Lee Patrick

The highly versatile character actress 'Lee Patrick' (qv) could readily play a tough, scrapping, hard-bitten dame as she did in the gritty women's prison drama _Caged (1950)_ (qv), or a meek and twittery wife as exemplified by her uppity socialite Doris Upson in the freewheeling farce _Auntie Mame (1958)_ (qv). She would have plenty of places to show off her range from the late 1930's on for over five decades.She was born in New York City on November 22, 1901, the daughter of an editor of a trade paper who initially prompted her interest in theater. Lee started off on the stock stage as a teen and debuted on Broadway as part of the ensemble of the musical "The Bunch and Judy" with the dancing Astaires in 1922. She continued regularly on Broadway, despite many short runs, in more visible roles with "The Green Beetle" (1924), "Bachelor Brides" (1925), "The Matrimonial Bed" (1927), "June Moon" (1929), "Little Women" (as Meg) (1931), "Blessed Event" (1932), "Knock on Wood" (1935), "Stage Door" (1936) and "Michael Drops In" (1938).Lee's film career began at the advent of sound. Making her debut as the star of the drama _Strange Cargo (1929)_ (qv), she focused thereafter on theatre work until returning to the big screen with a vengeance in 1937 when she was featured in the RKO western _Border Cafe (1937)_ (qv) starring 'Harry Carey' (qv). Appearing in scores of films, Lee made strong impressions as a stock player in such Warner Bros. films as _Law of the Underworld (1938)_ (qv), _The Sisters (1938)_ (qv), _Invisible Stripes (1939)_ (qv), _Saturday's Children (1940)_ (qv), _City for Conquest (1940)_ (qv), _Ladies Must Live (1940)_ (qv), _Dangerously They Live (1941)_ (qv), _Footsteps in the Dark (1941)_ (qv), _Million Dollar Baby (1941)_ (qv), _Kisses for Breakfast (1941)_ (qv), _Now, Voyager (1942)_ (qv), _In This Our Life (1942)_ (qv), and _Mildred Pierce (1945)_ (qv), as well as other studio pictures of quality, including _A Night to Remember (1942)_ (qv), _Larceny with Music (1943)_ (qv), _Mrs. Parkington (1944)_ (qv) and _See My Lawyer (1945)_ (qv). Lee's most fondly-remembered role of that period would be that of Effie, the wry, altruistic Girl Friday to 'Humphrey Bogart' (qv)' 's Sam Spade in the Warner film noir classic _The Maltese Falcon (1941)_ (qv).Lee also found time to do radio with a running part on the family drama "The O'Neils." She later appeared in the 50's detective drama "Let George Do It" and in "Suspense." She continued in post-WWII filming with roles including _The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946)_ (qv), _Mother Wore Tights (1947)_ (qv), _The Snake Pit (1948)_ (qv), _The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)_ (qv) and _Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951)_ (qv). During her potboiler run at Warner Bros., she seemed to play everything with a biting, cynical edge, from nurses to floozies, but in the mid-1950's, the more matronly actress suddenly seemed to blossom into a dithery and obtuse 'Billie Burke' (qv)-like delight.As she geared herself towards these comedy eccentrics, TV got a heads up on this delightful angle and signed her to play society doyenne Henrietta Topper, the flighty, quivery-voiced wife of 'Leo G. Carroll' (qv) on the popular ghostly sitcom _Topper (1953)_ (qv) which ran from 1953 to 1955. Henrietta was initially played on late 1930's film by none other than 'Billie Burke' (qv).There would be other fun and fluttery film turns as snooty patricians or gossipy types in such films as _Pillow Talk (1959)_ (qv), _Wives and Lovers (1963)_ (qv) and _7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)_ (qv), to name a couple, in addition to standard dramas like _Vertigo (1958)_ (qv), _Summer and Smoke (1961)_ (qv) and _A Girl Named Tamiko (1962)_ (qv). TV guest appearances would include "Circus Boy," "The Lineup," "Wagon Train," "Lawman," "Hawaiian Eye," "77 Sunset Strip," "The Real McCoys," "The Farmer's Daughter," "The Donna Reed Show" and "Hazel." She also had a recurring role on _Mr. Adams and Eve (1957)_ (qv) and occasionally lent her voice to animated projects ("The Alvin Show").In the mid-1960s Lee retired to travel and paint, but was coaxed back one more time to revive her role of Effie in the Maltese Falcon spoof _The Black Bird (1975)_ (qv). The only one joining her from the original cast was 'Elisha Cook Jr.' (qv). Long and happily married to newsman-writer Tom Wood of "The Lighter Side of Billy Wilder," Lee was plagued by health problems in later years and died of a heart seizure in 1982. The couple had no children.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net