
Elizabeth Patterson
Born November 21, 1874 · Savannah, Tennessee, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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.
Notable Appearances
Movies
More Movies

Lady on a Train

Belle Starr

Love Me Tonight

Bright Leaf

The Secret Heart

No Man of Her Own

Hail the Conquering Hero

I've Always Loved You

So Red the Rose

Remember the Night

Pal Joey

Welcome Stranger

The Story of Temple Drake

A Bill of Divorcement

Michael Shayne: Private Detective

Beyond the Blue Horizon

Secret of the Blue Room

Kiss the Boys Goodbye

Infernal Machine

Miss Tatlock's Millions

Bulldog Drummond's Peril

Out of the Blue

High, Wide and Handsome

Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim

The Oregon Trail

Bulldog Drummond's Bride

New Morals for Old

Follow the Boys

Tobacco Road

Go West Young Man

Her Master's Voice

They Call It Sin

Who Killed Aunt Maggie?

Man Wanted

Sons of the Legion

Katie Did It

Hide-Out

Hold Your Man

Little Women: Jo's Story

Life Begins

Small Town Girl

Anne of Windy Poplars

The Lone Star Ranger

They Just Had to Get Married

Portrait of a Murderer

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Husband's Holiday

Together Again

Lucky Legs

The Return of Sophie Lang

Miss Pinkerton

Doctor Bull

My Sister Eileen

Little Women: Meg's Story

The Cat Creeps

Words and Music

Hold 'Em Navy

So Big!

Colonel Effingham's Raid

Her Cardboard Lover

South Sea Rose

The Smiling Lieutenant

Adventure in Diamonds

The Dancing Town

Night Club Scandal

Night of Mystery

Washington Story

Earthbound

Men Without Names

Heaven on Earth

Las Vegas Shakedown

Scandal Street

Golden Harvest

The Expert

Sing, You Sinners

Tarnished Lady

The Boy Friend

Song of Surrender

The Return of Peter Grimm

Guilty as Hell

Almost Married

Timothy's Quest

Old Hutch

The Vanishing Virginian

Chasing Yesterday

Penrod and Sam

Daddy Long Legs

The Ninth Day

Bad Little Angel

Boo

Harmony at Home

Rendezvous in Black
























