ANNE JEFFREYS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1981 - HFSID 270558

ANNE JEFFREYS
Letter from Jeffreys to her close friend Phyllis Diller, thanking her for a lovely party recently passed, and saying that husband Robert Sterling also sends his love
Autograph letter signed: "Anne", 2 pages, 3¾x5. Suffern, New York, 1981 January 12. On inside portion of folded note card to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Phyllis dear". In full: "Your party was lovely! Some open house! Everyone in town was there - I don't think I have that many friends - Speaks well for you! Anyway - thank you for including the Sterlings - and if you get to N.Y.C. before March 15 - be sure to contact me. Robert joins me in sending love. Always - Your tennis buddy". Accompanied by original stamped mailing envelope, 5x4. 15-cent stamp affixed, postmarked Suffern, New York, January 12, 1981. Addressed by Jeffreys to: "Ms. Phyllis Diller, 163 So. Rockingham Dr., Los Angeles, Calif. 90049". On verso, Jeffreys has written her return address: "Anne Jeffreys, c/o Coachlight Theatre, 145 W. Rt. #59, N.Y. 10954". Trained in voice at an early age, ANNE JEFFREYS (1923-2017) had her first movie role in the tuneful Rodgers & Hart adaptation of I Married an Angel (1942). After appearing in a series of "B" westerns and crimer films, she turned to symphonic and stage work including Tosca, Street Scene and the Broadway musical My Romance. Jeffreys and her husband, Robert Sterling, appeared in the TV version of Topper, television's first fantasy sitcom (1953-1955). She has continued to appear on television, both as a regular and in guest appearances on a long list of shows. Comedienne PHYLLIS DILLER (1917-2012), known for her outrageous appearance, zany outfits, distinctive laugh and a stand-up act that featured frequent references to her fictional husband, "Fang", and zingers about her sex appeal and numerous plastic surgeries, got her big break in March 1955 (at age 37), when she debuted at San Francisco's Purple Onion club. A subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar launched her national career, which got a big boost after Bob Hope saw Diller in a Washington, D.C. club. A favorite of the comedian, Diller would appear in three of Hope's films and 23 of his TV specials. Diller, who recorded her first comedy record album in 1959, took her groundbreaking "funny hausfrau" act to nightclubs and television variety shows and specials and she also appeared on the big screen. Her feature film credits include Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Fat Spy (1966), Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and The Silence of the Hams (1994), and she provided the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life (1998). By 2000, the comedienne, who had trained as a concert pianist before her marriage (1939-1965) to Sherwood Anderson Diller, had appeared as a piano soloist with 100 symphony orchestras across the U.S. Despite retiring from nightclub/stage tours in May 2002 at the age of 84, Diller continued to make films (Motorcross Kids, 2004; Forget About It, 2005) and occasionally appear on TV programs, including two episodes of 7th Heaven (2002, 2003) and a guest shot on The Wayne Brady Show (2004). Fine condition.