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2 articles from 2006

1 June 2006 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Robert Sterling, who with wife Anne Jeffreys played a pair of debonair ghosts in the 1950s sitcom Topper, has died in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles at age 88. Sterling had battled shingles for nearly 10 years. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, actress Ann Rutherford, who co-starred with Sterling in This Time for Keeps in 1942, said: "I was dazzled by his good looks. ... He was such a good actor and a delightful person. ... He had it all. He had a beautiful wife and a wonderful family."

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1 June 2006 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

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.

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2 articles from 2006