Ann Sothern (1968)

In 1968, Ann Sothern appeared at the Elitch Theatre in the play, Glad Tidings. Plus, she had a little-known co-star, Ann Archer.

Lucille Ball, whom Sothern appeared with on Ball’s program The Lucy Show on multiple occasions, called Sothern “the best comedienne in the business, bar none.”

Ann Sothern was one of Hollywood’s most durable and versatile stars, a performer whose career on stage, radio, film, and television spanned nearly six decades. Born Harriette Arlene Lake in Valley City, North Dakota, in 1909, she was raised in Minneapolis in a musical family, trained as a pianist and singer, and got her start in bit parts and Broadway choruses before Columbia Pictures renamed her “Ann Sothern” in 1934 — “Ann” for her mother, and “Sothern” in tribute to the Shakespearean actor E. H. Sothern.

Sothern found her greatest early fame at MGM as Maisie Ravier, the wisecracking Brooklyn showgirl she played in ten popular “Maisie” films between 1939 and 1947, a series so profitable it helped bankroll the studio’s costlier prestige pictures. The character also carried over into a hit radio series. In the 1950s and ’60s, Sothern reinvented herself as a television star, headlining the sitcoms Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show — the latter earning her a Golden Globe — and later lending her voice as the title character of My Mother the Car. Along the way she earned three Emmy nominations and, in 1988, an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for what would be her final film, The Whales of August (1987), opposite Bette Davis and Lillian Gish.

Sothern brought that star power to the Elitch Theatre in the summer of 1968, appearing in the comedy Glad Tidings. Her co-star for the run was a 20-year-old actress billed as Ann Archer — later known to audiences as Anne Archer, who would herself go on to an Oscar-nominated career. Sothern’s appearance on the Elitch stage came at a time when she was still very much in demand, having spent the decade moving fluidly between guest roles on television and stage tours across the country.

Off stage, Sothern was as enterprising as she was talented, running several businesses — including a sewing center and a cattle ranch in Idaho — and her own production companies, which produced both of her hit television series. Her close, lifelong friendship with Lucille Ball, who called her “the best comedienne in the business, bar none,” brought her to The Lucy Show as the recurring Countess Framboise. Sothern died in 2001 in Ketchum, Idaho, at the age of 92, leaving behind a body of work that helped define the “brassy blonde with a heart” archetype for generations of comediennes who followed.

Seasons at the Theatre

1968

Productions/Roles:

1968 – Glad Tidings (with Ann Archer.)

Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:

1939–1947 – Starred as Maisie Ravier in ten MGM “Maisie” films, one of the studio’s most profitable series
1945–1953 – Starred in the popular radio series The Adventures of Maisie
1949 – Appeared in the Academy Award-winning film A Letter to Three Wives
1953–1957 – Starred in the CBS sitcom Private Secretary (104 episodes) and Four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee (1955, 1956 (x2), 1957)
1958–1961 – Starred in The Ann Sothern Show (93 episodes) and in 1959 Won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy for The Ann Sothern Show
1959 – Emmy-nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series
1959 – WIN! Golden Globe for ‘Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy’ – The Ann Sothern Show
1964 – Golden Globe-nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Best Man
1965–1966 – Voiced the title character in the sitcom My Mother the Car
1987 – Academy Award nominee, Best Supporting Actress, for The Whales of August (her final film)
1988 – Independent Spirit Award nominee, Best Supporting Female, for The Whales of August.

Elitch Theatre Connections:

Words and Music (1948 Film) — Alums Mickey Rooney and June Allyson
Private Secretary (TV series, 1953–1957) — Jesse White recurring co-star (Cagey Calhoun) opposite Sothern’s Susie MacNamara, 15 episodes across the series
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour (TV episode, 1957) “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” with alums Vivian Vance and Cesar Romero (Romero as Carlos Garcia, romantic lead opposite Sothern’s character)
“From Hollywood: The Photoplay Movie Awards” (The Steve Allen Plymouth Show) — Alum Allen (host) and Sothern (guest) open the show singing a duet together.
The Ann Sothern Show — Ernest Truex guest star
The Ann Sothern Show– Jesse White joined as regular co-star starting season 2
The Best Man (1964 film) — Gene Raymond co-starred in with Sothern.
The Outsider (TV movie, 1967) — Darren McGavin (McGavin as David Ross, Sothern as Mrs. Kozzek)
Captains and the Kings (Miniseries, 1976) with Patty Duke
Crazy Mama (Film, 1975) — Cloris Leachman & Linda Purl — Co-starred as three generations of the same family (Leachman as Melba, Sothern as her mother Sheba, Purl as Cheryl, Sothern’s granddaughter)
The Whales of August (Film, 1987) with Vincent Price (1979)