Make Room for Sherry Jackson

[Zoneboy]

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Sidelined with severe illnesses for several years, Sherry Jackson is finally emerging from a prolonged period of convalescence.

“I nearly died from pneumonia,” said Jackson from her home in Los Angeles. “I was in hospital for two months, then bedridden for another four. I lost my voice, dropped 30 pounds, and had to use a wheelchair then a walker. I’m still not ready to run a marathon, but much improved.”

A popular guest at film and TV conventions, illness forced her to withdraw from last year’s major Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.

“I’d love to be there for the fans in August for the 50th anniversary this year, but I haven’t been invited back,” she said.

Originally from Idaho, her only early memory of the Gem State is as a 2-year-old dancing on tabletops at her parents’ saloon, and being encouraged by the patrons.

After the family moved to California, little Sherry auditioned for “The Snake Pit,” to play the young Olivia de Havilland character.

“But I came down with Chicken Pox and was so disappointed,” she recalled. She eventually made her big screen debut with a small role in “You're My Everything,” released in 1949.

Over the next four years, Sherry appeared in numerous films (see sherryjackson.net) including four Ma and Pa Kettle comedy features.

“I was one of the Kettles’ 15 kids, so it was a little chaotic on the set,” said Jackson, who mostly remembers comedic actress Marjorie Main (Ma) and her extreme obsession.

“She was terrified of germs and you couldn’t touch her without washing your hands. Nor could you sneeze on the set. One little boy did, and was fired from the movie. My mother was freaking out in case I did!”

In 1951, Jackson appeared in the Errol Flynn semi-documentary film, “Hello God.” Believed to be lost, several reels of the film were discovered in 2013, although some had deteriorated.

“All that remains of the film has been inspected, cleaned, and is safely stored at the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center,” wrote Kellie Fraver, Public Relations Manager at the George Eastman Museum, in an email. “We will undertake preservation work as soon as funds become available.”

“I’m probably in just one reel and I’d love to see it,” said Jackson. “It was set in Italy, and I had to pretend to be dead on a beach. At the audition, the casting director asked if I could play dead. So I lay on the sofa, closed my eyes, and actually fell asleep. But I got the part. I was only 8 or 9 when the film was made and was very impressed working with him because my mother had told about him, so I was in awe. Flynn told me something I definitely remember: ‘Here’s a nickel, call me when you’re 18.’ 'Oh, OK,' I thought.”

Years later, when the price of a phone call had doubled, Jackson recalls a similar invitation from another big star.

“I was at Universal and saw Tony Curtis walking to the commissary. It was one of the few times I got an autograph from an actor and he said ‘Here’s a dime, call me when you’re 18!’ But he was a delightful guy and whenever we ran into each other years later, he always remembered me asking for the autograph.”


Jackson’s first big film role came in the John Wayne sports comedy “Trouble Along the Way” (1953).

“I adored John Wayne,” said Jackson. “The other star was Charles Coburn, who was just lovely. For years after, until he passed away, he sent me a Christmas card each year.”

She especially remembers Wayne coming to her rescue during the screen test.

“I was around 10 and they wanted to make me look older, so Michael Curtiz (director) came over and said, ‘I want to cut your pigtails off.’ I had tears in my eyes and Duke – Mr. Wayne as I called him – patted me on the shoulder and said he wouldn’t let them be cut.”

Jackson worked with Curtiz on three films and said he could be brutal to actors. She could cry on demand, but not because of Curtiz.

“As a child actor, you don’t have many experiences to draw from, but when I had to cry I would remember my father’s funeral – he died when I was six,” recalled Jackson. “Curtiz would say ‘Sherry is my little faucet; I turn her on, I turn her off.’ But no one knew how I could do it. It was my secret.”

After receiving excellent reviews playing John Wayne’s daughter, Jackson was cast as Danny Thomas’s daughter in the 1953 TV series, “Make Room For Daddy.”


“It was filmed in front of a live audience, 300 people, and every show was like doing a play. But by that stage I was actually rather shy and had performance anxiety,” Jackson admitted. “Whenever I made an entrance for a scene, I couldn’t remember a word of my lines until I hit my mark on stage, then they came to me. I was having panic attacks every night, but never told anyone.”

What encouraged her was working with Jean Hagen, who played Thomas’s wife.

“She was beautiful, kind, strong, and very self-empowered. We were like girlfriends and I loved coming to work to see her. But she didn’t like Danny and quit after the third season. I didn’t want to continue without her. My five-year contract was rewritten, so I didn’t appear in many episodes after that.”

More film and television work followed, 1966 being a premium year with guest starring roles in three classic 60s series: “Batman,” “Lost in Space,” and “Star Trek.”

“I worked with The Riddler in ‘Batman,’ played by Frank Gorshin, a nice, funny guy, but he smoked non-stop and eventually died from lung cancer,” she noted.

The "Lost in Space” episode, "Space Croppers," co-starred Mercedes McCambridge who was more challenging.

“She was terrifying and would tear your head off if you messed up your lines, so I was a nervous wreck working on that show.”


In the popular "Trek" episode, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Jackson is remembered for her convincing role of Andrea the android, not to mention a rather revealing costume.

“I took the role very seriously, and gave much thought to what an android might think and feel,” she said. “I was only 24 and at the peak of my attractiveness. The outfit also helped make the episode memorable!”

But prowling the set were the ever vigilant 60s censors who took issue with her skimpy attire.

“They didn’t want any side cleavage to show. So we took some double-sided toupee tape from Bill Shatner and taped the costume to my skin. Bill was never shy about wearing a hairpiece, so his toupee saved the day!”

Unlike the censors, director Blake Edwards found the costume, and the person in it, quite becoming.

“A friend took me to lunch in the noisy Paramount commissary while I was wearing the costume. I’m terribly near-sighted and when we walked in, it got quieter and quieter, so I asked what was happening. Turns out, they were all looking at me. All the seats were full, so we got a table in the director’s room where Blake Edwards happened to be sitting. My friend told me he began pointing to me and giving hand signals to Craig Stevens in another part of the room and yelling to him ‘Sam! Sam!’ That turned out to be a character in Edwards’ next film, ‘Gunn,’ and I was offered the part.”

“Gunn” was a movie version of the popular “Peter Gunn” TV mystery series. Edwards cast Jackson – wearing mostly a bed sheet or bath towel – to seduce Craig Steven’s Gunn character, leading to the surprise ending.

“But Paramount knew it was not going to be a big hit, so they wanted to use me to promote it,” said Jackson. “They got Playboy involved and offered me $25,000 to appear in the magazine.”

When Jackson declined, she says Paramount threatened to release some of the risqué still photos from the movie. According to Jackson, the studio said if she did the Playboy shoot, tame by today’s standards, she would have control over which images were published.

“I was incensed, but accepted on the condition I wouldn’t take any money for it,” she explained.

Offers of more steamy roles quickly followed, with Jackson appearing in a further three dozen TV shows and seven feature films before retiring at 40.

“I probably retired too young and should have just taken a break, but was getting typecast as the sexy femme fatale figure,” she said.

Her fans, however, have never complained.

[Coffeecup]

The last time I saw Sherry was an episode of Charlie's Angels during the last half of the series.