Elizabeth Patterson
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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.
Known for
Credits
Little Women (1949)
as Hannah
I Married a Witch (1942)
as Margaret
Belle Starr (1941)
as Sarah
Dinner at Eight (1933)
as Miss Copeland
Tobacco Road (1941)
as Ada Lester
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
as Aunt Susan
Remember the Night (1940)
as Aunt Emma "Emmie"
Love Me Tonight (1932)
as First Aunt
Man Wanted (1932)
as Miss Harper
Pal Joey (1957)
as Mrs. Casey
Welcome Stranger (1947)
as Mrs. Gilley
Tall Story (1960)
as Connie
Small Town Girl (1936)
as Ma Brannan
Bluebeard's 8th Wife (1938)
as Aunt Hedwige
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
as Martha - Libby's Aunt
Bright Leaf (1950)
as Tabitha Singleton
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
as Mrs. MacGregor
The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
as Aunt Jennie
Lady on a Train (1945)
as Aunt Charlotte Waring
Follow the Boys (1944)
as Annie
So Red the Rose (1935)
as Mary Cherry
A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
as Aunt Hester Fairfield
Miss Pinkerton (1932)
as Juliet Mitchell
Infernal Machine (1933)
as Elinor's Aunt
The Secret Heart (1946)
as Mrs. Stover
Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948)
as Cora
Husband's Holiday (1931)
as Mrs. Caroline Reid
No Man of Her Own (1932)
as Mrs. Randall
So Big! (1932)
as Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
The Dancing Town (1928)
as Ma Pepperall
Together Again (1944)
as Jessie
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
as Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
Her Cardboard Lover (1942)
as Eva
Night of Mystery (1937)
as Mrs. Tobias Greene
Hold Your Man (1933)
as Miss Tuttle
The Oregon Trail (1959)
as Maria Cooper
Washington Story (1952)
as Miss Dee
My Sister Eileen (1942)
as Grandma Sherwood
The Cat Creeps (1930)
as Susan
Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941)
as Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
as Mary, Cook
Doctor Bull (1933)
as Aunt Patricia Banning
Sing, You Sinners (1938)
as Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
The Vanishing Virginian (1942)
as Grandma
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1955)
as Aunt Polly
Her Master's Voice (1936)
as Mrs. Ellie Martin
The Sky's the Limit (1943)
as Mrs. Fisher
Out of the Blue (1947)
as Miss Spring
Intruder in the Dust (1949)
as Miss Eunice Habersham
Life Begins (1932)
as Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942)
as Mrs. Daly
Lucky Legs (1942)
as Annabelle Dinwiddie
Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
as Cousin Emma
Words and Music (1929)
as Dean Crockett
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Mrs. Cullen
Hide-Out (1934)
as 'Ma' Miller
The Ninth Day (1957)
Actor
Tarnished Lady (1931)
as Mrs. Courtney
Golden Harvest (1933)
as Lydia
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)
as Catherine Dennison
Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938)
as Aunt Blanche
Las Vegas Shakedown (1955)
as Mary Raff
The Boy Friend (1926)
as Mrs. Harper
Sons of the Legion (1938)
as Grandmother Lee
I've Always Loved You (1946)
as Mrs. Sompter
Almost Married (1942)
as Aunt Matilda Manning
The Lone Star Ranger (1930)
as Sarah Martin
Night Club Scandal (1937)
as Mrs. Elvira Ward
New Morals for Old (1932)
as Aunty Doe
Earthbound (1940)
as Becky Tilden
Scandal Street (1938)
as Ada Smith
Daddy Long Legs (1931)
as Mrs. Lippett
Three Lives (1953)
as Mrs. Adams
Chasing Yesterday (1935)
as Mlle. Prefere
Hold 'Em Navy (1937)
as Grandma Holland
Go West Young Man (1936)
as Aunt Kate Barnaby
Katie Did It (1950)
as Aunt Priscilla Wakely
Anne of Windy Poplars (1940)
as Rebecca
Bad Little Angel (1939)
as Mrs. Perkins
High, Wide and Handsome (1937)
as Grandma Cortlandt
Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940)
as Aunt Olivia
The Big Party (1930)
as Mrs. Goldfarb
Old Hutch (1936)
as Sarah Hutchins
Men Without Names (1935)
as Ella Ferris
Song of Surrender (1949)
as Mrs. Beecham
Heaven on Earth (1931)
as Vergie
Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940)
as Maggie Ambler
Little Women: Jo's Story (1950)
as Aunt March
Our Leading Citizen (1939)
as Aunt Tillie
Adventure in Diamonds (1940)
as Nellie
The Return of Peter Grimm (1926)
as Mrs. Bartholomey
Guilty as Hell (1932)
as Elvira Ward
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939)
as Aunt Blanche
Portrait of a Murderer (1958)
as Mrs. Finch
They Just Had to Get Married (1933)
as Lizzie
Bulldog Drummond's Bride (1939)
as Aunt Blanche
Rendezvous in Black (1956)
as Mrs. Middleton
Boo (1932)
as Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
Timothy's Quest (1936)
as Vilda Cummins
Three Cheers for Love (1936)
as Wilma Chester
The Return of Sophie Lang (1936)
as Araminta Sedley
Breach of Promise (1932)
as Cora Pugmire
The Expert (1932)
as Miss Crackenwald
South Sea Rose (1929)
as Sarah
Penrod and Sam (1931)
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Harmony at Home (1930)
as Emma Haller
Little Women: Meg's Story (1950)
as Aunt March