Adventures of Aggie, The

1 9 5 6 – 1 9 5 7 (UK)
26 x 30 minute episodes

This early British-made sitcom starred a US actress so it could be sold to America. The actress in question was Joan Shawlee who appeared as Aasgard Agnette Anderson, an international buyer and fashion expert working for a world-famous London fashion house.

When Aggie was around, things had a tendency to go disastrously wrong: simple business transactions became contracts of murder, displaying an original creation led to industrial espionage, importing fashions brought Aggie into contact with unscrupulous international smuggling rings, and so on.

The demands of Aggie’s job meant that she didn’t stay in one city too long, and her globetrotting left no room for a regular supporting cast.

A number of future celebrities appeared throughout the series, however, including Wilfrid Brambell, Christopher Lee, Patrick McGoohan, Lois Maxwell, Richard Wattis, Rupert Davies, Gordon Jackson, Dick Emery, Anthony Valentine, Alfred Burke, Patrick Allen, Leonard Sachs and future film director John Schlesinger.

Before this UK series, the 27-year-old actress had appeared in The Abbott and Costello Show on US TV. Shortly after this series, Shawlee enjoyed her most famous film role as Sweet Sue in the 1959 comedy classic, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon.

She also appeared as a semi-regular in The Dick Van Dyke Show (as Buddy’s wife, Pickles).

The Adventures of Aggie was shown in the US in syndication as simply Aggie.

Aasgard Agnette “Aggie” Anderson
Joan Shawlee