Merry Anders


Merry Anders was an American actress who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972.

Early life

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.

Career

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 Marlowe" 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 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." She also appeared on The Addams Family as a cosmetics salesperson.
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.
She was one of the scientists who travelled through time in The Time Travelers, a 1964 American science fiction film directed by Ib Melchior.
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. To supplement her income between acting jobs, Anders took a job as a receptionist at Litton Industries. 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.

Personal life

On March 25, 1955, Anders married producer John Stephens. They separated on July 12, 1955. 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.
On October 28, 2012, Anders died in Encino, California, aged 78, from undisclosed causes.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1954The Public DefenderAgnes FaySeason 1 Episode 26: "The Last Appeal"
1954The Ford Television TheatrePhoebe DinsmoreSeason 2 Episode 37: "The Mason-Dixon Line"
1954The Ford Television TheatreMarleneSeason 3 Episode 12: "Slide, Darling, Slide"
1954–1955The Stu Erwin ShowJoyce Erwin26 episodes
1955TV Reader's DigestSallySeason 1 Episode 14: "Honeymoon in Mexico"
1955The Loretta Young ShowAngelaSeason 2 Episode 32: "He Always Comes Home"
1955It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 1: "The Four of Us"
1955It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 2: "Child Actress"
1955It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 6: "Playboy"
1955It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 7: "Stanley's Trip"
1955It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 8: "Special Material"
1956It's Always JanVal MarloweSeason 1 Episode 15: "Housekeeper"
1956The MillionaireHelen ForresterSeason 3 Episode 11: "The Jay Powers Story"
1957Broken ArrowAmy BreeceSeason 2 Episode 11: "Smoke Signal"
1957SugarfootKatie BranniganSeason 1 Episode 1: "Brannigan's Boots"
1957CheyenneSherry RavenSeason 2 Episode 14: "Big Ghost Basin"
1957–1959How to Marry a MillionaireMike McCall52 episodes
1958DecisionLucy HamiltonSeason 1 Episode 13: "Man on a Raft"
195877 Sunset StripMarcia FromeSeason 1 Episode 7: "All Our Yesterdays"
1959SugarfootSally OrmandSeason 3 Episode 6: "Outlaw Island"
1959State TrooperMrs. WallaceSeason 3 Episode 7: "The Case of the Barefoot Girl"
1959Mickey Spillane's Mike HammerHarriet BrittonSeason 2 Episode 16: "Swing Low, Sweet Harriet"
1959Tales of Wells FargoLaurie HammerSeason 3 Episode 33: "The Tall Texan"
1959The Ann Sothern ShowMyrnaSeason 2 Episode 2: "Katy and the Cowboy"
1959Richard Diamond, Private DetectiveClaudia ReedSeason 3 Episode 21: "Bookie"
1959The Real McCoysMiss McLeanSeason 3 Episode 20: "The Lawsuit"
1960CheyenneRuth Graham / Fay PierceSeason 5 Episode 1: "The Long Rope"
1960BonanzaVirginia KeithSeason 1 Episode 29: "Bitter Water"
1960BroncoFrancy OwensSeason 2 Episode 19: "Winter Kill"
1960The Case of the Dangerous RobinAnnette Du BlancSeason 1 Episode 3: "On Consignment"
1960MaverickPenelope GreeleySeason 3 Episode 21: "The People's Friend"
1960MaverickMaggie BradfordSeason 4 Episode 3: "The Town That Wasn't There"
1960MaverickMarybelle McCallSeason 4 Episode 15: "Destination Devil's Flat"
1960Hawaiian EyeLisa BartonSeason 1 Episode 19: "Hong Kong Passage"
1961Hawaiian EyeKitty ToddSeason 2 Episode 29: "Don't Kiss Me Goodbye"
1961Hawaiian EyeMaxine WheatonSeason 3 Episode 6: "Pill in the Box"
196177 Sunset StripLorrie LambersSeason 3 Episode 24: "Face in the Window"
196177 Sunset StripSeason 3 Episode 25: "Tiger by the Tail"
196177 Sunset StripLally EmbrySeason 4 Episode 5: "The Lady Has the Answers"
1961MaverickCissie AndersonSeason 5 Episode 4: "Three Queens Full"
1961The Loretta Young ShowLenore CooperSeason 8 Episode 14: "Enter at Your Own Risk"
1961BroncoLucy FollettSeason 3 Episode 4: "Ordeal at Dead Tree"
1961Surfside 6Chris KarnsSeason 1 Episode 17: "Yesterday's Hero"
1961The Case of the Dangerous RobinSeason 1 Episode 24: "The Deadly Impersonation"
1961Bringing Up BuddyDiane MitchellSeason 1 Episode 25: "Buddy and the Amazon"
1961Michael ShayneGinger DennisSeason 1 Episode 32: "Dead Air"
1961Alfred Hitchcock PresentsLenaSeason 7 Episode 3: "Maria"
1961The New Bob Cummings ShowSeason 1 Episode 4: "The Ox-Tail Incident"
1961Ichabod and MeLeona 'Red' SmithSeason 1 Episode 12: "Benjie's Spots"
1961Ichabod and MeLeonaSeason 1 Episode 14: "Bob's Redhead"
1961Perry MasonAdele BentleySeason 4 Episode 19: "The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff"
1962Perry MasonSadie HepnerSeason 5 Episode 19: "The Case of the Glamorous Ghost"
196277 Sunset StripMary O'NeilSeason 5 Episode 11: "The Odds on Odette"
1962Hawaiian EyeGloria BurnsSeason 3 Episode 38: "Koko Kate"
1962StraightawayBarbaraSeason 1 Episode 20: "Tiger by the Tail"
1963The Jack Benny ProgramKidnapper aka Florence NightingaleSeason 13 Episode 24: "Jack Is Kidnapped"
1963The Joey Bishop ShowLeslie Medford WallingfordSeason 2 Episode 19: "Freddie Goes Highbrow"
1964The Joey Bishop ShowBarbaraSeason 3 Episode 13: "Jack Carter Helps Joey Propose"
1964Perry MasonJoyce CarltonSeason 7 Episode 22: "The Case of the Garrulous Go-Between"
1964Arrest and TrialJoyceSeason 1 Episode 15: "Funny Man with a Monkey"
1964Arrest and TrialJoyceSeason 1 Episode 21: "The Best There Is"
1964The VirginianDonna DurrellSeason 2 Episode 30: "A Man Called Kane"
1964The Addams FamilyMiss CarverSeason 1 Episode 3: "Fester's Punctured Romance"
1966Get SmartJoanna SloanSeason 1 Episode 20: "All in the Mind"
1966Never Too YoungAlice93 episodes
1967LassieCarol DawsonSeason 14 Episode 3: "Cry of the Wild"
1967LassieCarol DawsonSeason 14 Episode 4: "The Guardian"
1967LassieCarol DawsonSeason 14 Episode 4: "Starfire"
1967DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 1 Episode 7: "The Hammer"
1967DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 1 Episode 8: "The Candy Store Robberies"
1967DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 1 Episode 9: "The Fur Job"
1967DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 2 Episode 8: "The Big High"
1967DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 2 Episode 11: "The Big Dog"
1968DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 2 Episode 21: "The Big Clan"
1968DragnetPolicewoman Dorothy MillerSeason 3 Episode 2: "Juvenile: DR-05"
1968LassieAnnSeason 15 Episode 2: "Burst of Freedom"
1971GunsmokeShirleySeason 17 Episode 3: "Waste: Part 1"
1971GunsmokeShirleySeason 17 Episode 4: "Waste: Part 2"