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