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Back in 1953 CBS premiered “Topper,” a fun fantasy sitcom based on the 1937 film of the same name about a stuffy banker (Leo G. Carroll) who buys the former estate of a young couple (Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys). The two had died in an avalanche along with the St. Bernard who tried to save them. But no sooner does Carroll’s Topper move into the estate with his wife that he discovers the couple and the dog haunt the house and he happens to be the only one who can see and interact with the spirits. The series, which ran for two seasons (a young Stephen Sondheim wrote a few scripts) was Emmy nominated for Best Comedy Series in 1954. And “Topper” has lived on in syndication, DVD and now on streaming services ever since.

And nearly seven decades later, CBS returned to the paranormal last fall with another spirited fantasy comedy “Ghosts,...

More or less ignored for 75 years, this curious ‘B’ program picture now finds its way directly to a Warner Archive Blu-ray release. Cult actor Lawrence Tierney has an atypical ‘swell guy’ role as a Marine veteran thrust into a murder mystery and made the fall guy for nefarious foreign spies. Anne Jeffreys becomes his co-fugitive when the villains frame him for murder. It’s like a fancy 1960s romantic thriller, except on a micro scale. Just the same, Phil Rosen’s movie crams a lot of incident into its brisk 62 minutes. Consider it a gift to Lawrence Tierney fans — they might like him in a role that Cary Grant could play.

Step by Step

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1946 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 62 min. / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Lawrence Tierney, Anne Jeffreys, Lowell Gilmore, Myrna Dell, Harry Harvey, Addison Richards, Ray Walker, Jason Robards Sr., George Cleveland, Lee Bonnell, Robert Clarke,...

“A Senator, Nazi Spies, And A Dog”

By Raymond Benson

Want a fast-paced action thriller, starring attractive leads and a precocious dog, that deals with Nazi spies in the political climate immediately following the war, and be done with it in only 62 minutes? This 1946 potboiler directed by Phil Rosen and starring notorious Lawrence Tierney is for you!

Step by Step is not a film noir, which was what most crime pictures ended up stylistically becoming in the period after World War II. Instead, it’s a rollicking good action drama that packs what today might be two hours’ worth of plot into a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-something single hour. The picture is not only well-written and well-shot, it has a superb cast that functions quite well in this tight little ride.

Perhaps most interesting for today’s audience is the leading man presence of Lawrence Tierney, who had burst onto the...

“Just married, eh? Well, imagine that. I buried two wives myself. Eh, had to – they was dead you know.”

Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys in Step By Step (1946) will be available on Blu-ray July 20th from Warner Archive.

Using a white lie, young Evelyn Smith is able to get a sensitive job as secretary to Senator Remmy. They will be working out of the senator’s isolated and usually unused Malibu beachfront house. The current case they will be working on is one of national security, that despite the fact of the war being over. Things take a turn when the senator’s associate, James Blackton, is murdered in the house, Evelyn bound and gagged, and the senator knocked unconscious with a serious concussion by some German spies. Johnny Christopher, a war veteran with the Marines who met Evelyn earlier that day at the beach in his attraction to her,...

1953: Valiant Lady premiered on CBS.

1979: As the World Turns' Lisa was spooked

1981: David Canary debuted on Another World as Steve Frame.

1993: Days of our Lives' Jack Deveraux left Salem."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1950: NBC aired the final primetime episode of Hawkins Falls, one of network television's first successful soap operas. The show premiered in June 1950 as an hour-long weekly nighttime drama in a summer replacement slot but was cut back to a half-hour in August until the end of its run. Hawkins Falls returned to the air in April 1951 as a fifteen-minute weekday soap for NBC.

The special “In Memoriam” segment on the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony was tearful as beloved television legends Steven Bochco, Anthony Bourdain, Robert Guillaume, Monty Hall, John Mahoney, Jim Nabors, Charlotte Rae, Burt Reynolds, Neil Simon and Craig Zadan were part of the annual tribute.

