Biography
American actress Tisha Sterling was the daughter of film stars
Ann Sothern and
Robert Sterling. Though her parents were divorced when she was 3, she had a relatively sedate childhood for a Hollywood kid, even with such playthings as a private soda fountain. Her mother raised her to be a society belle (what a career goal!), but Sterling opted for acting, something that had interested her since grade school. Upon inagurating her Hollywood career, Sterling went through the usual cheesecake-photo mill, though she quickly outgrew this with excellent guest performances on such TV series as
Run For Your Life, Mr. Novak and
Get Smart. In 1968, she costarred with
Clint Eastwood in the feature film
Coogan's Bluff, bringing three-dimensionality to the otherwise cliched role of a hippie. Throughout her life, Tisha Sterling has had a rollercoaster relationship with mother
Ann Sothern, sometimes close, ofttimes distant; whatever the case, Sterling showed up in 1987 playing Ms. Sothern as a young woman in the well-received film
The Whales of August. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide