Sothern and MGM parted company after a decade and fewer good leading roles came her way in early middle age. So she turned her attention to TV in the early 1950s, starring in two very successful series "Private Secretary" (1953-57) and "The Ann Sothern Show" (1958-61), and intermittently appeared in features from the mid-60s. She did well in the political drama "The Best Man" (1964), and pulled off an especially striking dramatic performance as the mother of a compulsive murderer in Curtis Harrington's harrowing "The Killing Kind" (1973). Sothern also made another noteworthy return to the screen in a supporting role in "The Whales of August" (1987), for which she received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Married to actors Roger Pryor and Robert Sterling and mother of actress Tisha Sterling.