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