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 Let's Fall in Love (1933). The next year she would work with Eddie Cantor in his hit Kid Millions (1934). 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 (1938), which got her a contract at MGM. She was given the lead in a "B" comedy about a brassy, energetic showgirl not salesgirl--originally intended for Jean Harlow--that wound up becoming a huge hit and spawned a series of sequels that ran until 1947: Maisie (1939). Ann also appeared in such well received features as Brother Orchid (1940), Cry 'Havoc' (1943) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949). 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 (1953). The series was canceled in 1957 and Ann came back in The Ann Sothern Show (1958), 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 (1965). 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 (1987).
Movie | That's Entertainment! III | (archive footage) | 1994-07-01 |
Movie | The Whales of August | Tisha Doughty | 1987-10-14 |
Movie | A Letter to Three Wives | Ma Finney | 1985-12-16 |
Movie | The Little Dragons | Angel | 1980-07-18 |
Movie | The Manitou | Mrs. Karmann | 1978-04-28 |
Series | Flying High | Unknown | 1978-09-29 |
Movie | That's Entertainment, Part II | (archive footage) | 1976-05-16 |
Series | Captains and the Kings | Mrs. Finch | 1976-09-30 |
Movie | Crazy Mama | Sheba | 1975-06-01 |
Series | Medical Story | Unknown | 1975-09-04 |
Movie | The Killing Kind | Thelma Lambert | 1974-03-20 |
Movie | Golden Needles | Fenzie | 1974-07-17 |
Movie | The Weekend Nun | Mother Bonaventure | 1972-12-21 |
Series | Alias Smith and Jones | Unknown | 1971-01-05 |
Movie | A Death of Innocence | Annie La Cossit | 1971-11-26 |
Series | The Chicago Teddy Bears | 1971-09-17 | |
Movie | Congratulations, It's a Boy! | Ethel Gaines | 1971-09-21 |
Movie | Chubasco | Angela | 1968-04-14 |
Movie | The Outsider | Mrs. Kozzek | 1967-11-21 |
Series | The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | Unknown | 1966-09-13 |
Series | Family Affair | Unknown | 1966-09-12 |
Movie | Sylvia | Mrs. Argona / Grace Argona | 1965-02-10 |
Series | My Mother the Car | Gladys Crabtree | 1965-09-14 |
Series | The Legend of Jesse James | Unknown | 1965-09-13 |
Movie | The Best Man | Sue Ellen Gamadge | 1964-04-05 |
Movie | Lady in a Cage | Sade | 1964-06-10 |
Series | The Lucy Show | Unknown | 1962-10-01 |
Series | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Unknown | 1959-09-21 |
Series | The Ann Sothern Show | Katy O'Connor | 1958-10-06 |
Series | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Unknown | 1958-10-06 |
Series | The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1957-11-06 |
Series | The Steve Allen Show | Unknown | 1956-06-24 |
Movie | Lady in the Dark | Liza | 1954-09-25 |
Series | Private Secretary | Susie McNamara | 1953-02-01 |
Movie | The Blue Gardenia | Crystal Carpenter | 1953-03-20 |
Series | Letter to Loretta | Unknown | 1953-09-20 |
Series | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Unknown | 1951-10-05 |
Movie | Nancy Goes to Rio | Frances Elliott | 1950-03-10 |
Movie | Shadow on the Wall | Dell Faring | 1950-05-19 |
Movie | A Letter to Three Wives | Rita Phipps | 1949-01-20 |
Movie | April Showers | June Tyme | 1948-03-27 |
Movie | Words and Music | Joyce Harmon | 1948-12-31 |
Movie | Undercover Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1947-03-01 |
Movie | The Judge Steps Out | Peggy | 1947-12-15 |
