Sherry Jackson wore her Star Trek costume to lunch and immediately got cast in a movie

The former Make Room for Daddy star landed a role in a spy caper thanks to this jumpsuit.

Poster: Paramount Pictures

Child stars tend to get typecast. Jerry Mathers could not shake being the Beaver. The Brady Kids are forever the Brady Kids. It's tough to claw out of the pigeonhole, unless you switch to the other side of the camera like Ron Howard.

Few young actors worked harder than Sherry Jackson to shed their sweet and innocent image. Looking at her as Andrea in the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" — wearing that iconic green-blue jumpsuit — its easy to forget that Jackson was once Terry Williams, the 11-year-old daughter on Make Room for Daddy.

In her six seasons on Make Room for Daddy (later titled The Danny Thomas Show), Jackson went through her teenage years in front of the camera. Her final episode, "Terry Goes Steady," saw her worrying her dad that she might run away and elope. Turns out, Jackson was eager to flee the sitcom behind the scenes. Penny Parker briefly took over the role of Terry in 1959. Meanwhile, Jackson set to work diversifying her filmography.

She immediately played a runaway on 77 Sunset Strip in "The Kookie Caper," the first of a handful of appearances on that hip crime show. She was a true pistol married to an outlaw on Maverick in "Red Dog," the final episode starring Roger Moore. Perry Mason cast her as a murder suspect and client in "The Case of the Festive Felon."

Her path to Star Trek included guest appearances on The Twilight Zone and Batman. In the latter, she was the Riddler's moll, dressing up as Little Bo Peep to fool Robin.

SFM EntertainmentJackson on 'Make Room for Daddy' and 'Batman'

And that brings us to 1966 and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Jackson was dressed up and ready to play the android Andrea.

"I took the role very seriously, and gave much thought to what an android might think and feel,” Jackson said in a 2016 interview with The Spectrum. "I was only 24 and at the peak of my attractiveness. The outfit also helped make the episode memorable!"

She goes on to explain how Andrea's wardrobe landed her a part in a movie.

"A friend took me to lunch in the noisy Paramount commissary while I was wearing the costume. I'm terribly near-sighted and when we walked in, it got quieter and quieter, so I asked what was happening. Turns out, they were all looking at me. All the seats were full, so we got a table in the director's room where Blake Edwards happened to be sitting," she explained. "My friend told me he began pointing to me and giving hand signals to Craig Stevens in another part of the room and yelling to him 'Sam! Sam!' That turned out to be a character in Edwards' next film, Gunn, and I was offered the part."

Gunn happened to be the reboot of Peter Gunn, reuniting creator Blake Edwards with star Craig Stevens. It was clearly an attempt to ride in the wake of James Bond's popularity. Jackson was thus the "Gunn Girl" of the picture. Risqué scenes from the film, with Jackson in a towel, appeared in a 1967 issue of Playboy. "Make Room for Sherry," the headline declared. Turns out, people hadn't entirely forgotten her sitcom roots.

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27 Comments

Hogansucks1 49 months ago
My oh my-, what a wardrobe choice that totally changed her life. I’m sure her good looks helped also, but Man, I wonder if the wardrobe designer got credit or compensation for their part? I always found the wardrobe of the characters in Star Trek fascinating! (No pun intended) 😁😆
trogg888 51 months ago
she goes topless in that gunn movie.excellent figure and beautiful face and she could act too. i still see her on various episodes of westerns and other shows as well.they run episodes of make room for daddy on 23.3 at 4am and shes on some of them though not lately.always look forward to seeing her
AnthonyHicks 51 months ago
I've never seen 77 Sunset Strip. It sounds like it was a pretty good TV show. I would love to check it out on MeTV.
TVFF 51 months ago
MRFD was much better than I thought it would be when I checked it out on MeTV several years ago. It's a very well done show. Danny Thomas is excellent.
JHP 51 months ago
just one more comment - Sherry Jackson YUMMO
Lacey JHP 51 months ago
Eyes AROUND and up here mister !!!
JHP Lacey 51 months ago
if you're up so am I :)
TheDavBow3 51 months ago
Never really watched The Danny Thomas Show but Sherry Jackson is a timeless beauty. I've never even heard of the movie "Gunn" but I wish 2nd/3rd tier movies from the '60s would be put on TV more. Whether it's comedy, drama, adventure...., the stars and the overall pop culture from those lower budget movies are awesome! 2 quick examples of adventure that come to mind are David McCallum's "Sol Madrid" and Robert Vaughn's "The Venetian Affair". Also the Bobby Darin/Sandra Dee romantic comedy movies. They are just great!
Pacificsun TheDavBow3 51 months ago
Thank you for the mention of our MFU heroes. I second your suggestions wholeheartedly!
justjeff 51 months ago
It's hard [at times] to believe that 1966 was 54 years ago... Sherry Jackson is now 78. To lift a line from "Sunrise, Sunset" (from "Fiddler on the Roof")... "I don 't remember growing older... when did they?" (DRAT!)
Pacificsun 51 months ago
Those are the magical days of old Hollywood, and what fascinating anecdotes are made of! Few serendipitous moments happen anymore.
Heck I don't know if the commissary is even there anymore !!! 😉
Hogansucks1 Pacificsun 49 months ago
2 Meters please ! 😷
JHP 51 months ago
I wish I could make room for Sherry Jackson:)
TomBurkhart JHP 51 months ago
Even at 78?......lol.
JHP TomBurkhart 51 months ago
well??? its 50-50 :) She would have to buy the beer and pizza (snicker snicker)
JHP TomBurkhart 49 months ago
even at 78 :) hell maybe we (her and I) could play strip Cribbage or pinochle?
MrsPhilHarris 51 months ago
I wish Me would air Make Room For Daddy.
Pacificsun MrsPhilHarris 51 months ago
You would think so huh. MeTV is all over TAGS. You'd think the syndication access would be related to Danny Thomas enterprises. But maybe it's showing somewhere else.
JHP Pacificsun 51 months ago
yeah you would think so - it just depends on what is in the dumpster of old tv shows
ElimGarak 51 months ago
Sherry Jackson - Timeless Beauty. Luv U Sher
cperrynaples 51 months ago
Don't forget the TZ where James Best came back from the dead!
Mike cperrynaples 51 months ago
That was "The Last Rites Of Jeff Myrtlebank" - written and directed by Montgomery Pittman, who as it happened was Sherry Jackson's stepfather.
Sherry's mother was Maurita Pittman, who collaborated on many scripts, including all five of Sherry's 77 SUNSET STRIP guest shots -
- and when is MrTV going to bring back the 77 reruns that they used to run in the overnight?
Pacificsun Mike 49 months ago
Nice request, but they seldom do. If you look at their programming model over 24 hrs they've pretty much nailed it down to something for everyone, by representing each decade. So a different show from 77 Sunset Strip's decade would need to be replaced. Most of their runs last for about 2 years, and (now) they only change out just a couple of shows each season. Even though not all are "my" favorites, trust me, this plan is a lot more stable than all the upheaval they caused before in changing everything too drastically.

(😉Year 2015 was the best though 😉)
BrittReid 51 months ago
Everyone looking at Sherry. Hard to imagine.
Hogansucks1 BrittReid 49 months ago
And what’s wrong with that? 😋
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