SEEEmmy winners 2018: Full list of winners and nominees at the 70th Emmy Awards

But who was missing from the memoriam this time? Some of those surprising omissions included:

Marty Allen (actor/comedian)

Peter Baldwin (director)

Brent Briscoe (actor)

Dushon Monique Brown (actor)

Frank Buxton (writer/director)

Joseph Campanella (actor)

Olivia Cole (actor)

Vic Damone (actor/singer)

Bradford Dillman (actor)

Roy Dotrice (actor)

John Dunsworth (actor)

Harlan Ellison (writer)

Nanette Fabray (actor)

Dominic Frontiere (composer)

Michael Gershman (cinematographer)

Billy Graham (host)

Vanessa Greene (producer)

Doug Grindstaff (sound editor)

John Hillerman (actor)

Rance Howard (actor)

Tab Hunter (actor)

Earle Hyman (actor)

Anne Jeffreys (actor)

Margot Kidder (actor)

Louise Latham...

The upcoming 90th Academy Awards will mark the 25th consecutive year that the Oscars will feature an “In Memoriam” segment. While it had been done on occasion before, the annual tribute to Academy members and other film legends started a regular tradition at the 1994 ceremony hosted by Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg.

SEE2018 Oscars: Best Song performers include Mary J. Blige, Common, Andra Day, Keala Settle, Sufjan Stevens

We’ve assembled a list below of people who have died in the past 12 months who might be featured during the “In Memoriam” for the ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on March 4. Producers have not yet revealed who might be performing during the tribute. Sure to have prominent placements are previous Oscar champ Martin Landau (“Ed Wood,” 1994), honorary Oscar recipient Jerry Lewis and respected actor Bill Paxton (“Titanic,” “Apollo 13”). Paxton actually died on the weekend of last year’s ceremony and was mentioned on the broadcast,...

Sunday’s telecast of the Screen Actors Guild will feature a special In Memoriam segment devoted to many of the actors and actresses who have died since last year’s ceremony in late January. Sure to be among those saluted include Oscar winner Martin Landau, comedy legend Jerry Lewis, and beloved film and TV star Bill Paxton. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for this past year of 2017 and the newly-started gallery for 2018.

Over 100 people in SAG/AFTRA have passed away in the past 12 months. Which of the following 60 names will also be featured in the televised tribute?

SEE2018 SAG Awards TV predictions: Complete racetrack odds in all 9 categories

Richard Anderson (actor)

Chuck Barris (host/executive)

Shelley Berman (actor)

Chuck Berry (singer/actor)

Joseph Bologna (actor)

Powers Boothe (actor)

Brent Briscoe (actor)

Glen Campbell (singer/actor)

Bernie Casey (actor)

David Cassidy (actor/singer)

Mike Connors (actor)

Danielle Darrieux (actor...

Actor and singer who started out in westerns, moved on to TV soaps and then became a star of Broadway musicals

The diverse show-business career of Anne Jeffreys, who has died aged 94, can be divided into three distinct domains. In the 1940s she was the spirited heroine of low-budget westerns and B- picture thrillers; from the 50s onwards she appeared on television in soap operas and sitcoms, including the supernatural comedy series Topper (1953-55), in which she was known as the “ghostess with the mostest”, and the long-running General Hospital; and she was a singing star in Broadway musicals, notably as Lilli Vanessi in Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate (1950-51).

During the first period, Jeffreys starred opposite Robert Mitchum in Nevada (1944) and Frank Sinatra in Step Lively (1944). In the former, she played a saloon singer who seduces the hero and is later fatally wounded by gunfire while protecting him; in the latter,...

General Hospital star Anne Jeffreys has passed away at the age of 94.

The news was first reported by

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General Hospital star Anne Jeffreys has passed away at the age of 94.

The news was first reported by ABC7 reporter George Pennacchio, who tweeted that "the beautiful & elegant" star had died. "She was a sweetheart. Rip," he added.

