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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.
as Mrs. Melvane(1 ep)
as Connie
as Maria Cooper
as Mrs. Kale(1 ep)
as Mrs. Finch
as Mrs. Casey
as Aunt Ida
as Mrs. Middleton
as Miss Bessie(1 ep)
as Grandmother(1 ep)
as Aunt Polly
as Mary Raff
as Aunt Polly(1 ep)
as Jane Connor(1 ep)
as Nellie Eldredge(1 ep)
as Mrs. Garr(1 ep)
as Mrs. Adams
as Madame Elaine(1 ep)
as Mrs. Matthews(1 ep)
as Mrs. Couche(1 ep)
as Ma / Mother Baker(1 ep)
as Miss Dee
as Mrs. Willoughby(1 ep)
as Mrs. Trumbull(10 eps)
as Aunt March
as Aunt March
as Aunt Priscilla Wakely
as Dr. Gilley(1 ep)
as Mrs. Sargent(1 ep)
as Tabitha Singleton
as Miss Eunice Habersham
as Mrs. Beecham
as Hannah
as Cora
as Mrs. Gilley
as Miss Spring
as Catherine Dennison
as Mrs. Stover
as Mrs. Sompter
as Cousin Emma
as Aunt Charlotte Waring
as Jessie
as Martha - Libby's Aunt
as Annie
as Mrs. Fisher
as Margaret
as Annabelle Dinwiddie
as Grandma Sherwood
as Eva
as Mrs. Daly
as Aunt Matilda Manning
as Grandma
as Sarah
as Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
as Ada Lester
as Aunt Olivia
as Maggie Ambler
as Rebecca
as Becky Tilden
as Nellie
as Aunt Emma
as Aunt Susan
as Mrs. Perkins
as Aunt Tillie
as Aunt Blanche
as Mrs. MacGregor
as Aunt Blanche
as Grandmother Lee
as Mrs. Daisy Beebe aka Mother Beebe
as Aunt Hedwige
as Aunt Blanche
as Ada Smith
as Mrs. Elvira Ward
as Grandma Holland
as Grandma Cortlandt
as Mrs. Tobias Greene
as Aunt Kate Barnaby
as Sarah Hutchins
as Wilma Chester
as Araminta Sedley
as Ma Brannan
as Vilda Cummins
as Mrs. Ellie Martin
as Mary Cherry
as Ella Ferris
as Mlle. Prefere
as 'Ma' Miller
as Miss Copeland
as Aunt Patricia Banning
as Lydia
as Mary, Cook
as Miss Tuttle
as Aunt Jennie
as Elinor's Aunt
as Lizzie
as Mrs. Randall
as Susan (edited from "The Cat Creeps")
as Mrs. Cullen
as Cora Pugmire
as Aunt Hester Fairfield
as Mrs. Tubby (uncredited)
as First Aunt
as Elvira Ward
as Aunty Doe
as Juliet Mitchell
as Mrs. Tebbit (uncredited)
as Miss Harper
as Miss Crackenwald
as Mrs. Caroline Reid
as Vergie
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
as Baroness Von Schwedel (uncredited)
as Mrs. Lippett
as Mrs. Courtney
as Susan
as Mrs. Goldfarb
as Emma Haller
as Sarah Martin
as Sarah
as Dean Crockett
as Ma Pepperall
as Mrs. Bartholomey
as Mrs. Harper
