Cast
Elizabeth Patterson
Acting
Cast
Elizabeth Patterson
Known for
Acting
Born
1874-11-21
From
Savannah, Tennessee, USA
Died
1966-01-31
Also known as Mary 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.
Little Women
as Hannah
Tobacco Road
as Ada Lester
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
as Aunt Hedwige
Small Town Girl
as Ma Brannan
Belle Starr
as Sarah
Golden Harvest
as Lydia
I Married a Witch
as Margaret
Scandal Street
as Ada Smith
Pal Joey
as Mrs. Casey
Dinner at Eight
as Miss Copeland
Boo
as Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
Earthbound
as Becky Tilden
The Story of Temple Drake
as Aunt Jennie
Three Lives
as Mrs. Adams
Tall Story
as Connie
Follow the Boys
as Annie
The Secret Heart
as Mrs. Stover
Hail the Conquering Hero
as Martha - Libby's Aunt
Remember the Night
as Aunt Emma "Emmie"
The Oregon Trail
as Maria Cooper
Intruder in the Dust
as Miss Eunice Habersham
So Red the Rose
as Mary Cherry
No Man of Her Own
as Mrs. Randall
Out of the Blue
as Miss Spring
Bright Leaf
as Tabitha Singleton
Welcome Stranger
as Mrs. Gilley
A Bill of Divorcement
as Aunt Hester Fairfield
They Call It Sin
as Mrs. Cullen
Infernal Machine
as Elinor's Aunt
So Big!
as Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
Love Me Tonight
as First Aunt
High, Wide and Handsome
as Grandma Cortlandt
Go West Young Man
as Aunt Kate Barnaby
Beyond the Blue Horizon
as Mrs. Daly
Adventure in Diamonds
as Nellie
Tarnished Lady
as Mrs. Courtney
Together Again
as Jessie
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Mrs. MacGregor
Sing, You Sinners
as Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
Song of Surrender
as Mrs. Beecham
The Cat and the Canary
as Aunt Susan
Lucky Legs
as Annabelle Dinwiddie
Night of Mystery
as Mrs. Tobias Greene
Hide-Out
as 'Ma' Miller
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Aunt Polly
Miss Pinkerton
as Juliet Mitchell
Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Cousin Emma
Doctor Bull
as Aunt Patricia Banning
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
as Catherine Dennison
The Vanishing Virginian
as Grandma
Lady on a Train
as Aunt Charlotte Waring
Life Begins
as Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
Secret of the Blue Room
as Mary, Cook
Words and Music
as Dean Crockett
Anne of Windy Poplars
as Rebecca
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
as Aunt Blanche
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
as Aunt Blanche
Guilty as Hell
as Elvira Ward
Penrod and Sam
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Man Wanted
as Miss Harper
Her Master's Voice
as Mrs. Ellie Martin
Hold Your Man
as Miss Tuttle
My Sister Eileen
as Grandma Sherwood
The Sky's the Limit
as Mrs. Fisher
Heaven on Earth
as Vergie
Michael Shayne: Private Detective
as Aunt Olivia
South Sea Rose
as Sarah
Las Vegas Shakedown
as Mary Raff
Husband's Holiday
as Mrs. Caroline Reid
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
as Aunt Blanche
The Ninth Day
The Lone Star Ranger
as Sarah Martin
The Expert
as Miss Crackenwald
Her Cardboard Lover
as Eva
Katie Did It
as Aunt Priscilla Wakely
Timothy's Quest
as Vilda Cummins
Breach of Promise
as Cora Pugmire
The Smiling Lieutenant
as Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
Sons of the Legion
as Grandmother Lee
Men Without Names
as Ella Ferris
Our Leading Citizen
as Aunt Tillie
Almost Married
as Aunt Matilda Manning
Miss Tatlock's Millions
as Cora
Night Club Scandal
as Mrs. Elvira Ward
New Morals for Old
as Aunty Doe
I've Always Loved You
as Mrs. Sompter
Little Women: Jo's Story
as Aunt March
Washington Story
as Miss Dee
Bad Little Angel
as Mrs. Perkins
The Boy Friend
as Mrs. Harper
Daddy Long Legs
as Mrs. Lippett
The Big Party
as Mrs. Goldfarb
Portrait of a Murderer
as Mrs. Finch
Little Women: Meg's Story
as Aunt March
The Dancing Town
as Ma Pepperall
Chasing Yesterday
as Mlle. Prefere
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
as Maggie Ambler
The Cat Creeps
as Susan
The Return of Sophie Lang
as Araminta Sedley
Hold 'Em Navy
as Grandma Holland
The Return of Peter Grimm
as Mrs. Bartholomey
They Just Had to Get Married
as Lizzie
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
as Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
Old Hutch
as Sarah Hutchins
Harmony at Home
as Emma Haller
Rendezvous in Black
as Mrs. Middleton