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Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017)[1][2] 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,[3] 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.[4] However, she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model.
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.[5] 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.
Her most recent career was in daytime television; From 1984 to 2004, she appeared on the soap opera General Hospital[3] (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.[6] 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.[7] 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."[8] In 1998, she received the Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center.[9]
Personal life
Jeffreys was married twice. Her first marriage, to Joseph Serena in 1945, was annulled in 1949.[10] 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.[11]
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 26 feet (8 m).[14]
Death
Jeffreys died on September 27, 2017, at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 94.[15][16]
^Boesen, Vic (June 28, 1942). "Meet the Stars". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 16. Retrieved December 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.