
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.
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.
Acting (103 movies)

Lady on a Train
1945

Love Me Tonight
1932

Husband's Holiday
1931

Bluebeard's 8th Wife
1938

Together Again
1944

My Sister Eileen
1942

Pal Joey
1957

Follow the Boys
1944

The Story of Temple Drake
1933

Remember the Night
1940

Hail the Conquering Hero
1944

No Man of Her Own
1932

Little Women
1949

The Sky's the Limit
1943

Hide-Out
1934

Tobacco Road
1941

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939

The Cat and the Canary
1939

High, Wide and Handsome
1937

Intruder in the Dust
1949

Go West Young Man
1936

A Bill of Divorcement
1932

Belle Starr
1941

Bad Little Angel
1939

Bright Leaf
1950

Her Cardboard Lover
1942

Michael Shayne: Private Detective
1940

Small Town Girl
1936

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
1947

Sing, You Sinners
1938

Welcome Stranger
1947

Las Vegas Shakedown
1955

Anne of Windy Poplars
1940

Bulldog Drummond's Peril
1938

Adventure in Diamonds
1940

Harmony at Home
1930

I've Always Loved You
1946

Miss Pinkerton
1932

Washington Story
1952

The Expert
1932

Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
1940

Sons of the Legion
1938

Night of Mystery
1937

The Return of Sophie Lang
1936

New Morals for Old
1932

Daddy Long Legs
1931

Kiss the Boys Goodbye
1941

So Red the Rose
1935

Chasing Yesterday
1935

The Secret Heart
1946

Tarnished Lady
1931

Portrait of a Murderer
1958

Guilty as Hell
1932

They Call It Sin
1932

Bulldog Drummond's Bride
1939

Penrod and Sam
1931

Hold Your Man
1933

The Dancing Town
1928

Old Hutch
1936

Dinner at Eight
1933

The Boy Friend
1926

Words and Music
1929

Earthbound
1940

The Return of Peter Grimm
1926

Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948

Heaven on Earth
1931

Men Without Names
1935

Her Master's Voice
1936

Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
1939

Boo
1932

Timothy's Quest
1936

Out of the Blue
1947

Night Club Scandal
1937

Beyond the Blue Horizon
1942

Our Leading Citizen
1939

Man Wanted
1932

Hold 'Em Navy
1937

Almost Married
1942

South Sea Rose
1929

The Ninth Day
1957

I Married a Witch
1942

Song of Surrender
1949

Secret of the Blue Room
1933

Life Begins
1932

The Big Party
1930

Lucky Legs
1942

Katie Did It
1950

The Oregon Trail
1959

Doctor Bull
1933

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1955

Colonel Effingham's Raid
1946

Infernal Machine
1933

Golden Harvest
1933

The Vanishing Virginian
1942

Scandal Street
1938

So Big!
1932

The Lone Star Ranger
1930

The Cat Creeps
1930

The Smiling Lieutenant
1931

Little Women: Meg's Story
1950
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