Sherry Jackson

Sherry Jackson literally grew up on-screen; she began acting as a young girl in family films like "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm" and enjoyed a successful film and TV career for over 30 years. Jackson worked steadily through the '50s in the Ma and Pa Kettle film series, which followed the increasingly contrived adventures of Ma, an ambitious country housewife; Pa, her lovable but lazy husband; and their 15 children, whose names Ma frequently mixed up. In 1952, she delivered a memorable performance as Jacinta, a young girl persecuted for her visions of the Virgin Mary, in the Oscar-nominated film "The Miracle of Our Lady at Fatima," based on alleged apparitions that occurred in the rural Portuguese village. The following year, she was cast as Terry Williams on "The Danny Thomas Show" and portrayed Thomas' bright and cheerful daughter for six seasons of the popular family sitcom. Jackson garnered positive reviews for her role as John Wayne's tomboy daughter in the romantic comedy "Trouble Along the Way" and later worked with her stepfather, director R.G. Springsteen, on "Come Next Spring," about a recovering alcoholic who tries to reconnect with the family he abandoned. She portrayed a newlywed harassed by a jealous female biker in the unintentionally campy movie "The Mini-Skirt Mob" and later appeared in the blaxploitation serial killer film "Bare Knuckles."