Sirry Steffen (born Sigríður Geirsdóttir,

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

as Sigridur Geirsdottir; 29 May 1938 – 1 February 2020) was a former Miss Iceland who appeared in American television series and movies in the 1960s. "Sirry Steffen" is her Americanized name used for film and television credits.Article by
Lo, Richard F. (October 17, 2008) "FUNFAR: Miss International beauties who visited RP" on the Filipino Global Community websit

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Pageant career

She won the

Miss Iceland Miss Iceland or Miss Universe Iceland ( is, Ungfrú Ísland) is a national beauty pageant in Iceland. Began 2023 the winner represents Iceland at Miss Universe pageant. History The competition has been carried out since 1950; in the first yea ...

contest in 1959.Miss Iceland
website In August 1960, she competed against fifty-one other national winners in the very first

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

contest,Miss International 1960
(with pictures) webpage at The Crown Competitors website held at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Long Beach, California. She received the title ''Miss Photogenic'', and finished as 2nd runner-up, behind 1st runner-up Miss India, and winner Miss Colombia (now the Philippines' prestigious Binibining Pilipinas national director Stella Márquez-Araneta).

Television career

Her best known role was as Mrs. Drysdale's maid Marie, in three 1962 episodes of '' The Beverly Hillbillies''. Her first television role was as Miss Iceland in the 1960 private-eye series ''

Michael Shayne Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fo ...

'', starring Richard Denning, in the episode ''Death Selects the Winner'', broadcast December 23, 1960. She appeared as 'French Girl' in ''The Old Magic'' episode of ''

The Tom Ewell Show ''The Tom Ewell Show'', also known as ''The Trouble With Tom'', is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS during the 1960-61 television season. It depicts the challenges a husband and father faces as he resides in a household otherwise c ...

'', broadcast March 14, 1961.

Film career

Her first film role was a minor one in the 1962 film ''

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

'', starring Richard Basehart in the title role. She had a major role in the 1963 horror film ''

The Crawling Hand ''The Crawling Hand'' is a 1963 American science fiction horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock, and starring Peter Breck, Kent Taylor, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale and Allison Hayes. It was later featured on the television shows ''Mystery Science T ...

'', as 'Marta Farnstrom', the Swedish exchange-student girlfriend of the young man possessed by 'The Crawling Hand'. She had an uncredited role as 'Party Girl' in the 1964 film ''

Bedtime Story A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockma ...

'', starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

and David Niven. In 1982, she had a major role credited to her Icelandic name in the film '' Okkar á milli: Í hita og þunga dagsins'' (which, literally translates as ''Between us: In the heat and weight of the day''), a change-of-pace film created by Iceland's famous Viking-film director

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson Hrafn Gunnlaugsson (born 17 June 1948) is an Icelandic film director. He is the brother of mathematician Þorvaldur Gunnlaugsson and the lawyer Snædís Gunnlaugsdóttir and the actress Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir. He is mostly known for his series o ...

about a man's mid-life crisis.

Personal life

Sigriður Geirsdóttir was born May 29, 1938, in Iceland.Sirry Steffen
webpage at Classic TV and Movie Hits website After she competed in the Miss International competition in 1960, she traveled the world as part of the entourage representing the pageant. She moved to California in the last few months of 1960 to embark on her television and film career, but moved back to Iceland in the mid-1960s. She was married twice. Her first husband was Þorkell Valdimarsson, they divorced. Her second husband was Stefán Bjarnason. She re-entered the film world with her 1982 role in the Icelandic film mentioned above. She lived for the rest of her life in Iceland.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steffen, Sirry Icelandic television actresses 1938 births 2020 deaths Icelandic film actresses 20th-century Icelandic actresses Miss International 1960 delegates