Ann Sothern (January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an Academy Award-nominated American film and television actress with a career spanning six decades.
Born Harriette Arlene Lake in Valley City, North Dakota, although she went to Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota with classmate Edward Heimberger (later to become known as Eddie Albert), Sothern left home very young and began her film career as an extra in the 1927 film, Broadway Nights at the age of 18. During 1929 and 1930, she appeared as a chorus girl in such films as The Show of Shows and Whoopee! (as one of the "Goldwyn Girls"). She also appeared on Broadway and had a trained voice, occasionally singing in films.
On Broadway in 1931, she had leading roles in America's Sweetheart (135 performances in which she sang "I've Got Five Dollars" and "We'll Be The Same") and in Everybody's Welcome (139 performances).
In 1934, Sothern signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, but after two years the studio released her from the contract. In 1936, she was signed by RKO Radio Pictures and after a string of films that failed to attract an audience, Sothern left RKO and was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, making her first film for them in 1939.
In a role originally intended for Jean Harlow, MGM cast Sothern in the film Maisie (1939), as brassy Brooklyn burlesque dancer Mary Anastasia O'Connor who also goes by the stage name Maisie Ravier. In Mary C. McCall Jr.'s screenplay of Wilson Collison's novel, Maisie is stranded penniless in a small Wyoming town, takes a job as a ranch maid and becomes caught in a web of romantic entanglements. After years of struggling, Sothern had her first real success, and a string of "Maisie" comedy sequels followed, beginning with Congo Maisie'(1940), followed by Undercover Maisie (1947) in which Maisie infiltrates a gang of con men headed by a phony swami. A review of Swing Shift Maisie (1943) by Time magazine praised Sothern and described her as "one of the smartest comediennes in the business".
On November 24, 1941, Sothern performed in the Lux Radio Theater adaptation of Maisie Was a Lady, and the popularity of the film series led to her own radio program, The Adventures of Maisie, broadcast on CBS from 1945 to 1947, on Mutual Broadcasting System in 1952 and in syndication from 1949 to 1953.
In 1949, Sothern appeared in the Oscar winning film, A Letter to Three Wives. The film earned her excellent reviews, but failed to stimulate her career. During the 1950s, she made a few movies, including The Blue Gardenia (1953), but mainly appeared on various television shows. In 1953, she landed the lead role in the series Private Secretary. After Secretary ended in 1957 due to a contract dispute between Sothern and producer Jack Chertok, she appeared in her own show, The Ann Sothern Show, from 1958 to 1961. Both programs were successful and earned Sothern four Emmy Award nominations.
Previously a stunning beauty, Sothern had a bout of hepatitis which left her with a bloated, overweight appearance; so she preferred not to be seen. In 1965, she was heard as the voice of Gladys Crabtree (the car) in the short lived series My Mother the Car, which co-starred Jerry Van Dyke. The series was unsuccessful and was canceled after 30 episodes.
During this period, Sothern made occasional guest appearances on The Lucy Show with her old RKO and MGM cohort, Lucille Ball. In 1967, her former boss Desi Arnaz, the first husband of Lucille Ball, approached her to co-star with Eve Arden as battling neighbors in The Mothers-in-Law. However, NBC felt that Sothern's style was too similar to Arden's, so the very differently styled and younger Kaye Ballard got the part.
She resumed working sporadically on television until the mid-1980s, including a television remake of her earlier success A Letter to Three Wives. Her final film role was in The Whales of August in 1987. Her role as the neighbor of elderly sisters, played by Lillian Gish and Bette Davis, brought Sothern her first and only Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination after 60 years in the business. However, she lost to Olympia Dukakis.
Sothern was married to actor Roger Pryor from 1936 until May 17, 1943. Less than a week later, she married actor Robert Sterling. The couple had one daughter, actress Tisha Sterling, before divorcing in six years later.
In 1984, Sothern retired from acting and moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where she spent her remaining years.
On March 15, 2001, Sothern died from heart failure at the age of 92. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures (1612 Vine Street) and television (1634 Vine Street).
Academy Award
Emmy Award
Golden Globe Award
Independent Spirit Awards
