fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Patricia Huston (August 10, 1929 – September 25, 1995)[1] was an American stage, film, and television actress. She had an explosive early career from 1958 to 1968, went through a twenty-year period with no acting work, and resumed her career with several recurring roles on popular shows during the last ten years of her life.

Patricia Huston
Patricia Huston in Perry Mason 1960
Born	Patricia Lou Baker (1929-08-10)August 10, 1929 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Died	September 25, 1995(1995-09-25) (aged 66) San Pedro, California, U.S.
Other names	Patt Huston
Education	University of Arizona
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1958–1995
Spouse	John D. Brinkley ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1984)​ (1 child)

Early life

She was born Patricia Lou Baker in Mount Vernon, New York.[1] Her parents were Charles G. Baker and Margie A Winingar.[1] Very little is known of her family and childhood. According to a blind newspaper item from 1963 she had two sisters.[2] She obtained her first social security card in November 1943 under the name Pat Lou Baker; from the number assigned it appears she was living in Illinois at the time.[1] According to later interviews, she grew up in Chicago where she acted in school plays, attended Northwestern University for a year, then studied dramatics and graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona with a Fine Arts degree.[3][4] In June 1956 the name on her Social Security Administration file changed to "Pat Baker Huston".[1]

First decade: 1958–1968

Fast start

The earliest records of her as a professional actress come from Los Angeles during spring 1958, when she was already 27. She played in a stage version of Inherit the Wind, made her first film, The Bonnie Parker Story for AIP, and did her first television work, two episodes of Studio One, all within a three month span.[5][6][3]

By the end of 1958, she had completed filming on Paratroop Command, her second movie for director William Witney and AIP; done two more television episodes; had attracted the attention of Lucille Ball who signed her to a contract with Desilu Productions; and was in the midst of a highly successful six week run for the play Children of Darkness.[7][8][9][10][11] It was an unusual and auspicious first year for a neophyte performer.

Desilu workshop

Columnists noted that Lucille Ball was prominently in attendance at the opening nights of Huston's early plays.[12][13] Her "Little Red Schoolhouse" at the Desilu Workshop was training eight contract players including Huston in the finer points of stagecraft and television work.[14] Desilu's patronage was also responsible for Huston obtaining so many television roles in her first years of performing.

Huston continued her streak of near simultaneous stage and television work into 1959. She had several television shows broadcast before unexpectedly taking on another stage role in Compulsion, when the original actress dropped out during dress rehearsals.[15][16] The play ran for two months, after which Huston made some more television episodes before heading down to the La Jolla Playhouse for some summer stock.

She co-starred with Barry Sullivan in the two-person play, Two for the Seesaw, which was still in its original run on Broadway.[17][18] The performance drew raves for Huston and led to a nationally syndicated newspaper interview of her by columnist Donald Freeman.[4] She finished 1959 with more television, for a total of ten shows including such ratings heavyweights as Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, M Squad, and Wagon Train.

Stumbles

She hit some minor career stumbles during spring 1960. First up was an original play, Music in the Distance, by drama critic Patterson Greene, performed at the Circle Theater in Hollywood during February 1960. Huston, William Phipps, Kathie Browne, and Mark Herron went through a comedy of couples to a lukewarm reception by reviewers.[19] The play folded early, and Huston was soon plunged into another lost cause.

Desilu and CBS had a close working relationship, which accounted for the majority of Huston's television work thru 1960 being on that network. CBS had a taped daily afternoon soap opera called For Better Or Worse, which needed a new face for an upcoming storyline.[20] The show was formatted with a changing cast and storyline each month, was doing poorly in ratings, and would itself be replaced in late June by Full Circle.[20] So Huston was committed to a daily grind that lasted five weeks in an obscure failing show.[21]

Huston hoped to regain some career momentum by agreeing to reprise her success in Two for the Seesaw with Hugh O'Brien for a five week tour.[22] O'Brien had just finished filming his last episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and was immensely popular. However, he appeared lost and awkward in the center staged first engagement at the Highland Park Tent Theater, for which the Chicago Tribune critic blamed Huston "playing the extroverted floozy with all the pseudo-Bancroft stops out".[fn 1][23] O'Brien did better at the more traditional Drury Lane Theatre in the second two week engagement, and the actors finished their tour back on the West Coast at the Lobero Theatre.[24] To counter the negative review from Chicago, they took out trade paper ads listing their good reviews, illustrated with cartoons drawn by Huston of them on a seesaw.[25]

Post Desilu

A last spate of Desilu arranged television shows filled Huston's 1960 schedule. Come 1961, she was an independent talent, represented by the Sanford Camora Agency.[26] Her television appearances were halved from her Desilu tenure due to an extended stage commitment, and the shows themselves were mainly short-lived sitcoms or syndicated programs.[fn 2] She was also cast in a campy women's prison film for Warner Brothers originally titled Ladies of the Mob, but which was released in 1962 as House of Women.[27]

