Lee Patrick (November , â€" November , ) was an American actress
whose career began in on the New York stage with her role in The
Bunch and Judy which headlined Adele Astaire and featured Adele's
brother Fred Astaire. Patrick continued to perform in dozens of roles
on the stage for the next decade, frequently in musicals and comedies,
but also in dramatic parts like her performance as Meg in Little
Women. She began to branch out into films in . For half a century she
created a credible body of cinematic work, her most memorable being as
Sam Spade's assistant Effie in The Maltese Falcon (), and her reprise
of the role in the George Segal comedy sequel The Black Bird (). Her
talents were showcased in comedies such as the Jack Benny film George
Washington Slept Here () and as one of the foils of Rosalind Russell
in Auntie Mame (). Dramatic parts such as an asylum inmate in The
Snake Pit () and as Pamela Tiffin's mother in the Summer and Smoke ()
were another facet of her repertoire. She made numerous guest roles in
American television, but became a staple for that medium during the
two-year run of Topper. As Henrietta Topper, her comedic timing played
well against Leo G. Carroll as her husband, and against that of the
two ghosts played by Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. Patrick lent
her voice to various animated characters of The Alvin Show in the
early s.Not much is known about Patrick's early life. She was born on
November , , in New York City. By , Patrick married newsman-writer Tom
Wood of "The Lighter Side of Billy Wilder", and remained married
years, until Patrick's death. They had no children. During her career
in Hollywood, she was not in good standing with gossip columnist
Louella Parsons and it kept her career stuck in the "B" ranks. Lee's
husband, magazine writer Tom Wood, wrote a frank piece on Parsons
which did not go over well with the columnist.Patrick was a Republican
and was supportive of Dwight Eisenhower's campaign during the
presidential election. She was also an Episcopalian.Her debut on
Broadway dates from November as part of the supporting ensemble cast
for Adele and Fred Astaire in the Jerome Kern and Anne Caldwell
musical The Bunch and Judy, which ran for eight weeks. It was not
until September that Patrick was once again on the Broadway stage, in
an -week run of The Green Beetle at the Klaw Theatre. The John Willard
drama set in San Francisco's Chinatown featured her as the lead
characters' daughter who escaped a murder attempt.
whose career began in on the New York stage with her role in The
Bunch and Judy which headlined Adele Astaire and featured Adele's
brother Fred Astaire. Patrick continued to perform in dozens of roles
on the stage for the next decade, frequently in musicals and comedies,
but also in dramatic parts like her performance as Meg in Little
Women. She began to branch out into films in . For half a century she
created a credible body of cinematic work, her most memorable being as
Sam Spade's assistant Effie in The Maltese Falcon (), and her reprise
of the role in the George Segal comedy sequel The Black Bird (). Her
talents were showcased in comedies such as the Jack Benny film George
Washington Slept Here () and as one of the foils of Rosalind Russell
in Auntie Mame (). Dramatic parts such as an asylum inmate in The
Snake Pit () and as Pamela Tiffin's mother in the Summer and Smoke ()
were another facet of her repertoire. She made numerous guest roles in
American television, but became a staple for that medium during the
two-year run of Topper. As Henrietta Topper, her comedic timing played
well against Leo G. Carroll as her husband, and against that of the
two ghosts played by Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. Patrick lent
her voice to various animated characters of The Alvin Show in the
early s.Not much is known about Patrick's early life. She was born on
November , , in New York City. By , Patrick married newsman-writer Tom
Wood of "The Lighter Side of Billy Wilder", and remained married
years, until Patrick's death. They had no children. During her career
in Hollywood, she was not in good standing with gossip columnist
Louella Parsons and it kept her career stuck in the "B" ranks. Lee's
husband, magazine writer Tom Wood, wrote a frank piece on Parsons
which did not go over well with the columnist.Patrick was a Republican
and was supportive of Dwight Eisenhower's campaign during the
presidential election. She was also an Episcopalian.Her debut on
Broadway dates from November as part of the supporting ensemble cast
for Adele and Fred Astaire in the Jerome Kern and Anne Caldwell
musical The Bunch and Judy, which ran for eight weeks. It was not
until September that Patrick was once again on the Broadway stage, in
an -week run of The Green Beetle at the Klaw Theatre. The John Willard
drama set in San Francisco's Chinatown featured her as the lead
characters' daughter who escaped a murder attempt.
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