Patricia Morison

Patricia Morison was a widely celebrated American stage and screen actress who appeared in dozens of Broadway plays, films and television shows in a career spanning several decades. Born and raised in New York City, Morison began taking singing and acting lessons as a young girl. Her dream was to become a Broadway actress. In 1933, when she was 18, Morison's dream came true when she made her Broadway debut in "Growing Pains." She continued landing Broadway parts over the next few years, before nabbing her first big Broadway role in 1938's "The Two Bouquets." Her performance in the musical won over critics and audiences, and also earned Morison an acting contract with Paramount Pictures. She appeared in over two dozen movies throughout the 1930s and 1940s, and was usually cast in femme fatale roles given her dark long hair and piercing blue eyes. Her notable film roles during this period included "The Song of Bernadette" (1943) and "Dressed to Kill" (1946). By the late 1940s, however, after nearly a decade in Hollywood, Morison had been relegated to parts in B movies. She soon left the film business in 1948 and returned to Broadway to star in Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate." The Broadway show was a smash hit, and ran for over 1,000 performances over three years. After the success of "Kiss Me, Kate," Morison appeared alongside Yul Brynner in the Broadway production of "The King and I" in 1954. Morison continued appearing on Broadway throughout most of her career, and after a stint working as a TV actor in the 1950s, appeared sporadically in films and television over the next 30 years. She eventually retired from acting (her last film role was 1992's "The Long Day Closes") and spent the remaining years of her life devoted to painting. Having been one of the last living actors from Hollywood's Golden Age, Morison died at her home in West Hollywood, California on May 20, 2018. She was 103.