Job Actress
Years active 1932-1973
Known for Honey-textured voice and hard-as-nails persona; aristocratic types, villainesses, or the other woman
Top Roles Cornelia Bullock, Gwen Taylor, Linda Shaw, Marilyn Thomas, Bianca Bates
Top GenresComedy, Drama, Romance, Mystery, Crime, Musical
Top TopicsBook-Based, Screwball Comedy, Marriage
Top Collaborators (Director), , (Director), (Producer)
Shares birthday with Errol Flynn, Audie Murphy, Martin Landau  see more..

Gail Patrick Overview:

Legendary actress, Gail Patrick, was born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick on Jun 20, 1911 in Birmingham, AL. Patrick died at the age of 69 on Jul 6, 1980 in Los Angeles, CA .

MINI BIO:

Gail Patrick appeared in over 60 films from 1932 through 1948. With a 'straight face', honey-textured voice and hard-as-nails persona, she was often cast as aristocratic types, villainesses, or the other woman.

Patrick was studying pre-law at the University of Alabama when she became a finalist in Paramount's nationwide contest search to find an actress to play the 'Panther Woman" in Island of Lost Souls (1932). Although Patrick ultimately lost to Kathleen Burke, Paramount offered her a studio contract at $50 a week, which she managed to increase to $75 a week.

Patrick retired from acting in 1948 but returned to the industry in 1957 as co-producer on the Perry Mason television series (1957–1966) along with third husband Thomas Cornwell Jackson who was Mason-creator Erle Stanley Gardner's literary agent.

Some of Patrick's memorable roles include Bianca Bates (Cary Grant's second wife) in My Favorite Wife (1940), Cornelia Bullock (Carole Lombard's spoiled sister) in My Man Godfrey (1936), and Linda Shaw (Ginger Rogers' rival) in Stage Door (1937).

(Source: article by Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Patrick was never nominated for an Academy Award.

BlogHub Articles:

Jackson, High Priestess

By Kayla on Jun 20, 2015 From The Cinema Dilettante

Jackson, High Priestess June 20, 2015 / The Cinema Dilettante In honor of what would have been ’s 104th birthday, I want to talk a little bit about why she’s long been one of my personal heroes. When one mentions the heroes of classic Hollywood... Read full article


Fabulous Fights: Ginger Rogers & in Stage Door (1937)

By Judy on Jan 31, 2015 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

This post is part of Backlots? 4th Annual Dueling Divas Blogathon. Check out the other entries! If you haven?t seen Jean (Ginger Rogers) squabble with Linda () in Stage Door, I envy you. It?s just such a pleasure. Three minutes into the movie, they are already at it: Jean thinks Linda ha... Read full article


Fabulous Fights: Ginger Rogers & in Stage Door (1937)

By Judy on Jan 31, 2015 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

This post is part of Backlots? 4th Annual Dueling Divas Blogathon. Check out the other entries! If you haven?t seen Jean (Ginger Rogers) squabble with Linda () in Stage Door, I envy you. It?s just such a pleasure. Three minutes into the movie, they are already at it: Jean thinks Linda ha... Read full article


What a Character! Blogathon:

By Marlee Walters on Nov 11, 2013 From Spoilers

Last year, Once Upon a Screen, Outspoken & Freckled, and Paula’s Cinema Club hosted the What A Character! Blogathon – which proved to be a treasure-trove of hilarious and underappreciated actors and roles. I contributed a post on Sam Levene. This year, they’re BACK, with even m... Read full article


Bitches and Blaggards: and Clifton Webb

By FlickChick on Mar 18, 2012 From A Person in the Dark

This is the third in the "Bitches and Blaggards" series; monthly posts devoted to my favorite movie bad girls and rogues. A bitch is a selfish, malicious woman. A blaggard is a villain, a rogue and a black-hearted man. Both are bad, both are devastatingly alluring. If a young, snooty ric... Read full article


See all articles

Gail Patrick Quotes:

Cornelia Bullock: So Little Red Riding Hood didn't have enough feminine charm to trap a wolf her own age, so she falls in love with a butler and lives happily ever after on an ash pile. If you know what I mean.
Irene: I know what you mean, if you know what *I* mean.
Carlo: [entering the room] May I come in?
Cornelia Bullock: You're in, aren't you?
Carlo: Very interesting book. The Greeks of the Middle Ages.
Cornelia Bullock: Oh, Irene would like that. You love the middle ages, don't you, dear?


Bianca Bates: Sometimes I think I'm going mad. Stark, staring mad!


Victoria Anastasia 'Vicki' Wilomirska: Are you old friends?
Linda Wayne: Yes, very old friends. I missed him so much on my trip I decided to come back and marry him.


read more quotes from Gail Patrick...



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Gail Patrick Facts
Joined a college sorority, Delta Zeta. In her will, she bequeathed 1 million dollars to her sisterhood. It is the largest they have been awarded.

Gail Patrick's first husband, Robert Howard Cobb, was the owner of the famous Brown Derby Restaurant. Gail performed on stage with the Lux Radio Theater at the Music Box Theater (now the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater), which was just around the corner on Hollywood Blvd. After 1938, she only had to walk across the street when the show moved to the CBS Radio Theater (now the Ricardo Montalban Theater) on Vine Street. Mr. Cobb is immortalized as the inventor of the Cobb Salad.

She gave birth prematurely to a set of twins during her second marriage - they died shortly after birth.

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