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, Linda Shaw, Marilyn Thomas, Gwen Taylor, 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: You can't go on like this forever. You really like me and you're afraid to admit it, aren't you?
Godfrey: You want me to tell you what I REALLY think of you?
Cornelia Bullock: Please do.
Godfrey: As Smith or as a butler?
Cornelia Bullock: Choose your own weapon.
Godfrey: You won't hold it against me?
Cornelia Bullock: It's your day off.
Godfrey: Very well. You belong to that unfortunate category that I would call the "Park Avenue brat". A spoiled child who's grown up in ease and luxury... who's always had her own way... and who's misdirected energies are so childish that they hardly deserve the comment, even of a butler on his off Thursday.
Cornelia Bullock: [hurt and angry] Thank you for a very lovely portrait.


Bianca Bates: In the name of heaven, tell me. What's wrong with me?


Lucy Stowell: [In reference to dimwitted black cook Creola] At least she can cook, which is more than you can say for most of them.


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.

Was a diabetic.

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.

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