Elizabeth Patterson
107 movies · 16 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Nov 21, 1874
- Died
- Jan 31, 1966 (age 91)
- Place of birth
- Savannah, Tennessee, USA
- Also known as
- Mary Elizabeth Patterson
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.
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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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Elizabeth Patterson: movies and TV shows
Acting (123)
- 1960
- 1960 Tall Story
as Connie
- 1959
- 1959 The Oregon Trail
as Maria Cooper
- 1959
- 1958
- 1958
- 1958 Portrait of a Murderer
as Mrs. Finch
- 1957 Pal Joey
as Mrs. Casey
- 1957 The Ninth Day
as Aunt Ida
- 1956 Rendezvous in Black
as Mrs. Middleton
- 1956
- 1955
- 1955
- 1955 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Aunt Polly
- 1955 Las Vegas Shakedown
as Mary Raff
- 1954
- 1953 Three Lives
as Mrs. Adams
- 1953
- 1952
- 1952
- 1952
- 1952
- 1952 Washington Story
as Miss Dee
- 1951
- 1950 Little Women: Jo's Story
as Aunt March
- 1950 Little Women: Meg's Story
as Aunt March
- 1950 Katie Did It
as Aunt Priscilla Wakely
- 1950
- 1950 Bright Leaf
as Tabitha Singleton
- 1949 Intruder in the Dust
as Miss Eunice Habersham
- 1949 Song of Surrender
as Mrs. Beecham
- 1949 Little Women
as Hannah
- 1948 Miss Tatlock's Millions
as Cora
- 1947 Welcome Stranger
as Mrs. Gilley
- 1947 Out of the Blue
as Miss Spring
- 1947 The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
as Catherine Dennison
- 1946 The Secret Heart
as Mrs. Stover
- 1946 I've Always Loved You
as Mrs. Sompter
- 1946 Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Cousin Emma
- 1945 Lady on a Train
as Aunt Charlotte Waring
- 1944 Together Again
as Jessie
- 1944 Hail the Conquering Hero
as Martha - Libby's Aunt
- 1944 Follow the Boys
as Annie
- 1943 The Sky's the Limit
as Mrs. Fisher
- 1942 I Married a Witch
as Margaret
- 1942 Lucky Legs
as Annabelle Dinwiddie
- 1942 My Sister Eileen
as Grandma Sherwood
- 1942 Her Cardboard Lover
as Eva
- 1942 Beyond the Blue Horizon
as Mrs. Daly
- 1942 Almost Married
as Aunt Matilda Manning
- 1942 The Vanishing Virginian
as Grandma
- 1941 Belle Starr
as Sarah
- 1941 Kiss the Boys Goodbye
as Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
- 1941 Tobacco Road
as Ada Lester
- 1940 Michael Shayne: Private Detective
as Aunt Olivia
- 1940 Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
as Maggie Ambler
- 1940 Anne of Windy Poplars
as Rebecca
- 1940 Earthbound
as Becky Tilden
- 1940 Adventure in Diamonds
as Nellie
- 1940 Remember the Night
as Aunt Emma
- 1939 The Cat and the Canary
as Aunt Susan
- 1939 Bad Little Angel
as Mrs. Perkins
- 1939 Our Leading Citizen
as Aunt Tillie
- 1939 Bulldog Drummond's Bride
as Aunt Blanche
- 1939 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Mrs. MacGregor
- 1939 Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
as Aunt Blanche
- 1938 Sons of the Legion
as Grandmother Lee
- 1938 Sing, You Sinners
as Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
- 1938 Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
as Aunt Hedwige
- 1938 Bulldog Drummond's Peril
as Aunt Blanche
- 1938 Scandal Street
as Ada Smith
- 1937 Night Club Scandal
as Mrs. Elvira Ward
- 1937 Hold 'Em Navy
as Grandma Holland
- 1937 High, Wide and Handsome
as Grandma Cortlandt
- 1937 Night of Mystery
as Mrs. Tobias Greene
- 1936 Go West Young Man
as Aunt Kate Barnaby
- 1936 Old Hutch
as Sarah Hutchins
- 1936 Three Cheers for Love
as Wilma Chester
- 1936 The Return of Sophie Lang
as Araminta Sedley
- 1936 Small Town Girl
as Ma Brannan
- 1936 Timothy's Quest
as Vilda Cummins
- 1936 Her Master's Voice
as Mrs. Ellie Martin
- 1935 So Red the Rose
as Mary Cherry
- 1935 Men Without Names
as Ella Ferris
- 1935 Chasing Yesterday
as Mlle. Prefere
- 1934 Hide-Out
as 'Ma' Miller
- 1933 Dinner at Eight
as Miss Copeland
- 1933 Doctor Bull
as Aunt Patricia Banning
- 1933 Golden Harvest
as Lydia
- 1933 Secret of the Blue Room
as Mary, Cook
- 1933 Hold Your Man
as Miss Tuttle
- 1933 The Story of Temple Drake
as Aunt Jennie
- 1933 Infernal Machine
as Elinor's Aunt
- 1933 They Just Had to Get Married
as Lizzie
- 1932 No Man of Her Own
as Mrs. Randall
- 1932 Boo
as Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
- 1932 They Call It Sin
as Mrs. Cullen
- 1932 Breach of Promise
as Cora Pugmire
- 1932 A Bill of Divorcement
as Aunt Hester Fairfield
- 1932 Life Begins
as Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
- 1932 Love Me Tonight
as First Aunt
- 1932 Guilty as Hell
as Elvira Ward
- 1932 New Morals for Old
as Aunty Doe
- 1932 Miss Pinkerton
as Juliet Mitchell
- 1932 So Big!
as Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
- 1932 Man Wanted
as Miss Harper
- 1932 The Expert
as Miss Crackenwald
- 1931 Husband's Holiday
as Mrs. Caroline Reid
- 1931 Heaven on Earth
as Vergie
- 1931 Penrod and Sam
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
- 1931 The Smiling Lieutenant
as Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
- 1931 Daddy Long Legs
as Mrs. Lippett
- 1931 Tarnished Lady
as Mrs. Courtney
- 1930 The Cat Creeps
as Susan
- 1930 The Big Party
as Mrs. Goldfarb
- 1930 Harmony at Home
as Emma Haller
- 1930 The Lone Star Ranger
as Sarah Martin
- 1929 South Sea Rose
as Sarah
- 1929 Words and Music
as Dean Crockett
- 1928 The Dancing Town
as Ma Pepperall
- 1926 The Return of Peter Grimm
as Mrs. Bartholomey
- 1926 The Boy Friend
as Mrs. Harper