For twenty years starting in 1984, Jeffreys played socialite Amanda

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BroadwayWorld has just learned that stage and screen star Anne Jeffreys passed away yesterday, September 27. She was 94 years old.

Anne Jeffreys, an actress whose career spanned the Nelson Eddy and Janette MacDonald era through a decades-long run into the 2000s as General Hospital‘s snobbiest socialite, has died. She was 94. “God bless the beautiful talented Anne Jeffreys,” tweeted General Hospital actress Jacklyn Zeman. “We will always remember you with love appreciation.” Jeffreys’ death was first reported last night by George Pennacchio of Los Angeles’ Kabc. Additional details were not…...

Anne Jeffreys, an actress who played Tess Truehart in the early “Dick Tracy” serials, starred in the fantasy sitcom “Topper” and spent two decades on “General Hospital,” has died. She was 94. Entertainment reporter for Los Angeles’ Kabc George Pennacchio was one of the first to tweet the news on Wednesday night. Others followed, including multiple friends on Facebook who confirmed the news. Details of her death were not widely available. Her longest-running role was on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” and its spinoff “Port Charles,” in which she played the snobby, wealthy socialite Amanda Barrington over the course of.

Anne Jeffreys, the elegant actress who was Dick Tracy's girlfriend Tess Trueheart in the movies and starred opposite her husband Robert Sterling as "the ghostess with the mostess" on television's Topper, has died. She was 94.

Entertainment reporter and local Oscar host for Los Angeles' Kabc, George Pennacchio, tweeted Wednesday night that Jeffreys died. Details of her death were not immediately available.

Jeffreys later played the snobby socialite Amanda Barrington on General Hospital during a long association with the soap opera and appeared as David Hasselhoff's mom on Baywatch.

A real trouper, Jeffreys replaced Patricia Morison and starred as...

'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' 2015: Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' movie is a domestic box office bomb: Will it be saved by international filmgoers? Directed by Sherlock Holmes' Guy Ritchie and toplining Man of Steel star Henry Cavill and The Lone Ranger costar Armie Hammer, the Warner Bros. release The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has been a domestic box office disaster, performing about 25 percent below – already quite modest – expectations. (See also: “'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Movie: Bigger Box Office Flop Than Expected.”) This past weekend, the $80 million-budget The Man from U.N.C.L.E. collected a meager $13.42 million from 3,638 North American theaters, averaging $3,689 per site. After five days out, the big-screen reboot of the popular 1960s television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum has taken in a mere $16.77 million. For comparison's sake:...

'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' box office: Bigger domestic flop than expected? Before I address the box office debacle of Warner Bros.' The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I'd like remark upon the fact that 2015 has been a notable year at the North American box office. That's when the dinosaurs of Jurassic World smashed Hulk and his fellow Halloween-costumed Marvel superheroes of Avengers: Age of Ultron. And smashed them good: $636.73 million vs. $457.52 million. (See also: 'Jurassic World' beating 'The Avengers' worldwide and domestically?) At least in part for sentimental (or just downright morbid) reasons – Paul Walker's death in a car accident in late 2013 – Furious 7 has become by far the highest-grossing The Fast and the Furious movie in the U.S. and Canada: $351.03 million. (Shades of Heath Ledger's unexpected death...

Cary Grant movies: 'An Affair to Remember' does justice to its title (photo: Cary Grant ca. late 1940s) Cary Grant excelled at playing Cary Grant. This evening, fans of the charming, sophisticated, debonair actor -- not to be confused with the Bristol-born Archibald Leach -- can rejoice, as no less than eight Cary Grant movies are being shown on Turner Classic Movies, including a handful of his most successful and best-remembered star vehicles from the late '30s to the late '50s. (See also: "Cary Grant Classic Movies" and "Cary Grant and Randolph Scott: Gay Lovers?") The evening begins with what may well be Cary Grant's best-known film, An Affair to Remember. This 1957 romantic comedy-melodrama is unusual in that it's an even more successful remake of a previous critical and box-office hit -- the Academy Award-nominated 1939 release Love Affair -- and that it was directed...

