Memories of 1950's Television ~ "Private Secretary" Starring Ann Sothern

I don't care if my age is showing when I do these articles. I grew up with television; were both toddlers and grew into our teens together. When I was little we had fun and carefree programs about the difficult situations we could all get into and the non-earth shattering consequences. None of these were critical, but the innocence of youth is something that today's television has taken away. Hope I can bring you back to the good old days and for those who were not around back then; an appreciation of days gone by. Thanks to my fellow writer Betty Alexander for reminding me of this one!!!

"Private Secretary" starred Ann Sothern as Susie McNamara from 1953 to 1957. She was a former actress and the secretary to theatrical agent, Peter Sands played by handsome Don Porter. Susie and her friend Vi played by Ann Tyrell, tried to hook up Mr. Sands romantically and usually got into some problematic situations. Vi was also a rather incompetent, but nice receptionist who worked with Susie. The other person on the set was Cagey Calhoun played by Jesse White who was a loudmouth and sneaky competitor to Mr. Sands. Back in the 50's it was rare to see IBM electric typewriters and fancy Western Electric phone systems; but this office had the latest and was the envy of many secretaries who still had manual typewriters.

Ann Sothern was born Harriette Arlene Lake in 1909 and was an actress, of stage, screen and television. She also starred on the radio for a few years as a showgirl named Maisie in a series before television. She was married to Robert Sterling for a few years and had a daughter Tisha Sterling who was an actress who retired in 1999. Ann passed away in 2001 at 92 years of age and her last acting appearance was in the movie "The Whales of August" in 1987. Most of the younger crowd will remember her as the voice of the 1928 Porter automobile in "My Mother the Car" in 1965-1966. In spite of this television show, voted the worst show ever; she had 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her acting in movies and television.

Don Porter starred in several films and television programs over his long career. He was married over fifty years to actress Peggy Converse and died in 1997 at the age of 84.

Jesse White started his career in vaudeville and burlesque and graduated to movies and Broadway. He played in numerous movies and television shows and was probably most remembered as the Maytag repairman in the long running commercials as the loneliest guy in town because of the reliability of the Maytag washers.

Sources:

http://www.crazyabouttv.com/privatesecretary.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Sothern

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Secretary_(TV_series)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Mother_the_Car

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Porter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_White_(actor)