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.
Known For
Aunt Charlotte Waring
Lady on a Train
First Aunt
Love Me Tonight
Mrs. Caroline Reid
Husband's Holiday
Aunt Hedwige
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Jessie
Together Again
Grandma Sherwood
My Sister Eileen
Mrs. Casey
Pal Joey
Annie
Follow the Boys
Aunt Jennie
The Story of Temple Drake
Aunt Emma "Emmie"
Remember the Night
Martha - Libby's Aunt
Hail the Conquering Hero
Mrs. Randall
No Man of Her Own
Hannah
Little Women
Mrs. Fisher
The Sky's the Limit
'Ma' Miller
Hide-Out
Ada Lester
Tobacco Road
Mrs. MacGregor
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Aunt Susan
The Cat and the Canary
Grandma Cortlandt
High, Wide and Handsome
Miss Eunice Habersham
Intruder in the Dust
Aunt Kate Barnaby
Go West Young Man
Aunt Hester Fairfield
A Bill of Divorcement
Sarah
Belle Starr
Mrs. Perkins
Bad Little Angel
Tabitha Singleton
Bright Leaf
Eva
Her Cardboard Lover
Cora Pugmire
Breach of Promise
Aunt Olivia
Michael Shayne: Private Detective
Ma Brannan
Small Town Girl
Catherine Dennison
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
Sing, You Sinners
Mrs. Gilley
Welcome Stranger
Mary Raff
Las Vegas Shakedown
Rebecca
Anne of Windy Poplars
Aunt Blanche
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
Nellie
Adventure in Diamonds
Emma Haller
Harmony at Home
Mrs. Sompter
I've Always Loved You
Juliet Mitchell
Miss Pinkerton
Miss Dee
Washington Story
Miss Crackenwald
The Expert
Maggie Ambler
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Grandmother Lee
Sons of the Legion
Mrs. Tobias Greene
Night of Mystery
Araminta Sedley
The Return of Sophie Lang
Aunty Doe
New Morals for Old
Mrs. Lippett
Daddy Long Legs
Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Mary Cherry
So Red the Rose
Mlle. Prefere
Chasing Yesterday
Mrs. Stover
The Secret Heart
Mrs. Courtney
Tarnished Lady
Mrs. Finch
Portrait of a Murderer
Elvira Ward
Guilty as Hell
Mrs. Cullen
They Call It Sin
Aunt Blanche
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Penrod and Sam
Miss Tuttle
Hold Your Man
Ma Pepperall
The Dancing Town
Sarah Hutchins
Old Hutch
Miss Copeland
Dinner at Eight
Mrs. Harper
The Boy Friend
Dean Crockett
Words and Music
Becky Tilden
Earthbound
Mrs. Bartholomey
The Return of Peter Grimm
Cora
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Vergie
Heaven on Earth
Ella Ferris
Men Without Names
Mrs. Ellie Martin
Her Master's Voice
Aunt Blanche
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
Boo
Vilda Cummins
Timothy's Quest
Miss Spring
Out of the Blue
Mrs. Elvira Ward
Night Club Scandal
Mrs. Daly
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Aunt Tillie
Our Leading Citizen
Miss Harper
Man Wanted
Grandma Holland
Hold 'Em Navy
Aunt Matilda Manning
Almost Married
Sarah
South Sea Rose
The Ninth Day
Margaret
I Married a Witch
Mrs. Beecham
Song of Surrender
Mary, Cook
Secret of the Blue Room
Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
Life Begins
Mrs. Goldfarb
The Big Party
Annabelle Dinwiddie
Lucky Legs
Aunt Priscilla Wakely
Katie Did It
Maria Cooper
The Oregon Trail
Aunt Patricia Banning
Doctor Bull
Aunt Polly
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Cousin Emma
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Elinor's Aunt
Infernal Machine
Lydia
Golden Harvest
Grandma
The Vanishing Virginian
Ada Smith
Scandal Street
Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
So Big!
Sarah Martin
The Lone Star Ranger
Susan
The Cat Creeps
Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
The Smiling Lieutenant
Aunt March
Little Women: Meg's Story
Aunt March
Little Women: Jo's Story
Lizzie
They Just Had to Get Married
Mrs. Adams
Three Lives
Mrs. Middleton
Rendezvous in Black
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
105
Gender
Female
Birthday
1874-11-21
Place of Birth
Savannah, Tennessee, USA
Also Known As
Mary Elizabeth Patterson