wGcpAAAAIBAJ&pg=4452,6074840, Divorces-Anne Jeffreys, Daytona Beach Morning Journal, October 11, 1947, May 1, 2014, 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.NEWS,newspaperarchive.com/erica-leff-entertainment-clipping-jun-03-2006-576919/, ‘Topper’ star Sterling passes away at 88, June 3, 2006, Jacksonville Daily News, February 26, 2018, Associated Press, 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 {{convert|26|ft|m|0}}.Article in the Bartlesville Daily Enterprise, July 5, 1956 (page 20).

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, 2017NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/anne-jeffreys-vivacious-ghostess-with-the-mostest-on-tvs-topper-dies-at-94/2017/09/28/ccd9bcf8-a46b-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html, Anne Jeffreys, vivacious ‘ghostess with the mostest’ on TV’s ‘Topper,’ dies at 94, The Washington Post, September 28, 2017, September 28, 2017,

Filmography

Film {| class“wikitable”

! Year! Title! Role! Notes1942| 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| UncreditedI Married an Angel (film)>I Married an Angel| Polly|| Joan of Ozark| Marie Lamont|The Old Homestead (1942 film)>The Old Homestead| Goldie|Flying Tigers (film)>Flying Tigers| Nurse| UncreditedX Marks the Spot (1942 film)>X Marks the Spot | Lulu|1943Chatterbox (1943 film)>Chatterbox| Vivan Gale|| Calling Wild Bill Elliott| Edith Richards|| The Man from Thunder River| Nancy Ferguson|Crime Doctor (film)>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 (1944 film)>Step Lively| Miss Abbott|Nevada (1944 film)>Nevada| Julie Dexter|1945Dillinger (1945 film)>Dillinger| Helen Rogers|| Zombies on Broadway| Jean La Danse|Those Endearing Young Charms (film)>Those Endearing Young Charms| Suzibelle, officer’s club waitress|| Sing Your Way Home| Kay Lawrence|Dick Tracy (1945 film)>Dick Tracy| Tess Trueheart|1946| Ding Dong Williams| Vanessa Page|Step by Step (1946 film)>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 (1947 film)>Riffraff | Maxine Manning|1948| Return of the Bad Men| Cheyenne|1962Boys’ Night Out (film)>Boys’ Night Out| Toni Jackson|1968| Panic in the City| Myra Pryor|1976| Southern Double Cross||1994Clifford (film)>Clifford| Annabelle Davis|2008Richard III (2008 film)>Richard III| Duchess of York|| Empire State Building Murders| Betty Clark| TV movie2012| Sins Expiation| Susanna|2015| Le Grand Jete| Millie Halifax|“>

Television{| class“wikitable”

! Year! Title! Role! Notes| 1953–1955Topper (TV series)>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|| 1975–1976Police Story (1973 TV series)>Police Story| Examiner Murphy / Marie Tabor| 2 episodes| 1978–1982| Fantasy Island| Nancy Ogden / Cissy Darumple / Sally Dupres| 3 episodes| 1978Flying High (TV series)>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”| 1984Hotel (U.S. TV series)>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| 2013Getting On (U.S. TV series)>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)
• And the Melody Lingers On (1979, Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts)
• A High-Time Salute to Martin and Blane (1991 benefit concert)

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Anne Jeffreys}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0420331|name=Anne Jeffreys}}
• {{IBDB name}}
• {{Amg name|id=35406|name=Anne Jeffreys}}
• www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-2900-3" title="web.archive.org/web/20070928011656www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-2900-3">Anne Jeffreys profiled in book
• calgold.com/visiting/Default.asp?Series=1700&Show=1119" title="web.archive.org/web/20130401013827calgold.com/visiting/Default.asp?Series=1700&Show=1119">Huell Howser interview of Anne Jeffreys and Ann Rutherford

{{Authority control}}