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R.I.P. Anne Jeffreys of 'Topper,' 'Dick Tracy' and 'General Hospital'
The singing soap opera star also appeared on 'Wagon Train' and 'Battlestar Galactica.'
In 1945, Dick Tracy made the leap from the newspaper comic pages to the big screen. In the flick, the famous gumshoe in the yellow trenchcoat hunts down the vicious villain "Splitface." Naturally, Tracy has his trusted love interest, Tess Trueheart, by his side. Stepping into the role was a 22-year-old named Anne Jeffreys.
Though Jeffreys was a contract player for RKO Studios, she had originally aspired and trained to be an opera singer. After impressing onstage in musicals, she switched to the movie business. Jeffreys would reprise her role of Tess Truehart in the 1946 sequel, Dick Tracy vs. Cueball. Shortly thereafter, she returned to Broadway.
In the 1950s, the North Carolina native transitioned to television, often appearing with her celebrity husband, Robert Sterling. The two starred together in Topper, a supernatural sitcom about a young, dead couple who haunt the sophisticated banker who buys their home. A reboot of a 1937 movie of the same name, Topper aired for two seasons, from 1953–55. The married couple would again work together in an early episode of Wagon Train, "The Julie Gage Story."
Jeffreys with Astaire in 'Battlestar Galactica'Just this past Saturday, you could have caught her in an episode of Battlestar Galactica, acting alongside screen legend Fred Astaire in the episode "The Man with Nine Lives." Elsewhere, her role in 1972’s The Delphi Bureau earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
By the 1980s, the veteran Jeffreys had become a mainstay on popular soap operas. Over the span of three decades, she portrayed Amanda Barrington on General Hospital, up until 2004. She also had recurring roles on Baywatch and Falcon Crest.
This week, Jeffreys passed away at the age of 94, as reported by Variety. News of hear death was first tweeted by an ABC reporter.
People we have lost in 2017
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