Randolph Scott Westerns, comedies, war dramas: TCM schedule on August 19, 2013 See previous post: “Cary Grant and Randolph Scott Marriages — And ‘Expect the Biographical Worst.’” 3:00 Am Badman’S Territory (1946). Director: Tim Whelan. Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Ann Richards. Bw-98 mins. 4:45 Am Trail Street (1947). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Bw-84 mins. 6:15 Am Return Of The Badmen (1948). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene aka Richard Powers, Robert Bray, Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey, Dean White, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Lew Harvey, Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombell, Warren Jackson, Robert Clarke, Jason Robards Sr., Ernie Adams, Lane Chandler, Dan Foster, John Hamilton, Kenneth MacDonald, Donald Kerr, Ida Moore, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Harry Shannon, Charles Stevens. Bw-90 mins. 8:00 Am Riding Shotgun (1954). Director: André De Toth. Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris,...

Randolph Scott movies: From Westerns to Cary Grant / Irene Dunne comedy Handsome, granite-faced Randolph Scott is Turner Classic Movies’ next great choice in its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. Monday, August 19, 2013, is Randolph Scott Day, which begins and ends with Westerns. That shouldn’t be surprising, for although Scott was initially cast in a variety of roles and movie genres (including Westerns), he became exclusively a Western star in the late ’40s, sticking to that genre until his retirement in 1962 following the release of Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac Ride the High Country, which TCM will be showing on Monday evening. Joel McCrea at his very best and Mariette Hartley co-star. (See “On TCM: Randolph Scott Westerns.”) (Photo: Randolph Scott ca. 1945.) Many of Scott’s Westerns were routine fare, including Badman’s Territory (1946), which kicks off Randolph Scott Day. Some, however, have become classics of the genre, especially his late...

Among the over 300 individuals who gathered this week to honor the late PR Icon, Dale Olson, with an exhibit at the Hollywood Museum and former offices of make-up wizard, Max Factor, included Ruta Lee, Valerie Harper, Garry Marshall, George Schlatter, JoAnne Worley, Kate Linder, Jackie Joseph, Patricia Barry, Ann Jeffreys, Barbra Van Orden, Theodore Bikel, Ilene Graff, Ben Lanzarone, Leonard Maltin, Renee Taylor, Karen Sharpe-Kramer, Martin Wiviott, Hunter and Stan Frieberg. Scroll below for photos from the event.

Comedian Phyllis Diller died today in her Los Angeles home. EW’s Jessica Shaw profiled “the most celebrated female stand-up in history” in 2005 when the actress was still breaking ground at 87: She had penned a new memoir, Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse, and landed a role on a fall TV pilot, The Book of Daniel. Diller’s wit was as sharp as ever, despite her failing health.

Phyllis Diller isn’t feeling so hot right now. She’s flung herself back in a black stretch limo, forcing deep breaths in and out of her mouth, weakened from a recent bout with pneumonia.

On Monday evening the Academy presented a cast and crew reunion from director Stanley Kramer’s It’S A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. It was the inaugural film in “The Last 70mm Film Festival” series. The first guest I noticed at the reception was writer Bruce Vilanch wearing his Simpsons “Krusty the Clown” t-shirt. When I asked him about his choice of wardrobe he said, “because it was going to be a night filled with Clowns.” The evening was off to a fun start.

Script Supervisor Marshall Schlom, Casting Agent Lynn Stalmaster, Mrs Karen Kramer, and actors Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, and Mickey Rooney were all there at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening was hosted by surprise emcee Billy Crystal. As I moved about the filled room, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the Hollywood history that had gathered together.