Her main professional satisfactions that year came from the stage. She was nominated for the Sarah Siddons Award for Two for the Seesaw, but lost to Gertrude Berg.[28] She was prominent in the West Coast premiere of The Balcony at the LA Civic Playhouse. The production starred Maxine Stuart, Adam Williams, and Huston, with Josip Elic, Arthur Malet, Tom Costello, and Derva Korwin in feature roles.[29] Huston's performance as the call girl Carmen drew high praise from the LA critics, with the production running for four months.[29][30]

Columnist Mike Connolly suggested that Huston had lost the lead in a new TV series because her agent Sandy Camora had asked for too much money.[31] Soon after, Huston switched her representation to General Artists Corporation.[32]

January 1962 saw Huston receive top billing for an English language revival of The Dybbuk at the Pasadena Playhouse.[33] She played the central role of "Leah", with the other leads being Richard Hale, John D. Brinkley, and Michael Fox.[34] Her reviews were good, the play ran three weeks, but the main impact of it was on her personal life.

Receding tide

From 1962 on the number of performing jobs Huston undertook declined. Her television work lessened each year until late 1965, when she snagged a recurring role on the new soap opera Days of Our Lives. She originated the role of Addie Olson, the mother of rebellious teenager Julie Olson played by Charla Doherty. She had a small part in the film Synanon (1965), her last for thirty years.

Her first stage work in three years (and her last for the next twenty) took place during August 1965, in San Francisco with a LeRoi Jones play, Dutchman.[35] The play starred Paul Winfield and Huston (replacing Sheree North from the Los Angeles run), with Burgess Meredith directing.[35][36] It was presented on a double bill with The Toilet, a shorter drama with a different cast. Both plays were held over for a total of five weeks.[37]

Hiatus: 1969–1984

There is very little information about this period in Huston's life, except from an interview given after her career revived in the mid-1980s. Her principal occupation was raising her son, but she also worked some part-time jobs, and at one point even went on welfare.[38] A program for welfare recipients landed her a job answering phones for an institution, and she eventually worked herself into administration there.[38]

Second decade: 1985–1995

According to Huston, her career stage revival occurred when her mother came out to Los Angeles from Chicago for a visit.[38] Director Edward Ludlum ran into her and asked how Huston was doing. He persuaded Huston to visit a theater class he was leading then gradually involved her in teaching, directing, and performing in local stage productions.[38]

However, even before this Huston had appeared in brief roles for two television shows, Cheers and Gimme a Break! in early 1985. And during 1986 she had recurring roles in three different TV series: "Sarah" on General Hospital, "Hilda Brauchwager" on L.A. Law, and "Helga" on Days of Our Lives. The first two of these roles would carry into later seasons, while in 1989 she would be re-cast as a third recurring character on Days of Our Lives. Besides these recurring roles, Huston also appeared in single episodes of seven other TV series and two Made for TV movies before her career wound up.

Huston died on September 25, 1995 in San Pedro, California; she was cremated and her ashes deposited at sea.[1][39] Her last performance, a minor bit as a nun for the film Heaven's Prisoners, was released nine months later.

Personal life

As a young actress, Huston identified as "beat", wrote poetry, played the bongos, had an all purple bathroom, and referred to herself as a "serious kook".[40] She was slow to realize her growing fame; when her pet schnauzer went astray, she took out a "Lost" ad in a Hollywood area newspaper using her own name and phone number.[41]

Before her marriage, gossip columns linked her most closely with another ex-Chicagoan, John Vivyan. The couple, both Democrats, performed at a fundraising rally of "Citizens for Kennedy" in September 1960.[42] An item for two years, they made an unusual couple, the college honors graduate and the blue-collar guy with only one year of high school.

At first rehearsal for The Dybbuk in January 1962, Huston met her co-star John D. Brinkley, who was from Chicago and two years younger than she was.[43][44] They announced their engagement in early February and said they would marry on Valentine's Day of 1962.[43] However, columnist Mike Connolly reported their astrologer advised a later date so they postponed the ceremony until February 23.[45][44] The couple had one child, a son born in May 1963.[46] They divorced in November 1984.[47]

