A singer before she became an actress, she sang with Fred Waring's radio show for five years (1938-1943). She helped popularize the standard Cole Porter tune "Begin the Beguine".
According to an in-depth article by Richard Sackley for Classic Images (January 2010), her birth name coincided with a hospital visit by Jack Dempsey, the former World Heavyweight Champion. It seems that Dempsey caught a glimpse of the newborn being carried by a nurse and declared, "Boy, there's a patsy." The nurse relayed the story to Patsy's mother. Although the baby's legal name was Virginia, she was called Patsy thereafter.
Did voicework for Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the late 1960s.
Had her own children's show in Richmond, Virginia at age 7.
Has two children, Jeff and Kathy.
Her late husband, Alexander Kokinacis, was a composer who wrote under the name Nick Alexander.
Her parents, Carl Mason Garrett and Fredda Gwynne Oxley" were vaudevillians ("Mason & Gwynne"). She was raised by her father's parents in Richmond, Virginia.
Lively, ever-beaming character actress who played the role of Mary Gruber in the "Benji" dog film series.
Retired to Palm Springs, California, where she has continued to perform in local theater productions.