Patricia Rose Breslin (March 17, 1925 – October 12, 2011) was an American actress and philanthropist. She had a prominent career in television, which included recurring roles as Amanda Miller on '' The People's Choice'' (1955–58), and as Laura Harrington Brooks on '' Peyton Place'' (1964–65). She also appeared in '' Go, Man, Go!'' (1954), and the William Castle horror films '' Homicidal'' (1961) and '' I Saw What You Did'' (1965).
In 1969, Breslin married
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
mogul Art Modell, and became a well-known philanthropist while living in both
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, and
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, donating millions of dollars to various educational, health, and art organizations, including the
SEED Foundation
The SEED Foundation (also often referred to as the SEED Schools) is a 501(c)(3) organization, established in 1997 to provide boarding school college-preparatory educational opportunities to underserved students.Baltimore Museum of Art. She also helped open the Hospice of the Western Reserve at the Cleveland Clinic.
Academy of Mount St. Ursula High School
The Academy of Mount St. Ursula is a Catholic girls’ college preparatory school in the United States, which was founded in 1855 as a part of the Monastery of St. Ursula in the town of Morrisania (now a part of the Bronx, New York).
In 1892, ...
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
.
Career
On television, Breslin co-starred in "The Long Walk", the May 30, 1950, episode of '' Cameo Theatre''. In 1954, she guest-starred with Peter Mark Richman in an episode of NBC's legal drama, ''Justice'', as a woman threatened by hoodlums. The same year, she appeared in a supporting role as Sylvia Franklin Saperstein in the sports film '' Go, Man, Go!'' (1954), opposite
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (19 ...
,
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...
, and the
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...
.
The following year, Breslin was cast in an episode of the CBSanthology series ''
Appointment with Adventure
''Appointment with Adventure'' is an American dramatic anthology program that was broadcast from April 3, 1955, until April 1, 1956, on CBS.
Format and actors
''Appointment with Adventure'' presented stories whose settings varied among locations ...
'', a series with neither a host nor a regular star. From 1955 to 1958, Breslin co-starred with
Jackie Cooper
John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...
as his girlfriend and then wife in the NBC sitcom, '' The People's Choice''.
Between 1960 and 1963, Breslin made three guest appearances on CBS's '' Perry Mason'', and was cast as the defendant in all three episodes. In 1960, she played Karen Lewis in "The Case of the Lavender Lipstick." In 1962, she played Karen Ross in "The Case of the Poison Pen-Pal", and in 1963, as Laura Hewes in "The Case of the Prankish Professor".
In 1960, she played the newlywed wife of William Shatner's character in CBS's '' The Twilight Zone'' episode " Nick of Time", and was also in the 1963 ''Twilight Zone'' episode " No Time Like the Past", in which she portrayed Abigail Sloan.
In 1960, she guest-starred on the short-lived David McLeanWestern series, '' Tate'', which aired on NBC. She appeared on Nick Adams' ABC Western, '' The Rebel'' and with Jack Lord in his ABC adventure series, '' Stoney Burke''. Thereafter, Breslin played the role of Anne Mitchell, along with co-stars Ralph Bellamy and
Paul Fix
Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career be ...
Meg Baldwin
''General Hospital'' is the longest running American television serial drama, airing on ABC. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, who originally set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. In the 1970s, the city wa ...
in the ABC soap opera ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' from 1965 to 1969.
Personal life
From 1953 to 1969, Breslin was married to character actor and director David Orrick McDearmon, and they had two children. Later, Breslin married then Cleveland Browns (later the Baltimore Ravens) NFL team owner, advertising and business executive Art Modell in 1969. Shortly after their marriage, Modell legally adopted Patricia's sons from her first marriage and they took his surname. The family lived in Waite Hill, Ohio, later moving to
Owings Mills, Maryland
Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus o ...
, with a total of six grandchildren between them.
Philanthropy
Breslin became a well-known
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
in both Cleveland, Ohio, and Baltimore, Maryland, after relocating to the city in 1995. Modell and she donated $5 million to the SEED School of Maryland, a public boarding school for disadvantaged junior-high and high-school students from around the state. They also donated $3.5 million to help restore the Lyric Opera House, and Breslin served on the boards of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Walters Art Museum, and also donated to the Baltimore Museum of Art.
In Cleveland, she helped start the Hospice of the Western Reserve at the Cleveland Clinic, and supported the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She was also active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Cleveland Musical Arts Association, the Cleveland Ballet, the Playhouse Square Foundation, and the Cerebral Palsy Association.