Elizabeth Patterson

Acting · 0.8 popularity

Age

151

Movies

106

Born: November 21, 1874 – January 31, 1966
From: Savannah, Tennessee, USA

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Elizabeth Patterson (November 22, 1874 – January 31, 1966) was an American theatre, film, and television character actress who gained popular recognition late in her career playing the elderly neighbor Matilda Trumbull on the television comedy series I Love Lucy. In 1926, at the age of 51, Patterson was cast in her first movie, a silent film, The Boy Friend. Transitioning successfully into the era of "talkies", she remained a very busy actress in Hollywood throughout the 1930s, averaging more than five films a year during that decade, usually in supporting roles. A few of her screen credits at that time include Tarnished Lady; Husband's Holiday; A Bill of Divorcement; So Big!; The Story of Temple Drake; Hold Your Man; Dinner at Eight; High, Wide, and Handsome; and No Man of Her Own. She also appeared in the role of Susan in two adaptations of John Willard's popular play The Cat and the Canary: The Cat Creeps in 1930 and The Cat and the Canary in 1939. Patterson continued to perform frequently in the 1940s, when she was cast in more than 30 additional films. Among her notable roles is her 1949 portrayal of the heroic character Eunice Habersham in the groundbreaking racial crime drama Intruder in the Dust, a film based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name and set in the Deep South. Although she would appear in a few more feature films in the 1950s, such as Washington Story and Pal Joey, Patterson by then began to focus her work increasingly on roles in the rapidly expanding medium of television. In 1952, at the age of 77, Patterson made her first appearance on the hit CBS-TV sitcom I Love Lucy in the episode "The Marriage License". Her character on I Love Lucy proved to be so popular among viewers, as well as useful to the writers of the series, that she continued in the role for three more years, often serving in episode storylines as a convenient babysitter for "Little Ricky". Prior to, during, and after her work on I Love Lucy, Patterson appeared in many other American television series during the 1950s and early 1960s. Her first credited performance on the "small screen" was in March 1950 in "The Walking Stick", a teleplay on the NBC anthology series The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre. During the 11 years after that initial televised performance to her final role on television in 1961, she portrayed characters in a variety of other series, including Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, General Electric Theater, Stage 7, Lux Video Theatre, Crossroads, The Star and the Story, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Adventures of Superman, New York Confidential, 77 Sunset Strip, Johnny Stacatto, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Playhouse 90, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, and The New Breed. Patterson, who never married, lived at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel during her 35-year film and television career.. On January 31, 1966, she died at age 91 in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia. Her gravesite is in Savannah Cemetery in her hometown in Tennessee.

Works

106 films

Little Women

19497.4

Love Me Tonight

19326.6

I Married a Witch

19426.9

Dinner at Eight

19336.8

Tall Story

19605.7

Remember the Night

19407.3

Belle Starr

19415.9

Bright Leaf

19505.9

Pal Joey

19576.3

Hail the Conquering Hero

19447.1

Infernal Machine

19337.0

Bluebeard's 8th Wife

19387.1

The Secret Heart

19466.5

Man Wanted

19325.5

Words and Music

192910.0

Tobacco Road

19416.8

Lady on a Train

19456.7

Welcome Stranger

19476.9

The Story of Temple Drake

19336.5

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

19396.3

Secret of the Blue Room

19335.6

Night of Mystery

193710.0

Her Master's Voice

19366.5

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim

19478.8

Follow the Boys

19445.7

I've Always Loved You

19466.5

A Bill of Divorcement

19326.3

So Big!

19325.7

My Sister Eileen

19426.8

No Man of Her Own

19326.6

Together Again

19445.5

Husband's Holiday

19319.0

The Vanishing Virginian

19427.3

The Cat and the Canary

19396.9

Adventure in Diamonds

19406.0

The Dancing Town

19287.5

Men Without Names

19356.3

Bulldog Drummond's Peril

19385.9

Kiss the Boys Goodbye

19416.5

The Smiling Lieutenant

19316.8

Miss Pinkerton

19325.9

Michael Shayne: Private Detective

19406.6

Intruder in the Dust

19497.3

So Red the Rose

19357.7

Small Town Girl

19366.0

The Lone Star Ranger

19307.0

Las Vegas Shakedown

19555.8

Life Begins

19326.2

Out of the Blue

19476.5

The Cat Creeps

19307.0

Her Cardboard Lover

19424.9

Colonel Effingham's Raid

19466.0

Anne of Windy Poplars

19406.0

Bulldog Drummond's Bride

19396.3

The Boy Friend

19268.0

Beyond the Blue Horizon

19426.0

The Oregon Trail

19595.7

Little Women: Jo's Story

1950

The Return of Sophie Lang

19366.8

Doctor Bull

19336.7

The Sky's the Limit

19436.3

Earthbound

19404.9

Bad Little Angel

19395.5

New Morals for Old

19324.5

Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police

19396.2

Night Club Scandal

19374.3

Hide-Out

19347.3

They Just Had to Get Married

19337.0

Golden Harvest

19336.5

Almost Married

19427.0

Miss Tatlock's Millions

19486.3

High, Wide and Handsome

19376.2

Scandal Street

19388.0

Our Leading Citizen

19398.0

South Sea Rose

192910.0

Hold Your Man

19336.3

Three Lives

19537.5

Sons of the Legion

19387.5

They Call It Sin

19326.0

Lucky Legs

19429.0

Breach of Promise

193210.0

The Ninth Day

1957

The Expert

19327.3

Washington Story

19527.0

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

19555.0

Go West Young Man

19365.5

The Return of Peter Grimm

19268.0

Song of Surrender

19497.0

Timothy's Quest

19364.7

Daddy Long Legs

19314.8

Chasing Yesterday

19355.8

Heaven on Earth

19315.3

Little Women: Meg's Story

1950

Old Hutch

193610.0

Who Killed Aunt Maggie?

19405.5

Sing, You Sinners

19387.0

Katie Did It

19507.3

Penrod and Sam

19317.0

Hold 'Em Navy

19374.7

Harmony at Home

19308.0

Boo

19325.6

Tarnished Lady

19314.9

Rendezvous in Black

1956

Portrait of a Murderer

19589.0

The Big Party

19304.7

Guilty as Hell

19326.7