'Gone With the Wind' actress Ann Rutherford has died. The Canadian star died at her home in Beverly Hills, California, last night (11.06.12) aged 94. Ann's close friend and fellow actress, Anne Jeffreys, said she had been in declining health with heart problems. Ann was best known for playing Scarlett's younger sister, Carreen, in 1939 film 'Gone With the Wind', and was one of its last surviving cast members. Ann was initially refused the chance to be in 'Gone With the Wind' by MGM boss Louis B Mayer, who called her role a 'nothing part,' but after she burst into tears and told him what a huge fan of the novel she was, he reconsidered. In 2010 she...

Los Angeles — Ann Rutherford, the demure brunette actress who played the sweetheart in the long-running Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in "Gone With the Wind," has died. She was 94.

A close friend, actress Anne Jeffreys, tells the Los Angeles Times ( ) that Rutherford died Monday night at her home in Beverly Hills. She had heart problems and was in declining health. http://lat.ms/MEPubi

The Andy Hardy series, a hugely popular string of comical, sentimental films, starred Lewis Stone as a small-town judge and Mickey Rooney as his spirited teenage son.

Rutherford first appeared in the second film of the series, "You're Only Young Once," in 1938, and she went on 11 more. She played Polly Benedict, the ever-faithful girlfriend that Andy always returned to, no matter what other, more glamorous girl had temporarily caught his eye. (Among the other girls: Judy Garland and Lana Turner.)

It was said...

Actress Ann Rutherford, who gained fame playing Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in the 1939 film classic Gone with the Wind, has died at age 94.

A close friend, actress Anne Jeffreys, confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Rutherford died Monday night at her home in Beverly Hills. 

Rutherford -- who also portrayed Mickey Rooney's teenage girlfriend in the Andy Hardy movie series -- had been in declining health and suffered from heart problems, according to the newspaper.

Rutherford reportedly got the part as the O'Hara's youngest daughter Carreen in Gone with the Wind because Judy Garland was busy filming The Wizard of Oz.

The actress told the Times in 2010 that MGM head Louis B. Mayer was at first going to refuse her the role because he considered it a "nothing part." But Rutherford, who was a big fan of the novel, said she uncharacteristically burst into tears and Mayer changed his mind.

She was Scarlett O.Hara.s younger sister Careen in Gone With The Wind in 1939 so now only Olivia DeHavilland is left from that film.s major cast. The Canadian-born Ann Rutherford would gain immense popularity for her portrayal of “Polly Benedict” in the popular “Andy Hardy” film series in the 1940.s. She acted opposite John Wayne (The Oregon Trail . 1936), Gene Autry (Meldoy Trail . 1935), Boris Karloff (The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty . 1947), and was in all three of Red Skelton.s .Whistler. films. Ann Rutherford, who was approached to play the older Rose in the 1996 megahit Titanic but turned it down, died Monday night of heart disease at her Beverly Hills home. (According to the IMDb she was 91, but some sources are listing her age as 94).

From The Washington Post:

Los Angeles . Ann Rutherford, the demure brunette actress who played the sweetheart in the long-running Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O...

Ann Rutherford, the actress who played Scarlett O'Hara's kid sister in Gone With the Wind, has died at 94. Rutherford passed away Monday evening at her Beverly Hills home, her close friend and fellow actress Anne Jeffreys confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. Rutherford's health had been declining recently and she'd suffered from health problems. Rutherford appeared in dozens of films, including a series of Andy Hardy mysteries. Following her role in Gone With the Wind, the actress made a second career out of attending festivals that featured the 1939 film. At a 2009 screening of the film in Marietta, Ga., to mark the 70th anniversary of the movie, Rutherford reiterated that her...

Ann Rutherford, best remembered as Scarlett O’Hara’s younger sister Carreen in Gone with the Wind, died earlier this evening at her home in Beverly Hills according to Rutherford’s friend, actress Anne Jeffreys. Rutherford, who had been suffering from heart problems, was 94 as per the Los Angeles Times obit (as per most other sources, she was 91). [Recent Ann Rutherford photos, Ann Rutherford and Marsha Hunt.]

