James Patrick Screen Jr., known as Pat Screen (May 13, 1943 – September 12, 1994), was an athlete, attorney, and politician from New Orleans. He was elected in 1980 as the Democratic

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

-President of

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, ...

from 1981 to 1988. He had been a quarterback for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

and played in the 1966 Cotton Bowl.

Football athlete

Pat Screen was born in New Orleans as the son of James P. Screen (1914–1994) and Rosemary T. Screen (1921–2002). He played football as a high school sophomore at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. He continued he continued to play at LSU in Baton Rouge. In 1963, he sustained a separated shoulder in the fourth game against the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. In the 1964 game against LSU's arch-rival Ole Miss, Screen was injured, and played with a heavily taped knee. He hit nine of ten passes in an early 69-yard drive that gave the Tigers a 3–0 lead. In the second quarter, pain forced Screen to yield to Billy Ezell. LSU prevailed 10-9 as the result of an unexpected two-point conversion In 1965, Screen was drafted in the tenth round by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. Screen did not play professionally but returned to the university to earn an LSU law degree. He joined a practice in criminal law in Baton Rouge in 1970. One of his law partners was City Judge Ossie Brown. In 1972 Brown was elected as East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney and served two terms.

Political career

Screen became active in politics, joining the Democratic Party. In 1971, Screen served on the committee to elect his fellow Democrat Jamar Adcock, a banker from Monroe, as lieutenant governor. They wanted to position him to succeed C. C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franlin in St. Mary Parish, but the latter did not win the governorship. The position was won by Jimmy Fitzmorris, a former New Orleans City Councilman, and he was re-elected to a second term. In 1980, Screen won the mayoral position, a combined

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

-parish office in Baton Rouge. He succeeded Democratic

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

W.W. Dumas of Baker. He was re-elected in 1984. In 1987, Screen and Mary Olive Pierson, his aide during his first term, were

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

on one count each of

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

in the misapplication of road project funds prior to his successful re-election campaign in 1984. Screen and Pierson maintained their innocence. State Attorney General William Guste later dismissed the charges on legal grounds. Screen did not seek a third term in 1988. He was succeeded by fellow Democrat Tom Ed McHugh.

Personal life

Pat Screen married the former Kathleen Clare McCall (born 1945). They had one daughter and two sons together.People Search and Background Check Screen developed dependence on alcohol and, in his second term as mayor, drugs. Screen was found dead from a drug overdose in September 1994 at the age of 51 in a New Orleans

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. His friend and colleague, Walter Monsour, said that Screen had slowly succumbed to "inner demons". At Screen's funeral, Monsour described his friend as "the most talented, passionate person I ever knew, who, unfortunately, was conflicted." Screen was survived by his wife, three children, and parents. Screen is interred at Resthaven Gardens of Memories and Mausoleum in Baton Rouge. His son Tommy Screen was chosen in 2008 as the third director of the Loyola University Institute of Politics in New Orleans."Institute of Politics: History"
Loyola University He has been a protégé of Democrats

John Breaux John Berlinger Breaux (; born March 1, 1944) is an American lobbyist, attorney, and retired politician who was a member of the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives f ...

, a former US Senator from Louisiana and political activist

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...

. He succeeded

Ed Renwick Edward Francis Renwick (June 26, 1938 – March 6, 2020), was an American political scientist who was Professor Emeritus of Political Science and the former Director of the Institute of Politics at Loyola University New Orleans. Career Renwick wa ...

, who had directed the institute for 38 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Screen, Pat Louisiana Democrats Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana People from East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans 1943 births 1994 deaths American television sports announcers College football announcers Louisiana lawyers LSU Tigers football announcers LSU Tigers football players Louisiana State University alumni Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni Alcohol-related deaths in Louisiana Drug-related deaths in Louisiana 20th-century American lawyers