Merry Anders obit

Merry Anders has died

 She was not on the list.

Anders was born in Chicago in 1934, the only child of Charles, a contractor, and Helen Anderson. Anders was of German, Irish and Swedish descent. In 1949, Anders and her mother visited Los Angeles for two weeks. They decided to remain in Los Angeles permanently while Charles Anderson remained in Chicago. While she was a student at John Burroughs Middle School, Anders met former actress Rita Leroy who encouraged her to begin a modeling career. While working as a junior model, Anders began studying acting at the Ben Bard Playhouse. It was there that a talent scout from 20th Century Fox spotted her and signed her to a film contract in 1951.

Anders made her film debut in the 1951 musical Golden Girl. For the next two years, she appeared in small and supporting roles in several 20th Century Fox films. In 1954, Fox dropped her. Later that year, Anders joined the cast of The Stu Erwin Show. She remained with the series until its cancellation in 1955. Anders was then cast in the CBS sitcom It's Always Jan, starring Janis Paige. That series was canceled after one season.

Shortly after the birth of her daughter in 1956, Anders took over the role of "Rita Malone" (popularized by Jayne Mansfield) in the West Coast touring production of the Broadway hit Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. In 1957, Anders had a much-publicized leading role in Paramount Pictures film Hear Me Good, opposite Hal March. She starred in four low-budget films that same year, The Dalton Girls, Calypso Heat Wave, The Night Runner and Escape from San Quentin.

Also in 1957, Anders landed the role of Mike McCall in the NTA Film Network and syndicated sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire. The series was based on the hit 1953 film of the same name (in which Anders appeared in a bit role) starring Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall. Anders co-starred in the series with Barbara Eden and Lori Nelson. The first season of How to Marry a Millionaire was fairly successful and it was renewed for a second, abbreviated season. It was cancelled in 1959.

During the early to mid 1960s, Anders continued her career with mainly supporting film roles and guest spots on television. In 1960, she appeared in the horror film The Hypnotic Eye followed by a role in the Western Young Jesse James. Anders went on to land guest roles on Surfside 6, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Hawaiian Eye, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip, and Perry Mason. In 1962 Anders appeared as Ruth Graham/Fay Pierce on Cheyenne in the episode titled "The Long Rope."

In 1962, Anders was cast in the first English-language live action film adaptation of the 18th century French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. In 1965, she appeared opposite Elvis Presley in the musical comedy Tickle Me. The following year, she appeared in the recurring role of "Alice" in the teen soap opera Never Too Young. Later that year, Anders had a supporting role in the B movie Women of the Prehistoric Planet.

From 1967 to 1968, she appeared in seven episodes of Jack Webb's Dragnet series on NBC, in which she played policewoman Dorothy Miller. She appeared in a recurring role on Lassie.

By the late 1960s, Anders' acting career had begun to wane. In 1968, she appeared as uncredited "glorified extra" in the film Airport (1970). To supplement her income between acting jobs, Anders took a job as a receptionist at Litton Industries.[10] Her final acting role was a guest spot in the two part Gunsmoke episode "Waste", which aired late September and early October 1971.

Anders retired from acting in 1972 in order to "live a normal life." She eventually became a customer relations coordinator at Litton Industries, where she remained until her retirement in 1994.

She also appeared on The Addams Family as a Cosmetics salesperson ("Fester's Punctured Romance").

On March 25, 1955, Anders married producer John Stephens. They separated on July 12, 1955, due to his physical abuse. Two weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant with the couple's first child. Their daughter, Tina Beth Paige Anders, was born in March 1956. Anders and Stephens were divorced in June 1956. In 1986, Anders married engineer Richard Benedict; the couple remained married until his death in 1999.

Filmography

Film Year             Title       Role       Notes

1951      Golden Girl         Chorine                Uncredited

1952      Belles on Their Toes        Student / Graduate         Uncredited

1952      Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie    Adeline Halper / Adeline Burdge                Uncredited