Stage performances

Listed by year of first performance

Year	Play	Role	Venue	Notes
1958	Inherit the Wind	Rachel Brown	Gallery Theater (Los Angeles)	Four week production with Wendell Holmes, Maurice Manson, and Ted Knight[5]
	Children of Darkness[48]	Laetitia Snap	Stage Society Theater[fn 3]	Revival of a 1930 Broadway play described as an "evil comedy" ran six weeks[49]
1959	Compulsion	Ruth Slimovitsky	Omnibus Center Theater	Play starred Donald Buka, Ray Stricklyn, and Ted Knight[50]
	Two for the Seesaw	Gittel Mosca	La Jolla Playhouse	Barry Sullivan and Huston starred in summer stock[18]
1960	Music in the Distance	Leni	Circle Theater	Original production starred Huston, William Phipps, Kathie Browne, and Mark Herron
	Two for the Seesaw	Gittel Mosca	Highland Park Theatre Drury Lane Theatre Lobero Theatre	Hugh O'Brian dominated the billing in a five week tour with Huston[23][24]
1961	The Balcony	Carmen	LA Civic Playhouse[fn 4]	Four month run produced rave reviews for Huston[29][30]
1962	The Dybbuk	Leah	Pasadena Playhouse	Morris Ankrum directed this production[34]
1965	Dutchman	Lula	Marines' Theater	Huston co-starred with Paul Winfield for five week run[36]
1985	In the Sweet Bye and Bye		Back Alley Theatre[fn 5]	Rue McClanahan and Huston alternated playing female lead on weekends[51]

Filmography

Film (by year of first release)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	The Bonnie Parker Story	Chuck's Girl	Credited as Patt Huston[6]
1959	Paratroop Command	Amy	Huston portrayed an Army WAC who restores a paratroopers confidence
1962	Experiment in Terror	Nancy Ashton	Filmed in October 1961; Huston is killed early on by Ross Martin[52]
	House of Women	Doris Jones	Filmed in May–June 1961, the working title was Ladies of the Mob.[53]
1965	Synanon	Clara
1996	Heaven's Prisoners	Older Nun	Filmed in summer 1995, but not released until 1996.

Television (in original broadcast order) 1958–1968

Year	Series	Episode	Role	Notes
1958	Studio One	The Desperate Age	Priscilla Olson
	Studio One	The Enemy Within	Mrs Brooks	Huston plays wife of USAF Major (Dane Clark) taking survival test[3]
	M Squad	Force of Habit	Mary Pulaski
	Mike Hammer	The Living Dead	Susan Barlow
1959	Mike Hammer	Accentuate the Negative	Mary Otto
	Wagon Train	The Old Man Charvanaugh Story	Mother	Huston plays mother with two children bushwhacked by outlaws[54][55]
	Gunsmoke	Sky	Woman	A "doubleheader", she was on CBS the same night (February 14) she was on NBC (above)
	Desilu Playhouse	The Comeback
	Behind Closed Doors	Assignment Prague	Smolenskaya
	M Squad	The Platter Pirates	Julie Ferrell	Huston plays secretary to murdered DJ[56]
	Perry Mason	Case of the Golden Fraud	Doris Petrie
	Hawaiian Eye	The Quick Return	Alma Jackson
	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Marked for Murder	Myra Cantrell	Huston plays a Lonely Hearts Club blackmailer[57]
	Mike Hammer	Jury of One	Phyllis Tyler
1960	Law of the Plainsman	The Matriarch	Greta Lane
	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Piano Man	Julie Skylar	Vic Damone's dramatic debut with Huston as his wife[58]
	For Better or Worse	The Case of Don and Louise[fn 6]	Louise	Huston plays well-heeled wife whose exec husband can't provide enough[20][21]
	Tales of Wells Fargo	The Outlaw's Wife	Marge Walker
	Bachelor Father	The Very Friendly Witness	Elena del Castillo	Client (Huston) romances attorney in lawsuit[59]
	Mr. Garlund	The Towers	Serphina	Marko (Jay Novello) and his daughter (Huston) lose an inheritance [60]
	Harrigan and Son	A Matter of Dignity	Jan Duprez	Huston's portrait of hobo (John Carradine) upsets him[61]
	Hennessy	Come Home, Dr. Rogers	Dorothy Rogers	Husband in private practice contemplates re-enlisting[62]
	Perry Mason	Case of the Larcenous Lady	Mona Henderson	Huston gets knocked off for chicanery[63]
	The Cheyenne Show	Savage Breed	Nora Kenton	Lawman (Ray Danton) ignores girl friend (Huston) over card game[64]
1961	Michael Shayne, Private Detective	Final Settlement	Trina DeWitt	Novelist (Huston) accidentally kills hubby (William Bryant)[65]
	Bringing Up Buddy	Poppa's Picture	Joan Thomas	Buddy (Frank Aletter) meets museum director (Huston) [66]
	The Barbara Stanwyck Show	Big Jake
	Checkmate	Portrait of a Man Running	Anne Winthrop	[67]
	Shotgun Slade	The Phantom Noose	Marguerite Beck
1962	The Detectives	The Outsider	Mrs. Foster	Huston plays a widowed mom with an ex-con brother-in-law (Dabbs Greer).[68]
	General Electric Theater	My Dark Days – Prelude	Patricia Blandford	Part 1 of 2 [69]
		My Dark Days – Aftermath	Patricia Blandford	Part 2 of 2 [69]
	Perry Mason	The Case of the Ancient Romeo	Claire Adams	An actress (Huston) is allowed to "buy" the role of Juliet[70]
	Dr. Kildare	The Visitors	Marie Hackett	[71]
	Ben Casey	In the Name of Love, a Small Corruption	Elaine	Huston plays a modern Regan to Rod Steiger's King Lear[72]
1963	Death Valley Days	Bloodline[fn 7]	Anne Knight	Huston plays a nurse[73]
	The Dakotas	Thunder in Pleasant Valley	Kate McNeil	Huston plays the kidnapped daughter of a rancher (Karl Swenson)[74]
	Sam Benedict	Image of a Toad	Mildred Hunter
1964	Rawhide	Incident at Zebulon	Luanna Day	[75]
	Perry Mason	The Case of the Tragic Trophy	Lydia Lawrence	Secretary to murdered producer is Huston's role[76]
	Death Valley Days	A Kingdom for a Horse	Fern Mitchell	Huston locks Emperor of Brazil (Gilbert Roland) in a barn in the Old West[77]
	Daniel Boone	The Prophet[fn 8]	Amanda Dobson	Settler's wife (Huston) hears of impending attack[78]
1965	Death Valley Days	The Streets of El Paso	Marie Blanchard	Huston plays conniving saloon owner[79]
	Days of Our Lives	(7 episodes)	Addie Olson	Huston played mother to rebellious teen Julie Olson (Charla Doherty)
1966	Days of Our Lives	(1966-01-16)	Addie Olson
	Days of Our Lives	(1966-03-09)	Addie Olson	Huston's character moved away to Europe in this episode
	The Wild Wild West	The Night of the Ready-Made Corpse	Leda Pellargo	Huston plays wife of assassinated dictator[80]
	Jericho	Jackal of Diamonds	Dr. Barbier	[81]
1967	Death Valley Days	The Day They Stole the Salamander	Belle Monteverdi	Huston must choose between her brother and the law[82]
1968	Death Valley Days	The Saga of Sadie Orchard	Sadie Orchard	When her husband is injured, Huston drives the stagecoach[83]

