ANNE JEFFREYS

There were many reasons to love Anne Jeffreys.

For me, she was, as the announcer said, “the ghostess with the mostest,” teasing Cosmo Topper. To borrow Hawkeye Pierce’s remark on Gene Tierney, she had the world’s sexiest overbite. She was as unique for the role of Marion, as Barbara Eden was for the genie, Elizabeth Montgomery was for the witch, or Julie Newmar was fore the robot…all icons of TV’s golden era.

Jeffreys had the perfect combination of impishness and sexuality, especially for a TV sitcom. There weren’t all that many scenes were she literally let her hair down, and showed off just how sublime she was. Censorship and good taste kept Marion above double entendres and any jokes about just how much she could teach stuffy Cosmo Topper (and wife?) on how to “live.”

For many a baby boomer, Anne Jeffreys was the first awakening of lust. There was more to Marion than there was "Annie Oakley", or the TV housewives led by Donna Reed. Yes, we had "cute" (Shari Lewis) but Anne was fascinating!

Anne Jeffreys told me that “Topper” was not her favorite or most satisfying role. She preferred the stage. She adored musicals, and took over for Patricia Morison (perhaps best remembered now as a villainess in a Basil Rathbone “Sherlock Holmes” movie) in the Broadway hit “Kiss Me Kate.” It fulfilled the promise she showed when she won a scholarship to the New York Municipal Opera Company. Anne had made her Broadway debut years earlier, 1947, when she was able to leave Hollywood and her film roles to appear in “Street Scene” by Kurt Weill.

It was while doing “Kiss Me Kate” that Anne met up with handsome Robert Sterling, divorced from Ann Sothern and appearing in the theater next door in “Gramercy Ghost.” They got married in 1951 and in 1952 co-starred on Broadway in “Three Wishes for Jamie.” They also developed a nightclub act, and then became, forever, the immortal ghosts Marion and George Kirby on “Topper.”

The original ghosts were played by Constance Bennett and Cary Grant, and yet Anne and Robert were hardly compared to that formidable team. That’s how good they were. Ironically, Leo G. Carroll as Cosmo Topper had a few critics complaining that he was imitating the late Roland Young. But Leo had other problems. According to Anne, he was distracted on the set, mourning his late wife. The show’s ghostly theme may have added a bit to his sadness.

While “Topper” was a one-joke show, it was a good one. One of the early writers was Stephen Sondheim, getting his first taste of TV work.

As TV became more and more popular, and indie local stations popped up, the need for new material led to many films being licensed for the small screen. Fans of “Topper” soon discovered that Anne Jeffreys had been a movie star in the 40’s. She was “Tess Trueheart,” girlfriend to Dick Tracy (played by Morgan Conway) in both “Dick Tracy” (1945) and “Dick Tracy vs Cueball” (1946).

The lady born in North Carolina (January 26, 1923) also turned up in plenty of budget westerns at Republic Studios, co-starring with Wild Bill Elliott. She also starred in “Nevada” with Robert Mitchum (1944) and “Return of the Bad Men” with Randolph Scott (1948). She was in “Dillinger” with Lawrence Tierney (1945) and played a nightclub singer in “Riff Raff” (1947).

There was plenty of life after playing the ghost in “Topper.” She and Robert Sterling starred briefly in the sitcom “Love That Jill” in 1958, and she went on to win over a whole new set of fans as Amanda Barrington in the soap opera “General Hospital.” She later played David Hasselhoff’s mother on “Baywatch.” Robert Sterling died in 2006. Anne continued to be a vivacious presence at Hollywood parties and award shows, and remained a classy symbol of elegance and good humor.

She was on that very short list of women both beautiful, and gifted with the ability to make people laugh.