American actress
Patricia Huston |
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 Patricia Huston in Perry Mason (1960) |
| Born | Patricia Lou Baker
(1929-08-10)August 10, 1929
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| Died | September 25, 1995(1995-09-25) (aged 66)
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| Other names | Patt Huston |
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| Education | University of Arizona |
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| Occupation | Actress |
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| Years active | 1958–1995 |
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| Spouse |
John D. Brinkley
( m. 1962; div. 1984) |
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| Children | 1 |
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Patricia Huston (August 10, 1929 – September 25, 1995)[1] was an American stage, film, and television actress. She had a notable acting career from 1958 to 1968, went through a seventeen-year period without any acting work, and resumed her career with several recurring roles on popular shows during the last ten years of her life.
Early life
She was born Patricia Lou Baker in Mount Vernon, New York. Her parents were Charles G. Baker and Margie A. Winingar.[1] According to a 1963 newspaper item, 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 BFA (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
Career beginnings
The earliest records of her as a professional actress come from Los Angeles during spring 1958. 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]
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.
In 1959, Huston took on another stage role in Compulsion after the original actress dropped out during dress rehearsals.[15][16]
In the summer of 1959, she co-starred with Barry Sullivan in the two-person play, Two for the Seesaw at the La Jolla Playhouse.[17][18] Her performance was critically-acclaimed.[4] Throughout 1959, Huston appeared as guest star in ten television shows.
1960
In February 1960, Huston appeared in an original play, Music in the Distance, by drama critic Patterson Greene, performed at the Circle Theater in Hollywood along with co-stars William Phipps, Kathie Browne, and Mark Herron. The production received lukewarm reviews and closed early.[19]
Huston appeared primarily on CBS television shows because of their connections with Desilu. She appeared in the CBS anthology soap opera For Better Or Worse for several months before its cancellation.[20][20][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] However, both actors received criticism for their first performance at the Highland Park Tent Theater. The Chicago Tribune's critic blamed Huston "playing the extroverted floozy with all the pseudo-Bancroft stops out".[fn 1][23] To counter the negative review from the Chicago Tribune, they took out trade paper ads listing their good reviews, illustrated with cartoons drawn by Huston of them on a seesaw.[24] Later, the pair received more positive reviews as the production moved to the Drury Lane Theatre and Lobero Theatre.[25] In 1961, She was nominated for the Sarah Siddons Award for Two for the Seesaw, but lost to Gertrude Berg.[26]
Post-Desilu
By 1961, Desilu discontinued their relationship with Huston and was represented by the Sanford Camora Agency.[27] 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.[28]
Huston's main professional satisfactions in 1961 came from stage work. 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 a sex worker named 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 than ran for three weeks.[33] She received positive reviews playing the central role of "Leah", with the other leads being Richard Hale, John D. Brinkley, and Michael Fox.[34]
Career decline
After 1962, Huston took on progressively fewer acting roles. 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. Huston had a small part in the film Synanon (1965), her last for thirty years.
Huston's first stage work in three years (and her last for the next twenty) took place in August 1965, in a San Francisco production of the 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: 1968–1985
After a 1968 television guest appearance, Huston paused her acting career for 17 years. Huston stated in an interview in the mid-1980s that she spent this hiatus primarily raising her son and working part-time jobs, at one point going on welfare.[38] A program for welfare recipients led to Huston securing a job as a phone operator at an institution, where she eventually became an administrator.[38]
Career revival: 1985–1995
According to Huston, her career stage revival occurred when her mother visited Los Angeles.[38] Director Edward Ludlum ran into her and asked how Huston was doing. Ludlum persuaded Huston to attend a theater class he was leading then gradually involved her in teaching, directing, and performing in local stage productions.[38]
Huston resumed acting on television in 1985 with small roles in Cheers and Gimme a Break!. In 1986, she played guest characters on General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, L.A. Law. She returned to Days of Our Lives in 1989 to play her third role in the series. Her last appeared on television in 1992.
Huston died on September 25, 1995, in San Pedro, California, from lung cancer. She was 66 years old. 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]
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]
