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