Movie | Up Goes Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1946-02-01 |
Movie | Twenty Years After | (archive footage) | 1944-01-01 |
Movie | Maisie Goes to Reno | Maisie Ravier | 1944-08-15 |
Movie | Thousands Cheer | Ann Sothern | 1943-09-13 |
Movie | You, John Jones! | Mary Jones | 1943-01-14 |
Movie | Three Hearts for Julia | Julia Seabrook | 1943-05-21 |
Movie | Swing Shift Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1943-10-01 |
Movie | Cry 'Havoc' | Pat | 1943-11-23 |
Movie | Maisie Gets Her Man | Maisie Ravier | 1942-06-01 |
Movie | Panama Hattie | Hattie Maloney | 1942-09-30 |
Movie | Maisie Was a Lady | Maisie Ravier | 1941-01-10 |
Movie | Lady Be Good | Dixie Donegan Crane | 1941-09-18 |
Movie | Ringside Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1941-08-01 |
Movie | Congo Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1940-01-19 |
Movie | Hollywood: Style Center of the World | Self | 1940-05-29 |
Movie | Brother Orchid | Florence 'Flo' Addams | 1940-06-07 |
Movie | A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound | Self | 1940-10-24 |
Movie | Dulcy | Dulcy Ward | 1940-10-04 |
Movie | Gold Rush Maisie | Maisie Ravier | 1940-07-26 |
Movie | Maisie | Maisie Ravier / Mary Anastasia O'Connor | 1939-06-22 |
Movie | Hotel for Women | Ellen Connelly | 1939-08-03 |
Movie | Fast and Furious | Garda Sloane | 1939-10-06 |
Movie | Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President | Ethel Turp | 1939-12-01 |
Movie | Trade Winds | Jean Livingstone | 1938-12-28 |
Movie | Fifty Roads to Town | Millicent Kendall | 1937-06-03 |
Movie | There Goes My Girl | Connie Taylor | 1937-05-21 |
Movie | Super-Sleuth | Mary Strand | 1937-07-16 |
Movie | Dangerous Number | Eleanor | 1937-01-22 |
Movie | Danger – Love at Work | Antoinette "Toni" Pemberton | 1937-09-30 |
Movie | There Goes the Groom | Bettina Louise "Betty" Russell | 1937-10-29 |
Movie | She's Got Everything | Carol Rogers | 1937-12-31 |
Movie | Ali Baba Goes to Town | Herself | 1937-10-29 |
Movie | Hell-Ship Morgan | Mary Taylor | 1936-02-08 |
Movie | You May Be Next! | Fay Stevens | 1936-02-05 |
Movie | Don't Gamble with Love | Ann Edwards | 1936-02-28 |
Movie | Walking on Air | Kit Bennett | 1936-09-11 |
Movie | Smartest Girl in Town | Frances Cooke | 1936-11-27 |
Movie | My American Wife | Mary Cantillon | 1936-08-06 |
Movie | Eight Bells | Marge Walker | 1935-04-10 |
Movie | Hooray for Love | Patricia Thatcher | 1935-06-14 |
Movie | Folies Bergère | Mimi | 1935-02-22 |
Movie | The Girl Friend | Linda Henry | 1935-09-27 |
Movie | Grand Exit | Adrienne Martin / Adeline Maxwell | 1935-10-25 |
Movie | Melody in Spring | Jane Blodgett | 1934-04-07 |
Movie | The Hell Cat | Geraldine Sloane | 1934-06-16 |
Movie | The Party's Over | Ruth Walker | 1934-08-30 |
Movie | Blind Date | Kitty Taylor | 1934-07-20 |
Movie | Kid Millions | Joan Larrabee | 1934-11-10 |
Movie | Broadway Thru a Keyhole | Singer | 1933-11-02 |
Movie | Let's Fall in Love | Jean | 1933-12-26 |
Movie | Song of the West | Bit Part | 1930-03-15 |
Movie | Whoopee! | Goldwyn Girl (uncredited) | 1930-09-26 |
Movie | Good News | Student | 1930-08-22 |
Movie | Doughboys | Chorine (uncredited) | 1930-08-30 |
Movie | Madam Satan | Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited) | 1930-09-20 |
Movie | Show of Shows | Performer in 'Meet My Sister' & 'Bicycle Built for Two' Numbers (as Harriet Lake) | 1929-11-21 |
Movie | Broadway Nights | Showgirl (uncredited) | 1927-05-15 |