In 2010, Rutherford told the Times that MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer was unwilling to loan her out for "a nothing part" such as Carreen in son-in-law David O. Selznick’s mammoth adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s novel. Mayer changed his mind when Rutherford burst into tears.

Gone with the Wind ultimately became the biggest blockbuster ever. To this day, the Civil War romantic drama has sold more tickets than any other movie in North America. (Possibly, around the world, relative to population.) Gwtw also won eight Oscars, in addition to two special awards.

Leif Garrett attends Rain A Tribute to the Beatles at the Pantages Theatre.Photo copyright curtis sabir / PR Photos. Crystal Hunt attends Rain A Tribute to the Beatles at the Pantages Theatre.Photo copyright curtis sabir / PR Photos. Leif Garrett attends Rain A Tribute to the Beatles at the Pantages Theatre.Photo copyright curtis sabir / PR Photos. Anne Jeffreys attends Rain A Tribute to the Beatles at the Pantages Theatre.Photo copyright curtis sabir / PR Photos. Cherish Lee attends Rain A Tribute to the Beatles at the Pantages Theatre.Photo copyright curtis sabir / PR Photos. 04/12/2011 - Alison Arngrim - "Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles" at the Pantages Theatre - April 12, 2011 -...

She was born on the 4th of July, 1910 in Santa Monica and a little over a century later she left this mortal coil right next door in West Los Angeles. But oh how this American blonde travelled in between.

She was engaged to The Invisible Man (1933) in a tiny village in Sussex. She made it out of The Old Dark House (1935) in Wales as a young ingenue, when the gothic mansion was set on fire. Her husband was jailed in the West Indies as The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936). She was cousin to rising radio star Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). She spun around the dance floor with Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982). And quite famously, she survived the Titanic (1997) which departed from England but never made it to its New York City destination.

And that's just a few of Gloria Stuart's best known screen journeys.

Off screen her life was also rich,...

  Robert Ryan on TCM: The Set-up, Crossfire, Billy Budd Schedule and synopses from the TCM website: 3:00 Am Trail Street (1947) Bat Masterson fights to make Kansas safe for wheat farmers. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Dir: Ray Enright. Bw-84 mins. 4:30 Am Return of the Badmen (1948) A farmer falls for the female leader of a band of notorious outlaws. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Dir: Ray Enright. Bw-90 mins. 6:15 Am Flying Leathernecks (1951) A World War II Marine officer drives his men mercilessly during the battle for Guadalcanal. Cast: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Jay C. Flippen. Dir: Nicholas Ray. C-102 mins. 8:00 Am Men In War (1957) Two enemies join forces to save their men during a retreat from the North Koreans. Cast: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith. Dir: Anthony Mann. Bw-98 mins. 10:00 Am Crossfire (1947) A crusading district attorney investigates the [...]...

Forties TV and movie hunk Robert Sterling has lost his battle with shingles and died at his Brentwood, California home. He was 88. The ghostly star of TV's Topper was born William Hart in 1917 in Pennsylvania, the son of baseball star William S. Hart. After working briefly as a clothing salesman, Sterling made his mark as a movie star and changed his name, so as not to be confused with silent screen actor William S. Hart. He really hit his stride in 1941, when he starred in five of the year's top films, including Two-Faced Woman, in which he starred alongside Greta Garbo, and The Penalty. He wed actress Ann Sothern in 1943 and they had a daughter, Tisha - but the marriage wasn't destined to last and Sterling divorced his first wife in 1949. In 1951, he wed his second wife, actress Anne Jeffreys, who was with the actor when he died yesterday. Sterling and Jeffreys had three sons and teamed up to become a US TV institution in the mid 1950s as the stars of movie spinoff Topper, in which the couple played ghosts. Sterling retired from acting in the 1970s so he could concentrate his efforts as a computer businessman. He returned to the limelight briefly in the 1980s as a guest star in TV series Hotel and Murder, She Wrote.