Anne Whitfield Dies: ‘White Christmas’, Prolific TV Actor Was 85
deadline.comAnne Whitfield, who appeared at age 15 in the 1954 Hollywood Christmas chestnut White Christmas and went on to a prolific career in episodic TV throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, died February 15 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington.
She was 85. The actor, whose TV credits stretch from I Married Joan and Father Knows Best through The Six Million Dollar Man and Adam-12, suffered what her family describes as an “unexpected accident” during a walk in her neighborhood. “Through the kindness of neighbors who provided expert medical support, family had the gift to say goodbye and express love and gratitude, a gift we will always cherish,” her family said.
Born August 27, 1938, in Oxford, Mississippi, Whitfield was four years old when she moved to Hollywood with her mother Frances Turner Whitfield, who served as the aspiring child performer’s agent and acting coach.
By age 7 Whitfield was appearing on such radio series as The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show and radio soap One Man’s Family. At 15 she was cast by director Michael Curtiz in the movie musical White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.
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