Dorothy Patrick

Dorothy Patrick began life as Dorothy Wilma Davis. Her career began as a professional photographic model when she was still in her teens. When she was just 17, Davis and her mother moved to New York City where she became a fashion model with the John Robert Powers Agency. She was in demand and had her day on the runways of haute couture salons as well as a wholesome face on popular fashion and entertainment magazines of the day. When she married New York Rangers hockey star, Lynn Patrick, Dorothy Davis became Dorothy Patrick. She was a “Chesterfield Girl” when that cigarette company used beautiful women in its advertising campaigns and was appearing on stage in New Jersey when seen by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scout. Given a movie contract, Dorothy Patrick, her mother and young son from her marriage, moved to Hollywood. Trained at MGM’s repertory workshop along with stars like Judy Garland, early in her career she appeared as a Goldwyn Girl in Up in Arms starring Danny Kaye (1944). She went on to play a series of wholesome wives and sweethearts in films in the 1940s and ’50s. She was cast opposite Robert Walker as Mrs. Jerome Kern in the musical biography, Till the Clouds Roll By, and portrayed Billie Holiday’s employer in New Orleans, the only film the legendary jazz singer ever made. With the advent of television, Dorothy Patrick appeared on some of the most popular series of the day, including The Lone Ranger and The Millionaire, as well as being cast in a number of live dramas during the so-called Golden Age of Television. We have identified those programs with the drama’s title, followed by the year of broadcast and the name of the producing series. Her career ended in 1956 when she made the decision to focus on her family and raise her sons.

According to a report in the LA Times at the time, Dorothy Patrick died due to complications of cancer at the UCLA Medical Center. Other sources say she died of a heart attack. Her passing in 1987 came three days before her 66th birthday.