Anne Whitfield, best known for her role in the 1954 classic *White Christmas*, has passed away at the age of 85.
Her family shared that the actress died in an “unexpected accident” while out for a walk near her home in Washington, D.C.
Whitfield portrayed Susan Waverly, the granddaughter of Major General Waverly, in the beloved holiday film. Her family remembered her fondly, saying, “The life of Anne Langham Whitfield Phillips was a beautiful one, with every second used to uplift the world and those around her.”
In 1949, Whitfield appeared in theatrical productions of Annie Get Your Gun[10] and Show Boat, both in Los Angeles, California.[11] On film, she played Susan Waverly in White Christmas (1954)[12] and appeared in Juvenile Jungle (1958)[13] and Tick, Tick, Tick (1970).
In 1960, she played the role of Trudy (working bar girl in the Long Branch) in the season-six episode “Don Matteo” in the TV Western Gunsmoke, then again in one of its 1966 episodes “Stage Stop” as Lori Coombs, an abused wife who later falls in love with a blind man after her husband is killed.
Whitfield played Claudia Barbour in the TV version of One Man’s Family.[14] The casting was a change from Whitfield’s role in the radio version of the program; in the story, Claudia was the mother of Penny, whom Whitfield played on radio.[15] She played the two roles concurrently during the TV series’ single season on the air.[16] Whitfield also was featured in “The Case of the Ugly Duckling”, “The Case of the Crafty Kidnapper”, and “The Case of the Nautical Knot”, episodes of Perry Mason (1964);[17] “The Storm Riders” on Cheyenne (June 24, 1956), and then subsequently in another episode, “The Young Fugitives” (October 23, 1961);[18] “Judgment at Hondo Seco” on Rawhide (October 20, 1961);[19] and “Harry, the Good Neighbor’ on The New Phil Silvers Show (February 22, 1964). In the ’60s, she was also active in series such as Adam-12, Emergency!, The New Interns, 77 Sunset Strip, Laramie, Hawaiian Eye, the Untouchables, Ben Casey, The Dakotas, 12 O’clock High, Peter Gunn, Manhunt, and the Johnny Carson Show. She played Jack Nicholson’s girlfriend in Wells Fargo and Robert Redford’s estranged wife in Tate – both superstars’ first TV shows. Whitfield’s all-time favorite role was as Sally Ellis, an Arkansas farm girl, in One Step Beyond (1960).