Patricia Duff (born Patricia Michelle Orr; April 12, 1954) is an American political activist, and a fundraiser for political and philanthropic causes. She has participated in campaigns involving politicians and business people. She has a BSFS degree, and studied political science at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Early life and education

Duff was born in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and was raised in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, graduating from the

International School of Brussels The International School of Brussels (ISB) is an English-language international school with grades spanning from pre-school to high school. Its campus lies in the Brussels commune of Watermael-Boitsfort. History The International School of Brus ...

. Duff received a BSFS degree in international economics at the

Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings ...

at Georgetown University.

Career

Washington, D.C.

Immediately after graduation from college, Duff first worked on the

House Select Committee on Assassinations The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The HSCA completed its i ...

as special assistant to the chief counsel, senior researcher, and public information officer. Duff then worked with former presidential speech writer

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

to produce his political talk radio show. She left to work for the re-election campaign of President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

at the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

and with presidential pollster

Pat Caddell Patrick Hayward Caddell (May 19, 1950 – February 16, 2019) was an American public opinion pollster and a political film consultant who served in the Carter administration. He worked for Democratic presidential candidates George McGovern ...

. Following her work on that campaign, she was made a vice president of Caddell's polling firm and worked on political statewide campaigns and corporate marketing campaigns until she was hired by the Squier-Eskew consulting firm.

Los Angeles

After working on several senate and gubernatorial campaigns, Duff moved in 1984 to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to work with the Gary Hart presidential campaign. Duff was an activist in Democratic Party politics and in a number of causes.

Entertainment industry

In the late 1980s, Duff started an entertainment industry-related non-partisan political organization called Show Coalition, which became an element in the nexus between Washington politics and Hollywood and the precursor to The Common Good.

Not-for-profit sector

Duff founded a non-profit, non-partisan organization, The Common Good, in New York in 2007. The organization hosts events to encourage greater citizen participation in civic life and the political process.

Political Affiliations

A lifelong Democrat, Duff has also supported Republicans, notably

Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...

for mayor of Los Angeles and

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

for mayor of New York.

Personal life

* She has been married four times, first to high school sweetheart Thomas Zabrodsky in the late 1970s. * She was then married to Washington, D.C. attorney Daniel Duff from 1980 to 1985. * She then married Orion Pictures and later

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

CEO

Mike Medavoy Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co-founder of Orion Pictures (1978), former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists (1974–1978), and t ...

from 1986 to 1994, after converting to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

.Jewish Journal: "A Battle With No Winners"
October 21, 1999 * She was briefly married to businessman

Ronald Perelman Ronald Owen Perelman (; born January 1, 1943) is an American banker, businessman and investor. MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, his company, has invested in companies with interests in groceries, cigars, licorice, makeup, cars, photography, t ...

from 1995 to 1996, with whom she had a daughter, Caleigh, in December 1994.

References

External links

Duff talk video
by

Geoffrey Gray Geoffrey Gray (born February 19, 1979) is an American author, documentary producer, and journalist. He is a contributing editor at ''New York'' magazine. Biography and education Gray was born in Binghamton, New York. He attended Northfield Mo ...

, New York Metro * ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/nyregion/metrocampaigns/26democrats.html? NY Times articleby Jim Rutenberg {{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Patricia 1954 births Living people Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni American expatriates in Germany American political fundraisers American expatriates in Belgium Converts to Judaism California Democrats Medavoy family