Ann Sothern's film career started as an extra in 1927. Originally a redhead, for the comedy roles she began to get she bleached her hair blond. After working at MGM and on Broadway, Ann was signed by Columbia Pictures for Scarlet Blonde. The next year she would work with Eddie Cantor in his hit Kid Millions. For the next two years, Ann would appear in a number of "B" pictures until she was dropped by Columbia in 1936. She then went to RKO, where the quality of her films did not improve. She appeared in a series of "B' pictures movies with Gene Raymond, but her career was going nowhere. In 1938 she left RKO and played the tart in Trade Winds, which got her a contract at MGM. She was given the lead in a "B" comedy about a brassy, energetic salesgirl--originally intended for Jean Harlow--that wound up becoming a huge hit and spawned a series of sequels that ran until 1947: Maisie. Ann also appeared in such well received features as Brother Orchid, Cry 'Havoc' and A Letter to Three Wives. After 1950 the roles dried up and Ann turned to television and another hit series, playing the meddlesome Susie in the 1953 series Private Secretary. The series was canceled in 1957 and Ann came back in The Ann Sothern Show, which ran from 1958 to 1961. In 1965, she would be the voice of the 1928 Porter in the camp classic My Mother the Car. While the 1970s and 1980s were relatively quiet for Ann, she would be nominated for an Academy Award for her role as the neighbor of Lillian Gish and Bette Davis in The Whales of August.
Mother of look-alike, sound-alike actress Tisha Sterling. The two appeared in The Whales of August, with Tisha, in the prelude scene, portraying a younger-day Ann. Left visibly overweight by a bout of hepatitis, she only wore black outfits in her 1950s sitcoms Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show. In her role as Susie McNamara on Private Secretary (which ran 1953-1958), Sothern played the first working woman on an American TV sitcom. Had been so busy in the entertainment industry for so many years, once quipped that she had done everything in the business except rodeo. Portrayed Maisie Ravier on Mutual Radio's "The Adventures of Maisie" (1949- 1951). Her sister Marion was once a secretary to columnist Abigail Van Buren ("Dear Abby"). Her paternal grandfather, Simon Lake, was the inventor of the modern submarine. A singer in her early career, she sang with Artie Shaw among others. She was also a published songwriter and recorded two albums. In 1953, her film career waned and she decided to give TV a try. When a TV series based on her popular "Maisie" film character failed to materialize, she made her series debut with Suzie McNamara on Private Secretary. Her mother was a concert singer who traveled; Ann followed suit studying singing and musical composition. In later years her mother became a diction and vocal coach and taught microphone technique for talking pictures. Her younger sister was the prolific singer/songwriter Bonnie Lake who wrote several popular standards such as "Sandman", "I've Got Your Number" and "Gracias" - songs later recorded by such big band stars as Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. In the 1940s, Bonnie founded the Bonnie Lake Music Publishing Company. Ex-daughter-in-law of Arthur Pryor.