1952      Les Misérables Cicely    Uncredited

1953      Titanic   College Girl         Uncredited

1953      The Farmer Takes a Wife               Hannah               

1953      How to Marry a Millionaire          Model   Uncredited

1954      Three Coins in the Fountain         Girl         Uncredited

1954      Princess of the Nile          Handmaiden     

1954      Phffft!   Marsha                 Uncredited

1955      All That Heaven Allows Mary Ann           

1957      The Night Runner             Amy Hansen      

1957      Desk Set               Cathy    

1957      Calypso Heat Wave          Marti Collins      

1957      No Time to Be Young      Gloria Stuben    

1957      Escape from San Quentin              Robbie

1957      Death in Small Doses      Amy "Miss Diesel of 1958" Phillips           

1957      Hear Me Good   Ruth Collins       

1957      The Dalton Girls                Holly Dalton      

1958      Violent Road      Carrie - The Girl in the Convertible           

1960      The Hypnotic Eye             Dodie Wilson    

1960      Five Bold Women             Missouri Lady Ellen Downs          

1960      Young Jesse James          Belle Starr          

1960      The Walking Target         Susan Mallory   

1960      Spring Affair       Dorothy               

1961      The Police Dog Story       Terry Dayton     

1961      The Gambler Wore a Gun             Sharon Donovan              

1961      When the Clock Strikes Ellie       

1961      20,000 Eyes        Karen Walker    

1961      Secret of Deep Harbor    Janey Fowler     

1962      Patty      Mary     Alternative titles: The Shame of Patty Smith

Doctor Please Help Me

Gang Rape

1962      Beauty and the Beast      Sybil      

1962      Air Patrol             Mona Whitney

1963      FBI Code 98        Grace McLean  

1963      House of the Damned    Nancy Campbell               

1963      Police Nurse       Joan Olson         

1964      A Tiger Walks     Betty Collins      

1964      The Quick Gun   Helen Reed        

1964      The Time Travelers          Carol White       

1964      Young Fury          Alice     

1964      Raiders from Beneath the Sea     Dottie Harper    

1965      Tickle Me             Estelle Penfield

1966      Women of the Prehistoric Planet               Lt. Karen Lamont             

1970      Airport Mrs. Burt Ball - Passenger            Uncredited

1971      Will to Die           Laura Dean         Alternative titles: Legacy of Blood

Blood Legacy

Television Year Title       Role       Notes

1954      The Public Defender       Agnes Fay            Episode: "The Last Appeal"

1954      The Ford Television Theatre         Various                 2 episodes

1954–1955          The Stu Erwin Show         Joyce Erwin         26 episodes

1955      TV Reader's Digest           Sally       Episode: "Honeymoon in Mexico"

1955–1956          It's Always Jan   Val Marlowe       5 episodes

1955–1961          The Loretta Young Show               Various                 2 episodes

1956      The Millionaire Helen Forrester                 Episode: "The Jay Powers Story"

1957      Broken Arrow    Amy Breece        Episode: "Smoke Signal"

1957–1959          How to Marry a Millionaire          Mike McCall       52 episodes

1957–1959          Sugarfoot            Various                 2 episodes

1957–1960          Cheyenne           Various                 2 episodes

1958      Decision               Lucy Hamilton   Episode: "Man on a Raft"

1958–1962          77 Sunset Strip Various                 5 episodes

1959      State Trooper    Mrs. Wallace      Episode: "The Case of the Barefoot Girl"

1959      Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer                Harriet Britton   Episode: "Swing Low, Sweet Harriet"

1959      Tales of Wells Fargo        Laurie Hammer Episode: "The Tall Texan"

1959      The Ann Sothern Show Myrna   Episode: "Katy and the Cowboy"

1959      Richard Diamond, Private Detective         Claudia Reed      Episode: "Bookie"

1959      The Real McCoys              Miss McLean      Episode: "The Lawsuit"

1960      Bonanza               Virginia Keith     Episode: "Bitter Water"

1960–1961          Bronco Various                 2 episodes

1960–1961          The Case of the Dangerous Robin                              2 episodes

1960–1961          Maverick              Various                 4 episodes

1960–1962          Hawaiian Eye     Various                 4 episodes

1961      Surfside 6            Chris Karns          Episode: "Yesterday's Hero"

1961      Bringing Up Buddy           Diane Mitchell   Episode: "Buddy and the Amazon"

1961      Michael Shayne                Ginger Dennis    Episode: "Dead Air"

1961      Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Lena      Episode: "Maria"

1961      The New Bob Cummings Show                   Episode: "The Ox-Tail Incident"

1961      Ichabod and Me                Leona    Episode: "Bob's Redhead"

1961–1964          Perry Mason       Various                 3 episodes

1962      Straightaway      Barbara                Episode: "Tiger By the Tail"

1963      The Jack Benny Program               Kidnapper aka Florence Nightingale         Episode: "Jack Is Kidnapped"

1963–1964          The Joey Bishop Show    Various                 2 episodes

1964      Arrest and Trial Various                 2 episodes

1964      The Virginian      Donna Durrell    Episode: "A Man Called Kane"

1964      The Addams Family         Miss Carver         Episode: "Fester's Punctured Romance"

1966      Get Smart            Joanna Sloan      Episode: "All in the Mind"

1966      Never Too Young              Alice      11 episodes

1967–1968          Dragnet                Policewoman Dorothy Miller       7 episodes

1967–1968          Lassie    Carol Dawson     4 episodes

1971      Gunsmoke          Shirley 2 episodes, (final appearance)