Television (in original broadcast order) 1985–1992

Year	Series	Episode	Role	Notes
1985	Cheers	Birth, Death, Love and Rice	Sister Catherine
	Gimme a Break!	Katie's Apartment
1986	Hill Street Blues	Scales of Justice	Sister
	General Hospital	(1986-01-30)	Sarah
		(1986-02-14)	Sarah
		(1986-02-17)	Sarah
		(1986-02-18)	Sarah
		(1986-04-11)	Sarah
		(1986-05-09)	Sarah
		(1986-06-03)	Sarah
	L.A. Law	(Pilot)	Hilda Brunschwager
		Those Lips, That Eye	Hilda Brunschwager
		The House of the Rising Flan	Hilda Brunschwager
		The Princess and the Wiener King	Hilda Brunschwager
		Simian Enchanted Evening	Hilda Brunschwager
		Raiders of the Lost Bark	Hilda Brunschwager
	Days of Our Lives	(1986-11-13)	Helga
		(1986-11-17)	Helga
		(1986-11-19)	Helga
		(1986-12-01)	Helga
1987	L.A. Law	December Bribe	Hilda Brunschwager
	General Hospital	(1987-02-04)	Sarah
		(1987-02-06)	Sarah
		(1987-02-09)	Sarah
		(1987-02-11)	Sarah
		(1987-02-13)	Sarah
		(1987-02-16)	Sarah
		(1987-02-17)	Sarah
	L.A. Law	The Grace of Wrath	Hilda Brunschwager
		Sparky Brackman RIP ????-1987	Hilda Brunschwager
	Deadly Care	(TV Movie)	Marsha Foland
	I Married Dora	I Married Dora
	The Law and Harry McGraw	Angela's Secret	Mrs. Bishop
	L.A. Law	Divorce with Extreme Prejudice	Hilda Brunschwager
1988	L.A. Law	The Bald Ones	Hilda Brunschwager
	Knot's Landing	Suicidal	Admissions Person
	Days of Our Lives	(1988-04-05)	Mrs. Whitmore
1989	Days of Our Lives	(1989-03-28)	Gladys Christy	This was Huston's third recurring character on this series since 1965
		(1989-03-30)	Gladys Christy
		(1989-03-31)	Gladys Christy
		(1989-04-07)	Gladys Christy
		(1989-04-12)	Gladys Christy
		(1989-04-26)	Gladys Christy
1991	Murder, She Wrote	From the Horse's Mouth	Edie
	The Antagonists	Variations on a Theme	Esther
	Marilyn and Me	(TV Movie)	Aunt Ana
1992	Columbo	No Time to Die	Louise Hays

Notes

References

External links

• Patricia Huston at IMDb

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