Daily BirthdaysAnne Jeffreys Forum
| ||||
| by Dr. Katherine Leisering Anne Jeffreys is a lovely, talented ingenue type, with an exceptionally fine voice who married my cousin , Robert Sterling. I met them both (through my mother, Margaret Hart --( "Peg" to Bob Sterling) in Dayton, Ohio, in the 50's. Bob and Anne were appearing at the Kenley Players' production of "Anniversary Waltz," to which my family and I had travelled from Wheeling, WV, where we lived at the time, to see. I remember I was about five and my brother, John, was six. What struck me most was the awe in which I held them both. My parents were more down to earth, but my brother and I were simply spellbound. I remember asking them about Neal (which may have been spelled "Neil"), the huge St. Bernard who appeared as a "lush" in "Topper." I had asked Ms. Jeffreys how big Neal was, and I remember her saying he was over 250 pounds (which made my eyes look like Ricky Ricardo's in a crisis). I remember how charming they both were and how greatly I was impressed. It was one of the highlights of my youth. To be able to meet stars is one thing, but to meet them as relatives makes it even more special and memorable. I still have the plastic key (the souvenir of the "Key Motel" given to guests) which Bob and Anne gave me. I still cherish it. They barely know I exist (though I have several stories my mother told me when she was on double dates with Bob), but whatever talent I have in acting and writing (which is considerable) can certainly be traced in part to that side of the family where Bob was "discovered" working in a dry cleaners in New Castle, PA. Those were the days. I still believe he should've beaten out Bill Holden for the lead in "The Golden Boy" on Broadway. In fact, my entire family on my mother's side was artistically gifted -- my grandmother (Bob's aunt, was a gifted singer, as was her daughter, my mother. In addition, my mother was both a gifted pianist and organist. No shortage of talent on that side of the family. In case anyone is interested, the reason Bob changed his name from "Bill Hart" to "Robert Sterling," was simply because he didn't want to be confused with "William S. Hart," the silent screen star. As I look at Bob's movies today, I could've coached him to the super stardom which eluded him. I know exactly what should've been done, had any one really taken him under his wing and cared about him (even allowing for the influence of his first wife, Ann Sothern). But that's water over the bridge. I'm justly proud of what he and Anne did in their careers, which is much ore than most. Katherine J. Leisering, Ph.D. Comment on this... | ||||
|
