Elizabeth Patterson
Mary Elizabeth Patterson (November 22, 1874 – January 31, 1966) was an American theatre, film, and television character actress who gained popular recognition late in her career playing the elderly neighbor Matilda Trumbull on the television comedy series I Love Lucy.
In 1926, at the age of 51, Patterson was cast in her first movie, a silent film, The Boy Friend. Transitioning successfully into the era of "talkies", she remained a very busy actress in Hollywood throughout the 1930s, averaging more than five films a year during that decade, usually in supporting roles. A few of her screen credits at that time include Tarnished Lady; Husband's Holiday; A Bill of Divorcement; So Big!; The Story of Temple Drake; Hold Your Man; Dinner at Eight; High, Wide, and Handsome; and No Man of Her Own. She also appeared in the role of Susan in two adaptations of John Willard's popular play The Cat and the Canary: The Cat Creeps in 1930 and The Cat and the Canary in 1939.
Patterson continued to perform frequently in the 1940s, when she was cast in more than 30 additional films. Among her notable roles is her 1949 portrayal of the heroic character Eunice Habersham in the groundbreaking racial crime drama Intruder in the Dust, a film based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name and set in the Deep South. Although she would appear in a few more feature films in the 1950s, such as Washington Story and Pal Joey, Patterson by then began to focus her work increasingly on roles in the rapidly expanding medium of television.
In 1952, at the age of 77, Patterson made her first appearance on the hit CBS-TV sitcom I Love Lucy in the episode "The Marriage License". Her character on I Love Lucy proved to be so popular among viewers, as well as useful to the writers of the series, that she continued in the role for three more years, often serving in episode storylines as a convenient babysitter for "Little Ricky".
Prior to, during, and after her work on I Love Lucy, Patterson appeared in many other American television series during the 1950s and early 1960s. Her first credited performance on the "small screen" was in March 1950 in "The Walking Stick", a teleplay on the NBC anthology series The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre. During the 11 years after that initial televised performance to her final role on television in 1961, she portrayed characters in a variety of other series, including Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, General Electric Theater, Stage 7, Lux Video Theatre, Crossroads, The Star and the Story, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Adventures of Superman, New York Confidential, 77 Sunset Strip, Johnny Stacatto, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Playhouse 90, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, and The New Breed.
Patterson, who never married, lived at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel during her 35-year film and television career.. On January 31, 1966, she died at age 91 in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia. Her gravesite is in Savannah Cemetery in her hometown in Tennessee.
Filmography (120 Appearances)
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Johnny Staccato
The Oregon Trail
New York Confidential
77 Sunset Strip
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Portrait of a Murderer
Pal Joey
The Ninth Day
Rendezvous in Black
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Playwrights '56
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Las Vegas Shakedown
Climax!
Three Lives
General Electric Theater
Cavalcade of America
Four Star Playhouse
Adventures of Superman
Washington Story
I Love Lucy
Little Women: Jo's Story
Little Women: Meg's Story
Katie Did It
Lux Video Theatre
Bright Leaf
Intruder in the Dust
Song of Surrender
Little Women
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Welcome Stranger
Out of the Blue
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
The Secret Heart
I've Always Loved You
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Lady on a Train
Together Again
Hail the Conquering Hero
Follow the Boys
The Sky's the Limit
I Married a Witch
Lucky Legs
My Sister Eileen
Her Cardboard Lover
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Almost Married
The Vanishing Virginian
Belle Starr
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Tobacco Road
Michael Shayne: Private Detective
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Anne of Windy Poplars
Earthbound
Adventure in Diamonds
Remember the Night
The Cat and the Canary
Bad Little Angel
Our Leading Citizen
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
Sons of the Legion
Sing, You Sinners
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
Scandal Street
Night Club Scandal
Hold 'Em Navy
High, Wide and Handsome
Night of Mystery
Go West Young Man
Old Hutch
The Return of Sophie Lang
Small Town Girl
Timothy's Quest
Her Master's Voice
So Red the Rose
Men Without Names
Chasing Yesterday
Hide-Out
Dinner at Eight
Doctor Bull
Golden Harvest
Secret of the Blue Room
Hold Your Man
The Story of Temple Drake
Infernal Machine
They Just Had to Get Married
No Man of Her Own
Boo
They Call It Sin
Breach of Promise
A Bill of Divorcement
Life Begins
Love Me Tonight
Guilty as Hell
New Morals for Old
Miss Pinkerton
So Big!
Man Wanted
The Expert
Husband's Holiday
Heaven on Earth
Penrod and Sam
The Smiling Lieutenant
Daddy Long Legs
Tarnished Lady
The Cat Creeps
The Big Party
Harmony at Home
The Lone Star Ranger
South Sea Rose
Words and Music
The Dancing Town
The Return of Peter Grimm
The Boy Friend