Make Room for Sherry Jackson

Gorgeous, mouth-watering Sherry Jackson began her career as a child actress on the 1953-1958 television sitcom, Make Room for Daddy, which starred Danny Thomas. Rumor has it that Idaho-born Sherry was “discovered” by a talent agent while she and her mother were waiting for a bus. She began with small parts in such films as Susie, one of the Kettle children, in Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town (1950), Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951), Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952), and Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953), along with other Hollywood classics including The Next Voice You Hear (1950 with James Whitmore), For Heaven’s Sake (1950, with Joan Bennett and Clifton Webb), Trouble Along the Way (1953, playing John Wayne’s daughter), and many others. Her most impressive role during the 1950s was as a Portuguese youngster who witnesses a vision in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952, with Gilbert Roland).

Sherry literally grew up as Danny Thomas’ coquettish daughter “Terry Williams” on The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy). She starred on the series for the first five seasons, written out of the series in the final episode of the fifth season (the script had her heading off to college), and things changed drastically work-wise. She made the move to Warner Brothers, courtesy of her stepfather, Montgomery Pittmann, who was writing and directing numerous television episodes of Maverick, Cheyenne and 77 Sunset Strip. She took time to work for other other movie studios and producers, including the recurring role of Melanie Culpin on Walt Disney’s Swampfox and Jeff Myrtlebank’s girlfriend in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Sherry Jackson as the android, Andrea, in the STAR TREK episode, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

Jackson grew totally out of her pert and pretty teen figure into a ravishing stunner during the early sixties. She appeared on The Wild, Wild West, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Wagon Train and Perry Mason. She gained pop culture status with her appearance as Pauline, The Riddler’s moll in a two-part Batman television episode in 1966. Star Trek fans recall Sherry Jackson as the sexy android, Andrea, in the episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Jackson played Effra, an extra-terrestrial in “The Space Croppers” episode of Lost In Space. In 1979, she played the title character in the made-for-TV movie, Brenda Starr, based on the comic strip character of the same name.

One could usually count on spotting Sherry somewhere as a biker chick, cooey-voiced party girl or scantily-clad femme fatale. Her motion-picture career included the sexy Samantha in Gunn, the 1967 major motion-picture based on the TV series, Peter Gunn, starring Craig Stevens reprising his television role. In 1965, Jackson played the lead role of Lee Sullivan in Wild on the Beach (1965), one of many flicks created as a result of the then-popular Beach Party craze. In 1968, she played the Connie, the newlywed being terrorized in AIP’s Mini-Skirt Mob (1968), now a cult classic. Jackson doesn’t like to look back at The Mini-Skirt Mob, but we find it to be a very entertaining film and Jackson never looked more beautiful. For this reason, we’re planning to screen the movie during the convention.

A Selection of Sherry Jackson’s Television Career

The Range Rider, “Dead Man’s Shoe”  (telecast in 1951)

The Gene Autry Show, “Rock River Feud”  (January 18, 1952)

The Roy Rogers Show, “The Unwilling Outlaw”  (March 9, 1952)

The Rifleman, “The Sister”  (November 25, 1958, with Chuck Connors)

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, “The Prettiest Collateral in Town”  (April 12, 1960)

Surfside 6, “High Tide”  (October 10, 1960, with Van Williams)

77 Sunset Strip, “The Texas Doll” (December 11, 1959)

Maverick, “The Naked Gallows”  (December 15, 1957)

The Twilight Zone, “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank”  (February 23, 1962)

Gunsmoke, “Root Down”  (October 6, 1962, with James Arness)

Perry Mason, “The Case of the Festive Felon”  (November 28, 1963)

Lost in Space, “The Space Croppers”  (March 30, 1966, with Mercedes McCambridge)

Rawhide, “Moment in the Sun”  (January 29, 1965, with Clint Eastwood)

My Three Sons, “The Wheels”  (April 21, 1966, with Fred MacMurray)

Batman, “Death in Slow Motion”  (Part One, April 27, 1966)

Batman, “The Riddler’s False Notion”  (Part Two, April 28, 1966)

The Wild, Wild West, “The Night of the Gruesome Games”  (October 25, 1968)

The Immortal, “Sylvia”  (September 24, 1970)

Death Valley Days, “Lady of the Plains”  (May 5, 1966, with DeForest Kelly)

Star Trek, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”  (October 20, 1966)

The Rockford Files, “The Real Easy Red Dog”  (October 31, 1975)

The Streets of San Francisco, “One Last Trick”  (October 6, 1977)

The Incredible Hulk, “Earthquakes Happen”  (May 19, 1978)

CHiPS, “The Strippers”  (February 16, 1980, with Erik Estrada)

A Selection of Sherry Jackson’s Movie Career

This Woman is Dangerous  (1952, with Joan Crawford)

The Breaking Point  (1950, with John Garfield and Patricia Neal)

Covered Wagon Raid  (1950, with Allan Lane, a.k.a. Allan “Rocky” Lane)

The Mini-Skirt Mob  (1968, with Diane McBain and Jeremy Slate)

Gunn  (1967, with Craig Stevens and Ed Asner)

Something to Live For  (1952, with Joan Fontaine and Ray Milland)

Where Danger Lives  (1950, with Robert Mitchum, Faith Domerque and Claude Rains)

Wild on the Beach  (1965, with Frankie Randall, Sonny and Cher)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  (1960, with Tony Randall)

Louisa  (1950, with Ronald Reagan, Edmund Gwenn and Ruth Hussey)

Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town  (1950)

Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm  (1951)

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair  (1952)

Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation  (1953)

Tags: featured, movie stars, television