Elizabeth Patterson
Acting • Born 1874-11-21 – Died 1966-01-31
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.
Filmography
126 credits
Lady on a Train
Movie • 1945
Aunt Charlotte Waring
Love Me Tonight
Movie • 1932
First Aunt
Husband's Holiday
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Caroline Reid
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Movie • 1938
Aunt Hedwige
Together Again
Movie • 1944
Jessie
My Sister Eileen
Movie • 1942
Grandma Sherwood
Pal Joey
Movie • 1957
Mrs. Casey
Follow the Boys
Movie • 1944
Annie
The Story of Temple Drake
Movie • 1933
Aunt Jennie
Hail the Conquering Hero
Movie • 1944
Martha - Libby's Aunt
Remember the Night
Movie • 1940
Aunt Emma "Emmie"
No Man of Her Own
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Randall
Little Women
Movie • 1949
Hannah
The Sky's the Limit
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Fisher
Hide-Out
Movie • 1934
'Ma' Miller
Tobacco Road
Movie • 1941
Ada Lester
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Movie • 1939
Mrs. MacGregor
The Cat and the Canary
Movie • 1939
Aunt Susan
High, Wide and Handsome
Movie • 1937
Grandma Cortlandt
Intruder in the Dust
Movie • 1949
Miss Eunice Habersham
Go West Young Man
Movie • 1936
Aunt Kate Barnaby
A Bill of Divorcement
Movie • 1932
Aunt Hester Fairfield
Belle Starr
Movie • 1941
Sarah
Bad Little Angel
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Perkins
Bright Leaf
Movie • 1950
Tabitha Singleton
Her Cardboard Lover
Movie • 1942
Eva
Breach of Promise
Movie • 1932
Cora Pugmire
Michael Shayne: Private Detective
Movie • 1940
Aunt Olivia
Small Town Girl
Movie • 1936
Ma Brannan
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Movie • 1947
Catherine Dennison
Sing, You Sinners
Movie • 1938
Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
Welcome Stranger
Movie • 1947
Mrs. Gilley
Las Vegas Shakedown
Movie • 1955
Mary Raff
Anne of Windy Poplars
Movie • 1940
Rebecca
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
Movie • 1938
Aunt Blanche
Adventure in Diamonds
Movie • 1940
Nellie
Harmony at Home
Movie • 1930
Emma Haller
I've Always Loved You
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Sompter
Miss Pinkerton
Movie • 1932
Juliet Mitchell
Washington Story
Movie • 1952
Miss Dee
The Expert
Movie • 1932
Miss Crackenwald
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Movie • 1940
Maggie Ambler
Sons of the Legion
Movie • 1938
Grandmother Lee
Night of Mystery
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Tobias Greene
The Return of Sophie Lang
Movie • 1936
Araminta Sedley
New Morals for Old
Movie • 1932
Aunty Doe
Daddy Long Legs
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Lippett
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Movie • 1941
Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
So Red the Rose
Movie • 1935
Mary Cherry
Chasing Yesterday
Movie • 1935
Mlle. Prefere
The Secret Heart
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Stover
Tarnished Lady
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Courtney
Portrait of a Murderer
Movie • 1958
Mrs. Finch
They Call It Sin
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Cullen
Guilty as Hell
Movie • 1932
Elvira Ward
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
Movie • 1939
Aunt Blanche
Penrod and Sam
Movie • 1931
Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Hold Your Man
Movie • 1933
Miss Tuttle
The Dancing Town
Movie • 1928
Ma Pepperall
Old Hutch
Movie • 1936
Sarah Hutchins
Dinner at Eight
Movie • 1933
Miss Copeland
The Boy Friend
Movie • 1926
Mrs. Harper
Words and Music
Movie • 1929
Dean Crockett
Earthbound
Movie • 1940
Becky Tilden
The Return of Peter Grimm
Movie • 1926
Mrs. Bartholomey
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Movie • 1948
Cora
Heaven on Earth
Movie • 1931
Vergie
Men Without Names
Movie • 1935
Ella Ferris
Her Master's Voice
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Ellie Martin
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
Movie • 1939
Aunt Blanche
Boo
Movie • 1932
Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
Timothy's Quest
Movie • 1936
Vilda Cummins
Out of the Blue
Movie • 1947
Miss Spring
Night Club Scandal
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Elvira Ward
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Daly
Our Leading Citizen
Movie • 1939
Aunt Tillie
Man Wanted
Movie • 1932
Miss Harper
Hold 'Em Navy
Movie • 1937
Grandma Holland
Almost Married
Movie • 1942
Aunt Matilda Manning
South Sea Rose
Movie • 1929
Sarah
The Ninth Day
Movie • 1957
I Married a Witch
Movie • 1942
Margaret
Song of Surrender
Movie • 1949
Mrs. Beecham
Secret of the Blue Room
Movie • 1933
Mary, Cook
Life Begins
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
The Big Party
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Goldfarb
Lucky Legs
Movie • 1942
Annabelle Dinwiddie
Katie Did It
Movie • 1950
Aunt Priscilla Wakely
The Oregon Trail
Movie • 1959
Maria Cooper
Doctor Bull
Movie • 1933
Aunt Patricia Banning
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Movie • 1955
Aunt Polly
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Movie • 1946
Cousin Emma
Infernal Machine
Movie • 1933
Elinor's Aunt
Golden Harvest
Movie • 1933
Lydia
The Vanishing Virginian
Movie • 1942
Grandma
Scandal Street
Movie • 1938
Ada Smith
So Big!
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
The Lone Star Ranger
Movie • 1930
Sarah Martin
The Cat Creeps
Movie • 1930
Susan
The Smiling Lieutenant
Movie • 1931
Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
Little Women: Jo's Story
Movie • 1950
Aunt March
Little Women: Meg's Story
Movie • 1950
Aunt March
They Just Had to Get Married
Movie • 1933
Lizzie
Three Lives
Movie • 1953
Mrs. Adams
Rendezvous in Black
Movie • 1956
Mrs. Middleton
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
I Love Lucy
TV • 1951
Mrs. Willoughby
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Madame Elaine
Johnny Staccato
TV • 1959
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Miss Bessie
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Dr. Gilley
Climax!
TV • 1954
Aunt Polly
Adventures of Superman
TV • 1952
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV • 1956
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Mrs. Couche
Playwrights '56
TV • 1955
New York Confidential
TV • 1959
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
TV • 1960
Mrs. Melvane
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Mrs. Sargent
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Ma / Mother Baker
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Grandmother
Climax!
TV • 1954
Jane Connor
Climax!
TV • 1954
Nellie Eldredge
Climax!
TV • 1954
Mrs. Garr
I Love Lucy
TV • 1951
Mrs. Trumbull
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV • 1958
Mrs. Kale