Dorothy Patrick

Dorothy Patrick
from the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
Born	June 3, 1921(1921-06-03) St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
Died	May 31, 1987(1987-05-31) (aged 65) Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Years active	1939–1956

Dorothy Patrick, (nee Dorothea Davis) (June 3, 1921 – May 31, 1987) was an American film actress and a John Robert Powers model.

Early Life

Dorothy Patrick was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada of Scot-English heritage from a family of farmers, ranchers and Canadian National Railway workers. Thanks to a talented uncle who was a uniform-maker and tailor to W.W.I Canadian Army officers, she early-on became sensitive to fashion and taste. Having the poise and beauty older than her years, as a teen Dorothy was a photogenic model for young ladies' fashions in Creed's, Hudson's Bay and Sears department store catalogues popular in Canada.

After growing up in Winnipeg, in 1938 at age 17, she and her mother immigrated to the United States. Settling in New York City at tony Tudor City in Manhattan, Patrick became a fashion model with the famous John Robert Powers Agency. She was seen on the runways of the City's haute couture salons and as the wholesome face on popular fashion and entertainment magazines of the day.

Career

During her early career she was billed under her birth name, Dorothea Davis until she married New York Rangers hockey star, Lynn Patrick, and became Dorothy Patrick. Though she had one son, Lester Lee Patrick (1940–1996), in the marriage, the aspiring actress remained career-bound, not ready to co-star as a house-frau.

While appearing at dinner-club showcases in Jersey City, Patrick won Samuel Goldwyn's talent-search contest, MGM's coveted, "Gateway to Hollywood." With a movie contract in hand, she moved to Hollywood with her "back stage mother" and young son to live in Culver City and study and work at nearby MGM studios. She first appeared as a Goldwyn Girl in Danny Kaye's movie Up in Arms (1944). Her most noted MGM appearance was opposite Robert Walker in the Jerome Kern musical showcase and Technicolor dazzler, Till the Clouds Roll By (1946).

As a "Queen of the Bs," she continued to appear in films produced in the 1940s and 1950s including, High Wall (1947) with Robert Taylor; New Orleans (1947) with Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday (the only film-record of Holiday singing); The Mighty McGurk (1947) with Wallace Beery; Follow Me Quietly (1949) with William Lundingan; the Fritz Lang-directed House by the River (1950).

In the early days of Hollywood television, Patrick made guest appearances on the locally-produced show, Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz. The Korean War-era saw her at celebrity appearances for USO and was Miss Naval Air Force Recruiting 1951. At Columbia, Patrick co-starred with Preston Foster and Wayne Morris in the oil wild-catting yarn, The Big Gusher (1951); in the modern-day western, Outlaw Stallion (1954) opposite Billy Gray with Phil (Philip) Carey. She co-starred or was supporting actress in a series of Republic programmers. The studio was best known releasing Saturday Matinee serials, westerns, mysteries and crime dramas. Her films included the noir classic, 711 Ocean Drive (1950) with Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger (caps with a slam-bang gun-chase scene at Hoover [Boulder] Dam); the "true life" crime drama, Lonely Hearts Bandits (1950) with John Eldredge; genre westerns, Thunder Pass (1954) with Dane Clark, John Carradine and Andy Devine; "Gringos go south-of-the-border" comedy, Belle of Old Mexico (1950) with Latina comedienne, Estelita Rodriguez, and Robert Rockwell, Florence Bates.

Patrick's roles in the 1950s also included walk-ons in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Singin' in the sRain (1952). She continued playing small, supporting roles on summer-stock stage, screen and TV until 1956. Her last movies, at 20th Century Fox, were Violent Saturday as the wife of Victor Mature (1955) and View from Pompey's Head (1955) with Richard Egan and Dana Wynter. A working SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actress, Dorothy appeared in 35 films. She made a quiet return to the stage in the late 1960s acting in productions at the Leonivitch Theatre in West Hollywood. Dorothy Patrick is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, West Los Angeles, California.

Personal Life

Dorothy's first husband, Lynn Patrick became one of the most prominent and successful figures in American ice hockey. Her second husband was the noted Beverly Hills dentist-to-the-stars, Sterling Trevling "Doc" Bowen who "Put the smile on half of Hollywood." Her son from that marriage is Terrence "Terry" (b.1944). She had two children, one from each marriage.

External links

• Dorothy Patrick at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Patrick, Dorothy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 3, 1921
Place of birth	St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
Date of death	May 31, 1987
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.