Patricia Harper (born Frances Persotia Harper, February 21, 1908, date of death unknown) was an American screenwriter and actress who wrote B-Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

Origins

A native of Indiana, Harper was born to Thaddeus S. Harper and Eunice Bennett in 1908. She was raised primarily in Oklahoma City, where she met and married Gordon Eskridge in 1927. The pair had a son and divorced less than two years later.

Hollywood career

Patricia's parents raised her son while she attended art school and moved further west to seek work as a writer and actress. Soon after arriving in Hollywood, she appeared in a string of smaller roles, but more importantly, she forged a promising career for herself as a screenwriter. She'd pen more than a dozen Westerns between 1938 and 1947. She later said she decided to go by Patricia because no one believed Persotia was a real name.

Relationships

She was rumored to be engaged to Jesse Lasky Jr. in the early 1930s, but Lasky later said they had just been friends. She married advertising executive George Johnson Ross in 1947.

Selected filmography

* '' Ghost Town Renegades'' (1947) * '' Border Feud'' (1947) * ''

Range Beyond the Blue ''Range Beyond the Blue'' is a 1947 American Western film directed by Ray Taylor and written by Patricia Harper. The film stars Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates,Helen Mowery, Bob Duncan, Ted Adams and Billy Hammond. The film was released on March 17 ...

'' (1947) * ''

The Scarlet Horseman ''The Scarlet Horseman'' is a 1946 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures. It is directed by Lewis D. Collins and Ray Taylor. Paul Guilfoyle plays Jim Bannion, secret identity of The Scarlet Horseman, with Janet Shaw as Elise, hi ...

'' (1946) * ''

Code of the Lawless ''Code of the Lawless'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Wallace Fox and written by Patricia Harper. The film stars Kirby Grant, Fuzzy Knight, Poni Adams, Hugh Prosser, Barbara Sears and Edward Howard. The film was released on Octobe ...

'' (1945) * ''

Secret Agent X-9 ''Secret Agent X-9'' is a comic strip created by writer Dashiell Hammett ('' The Maltese Falcon'') and artist Alex Raymond (''Flash Gordon''). Syndicated by King Features, it ran from January 22, 1934 until February 10, 1996. Premise and publ ...

'' (1945) * ''

The Topeka Terror ''The Topeka Terror'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Howard Bretherton, written by Patricia Harper and Norman S. Hall, and starring Allan Lane, Linda Stirling, Earle Hodgins, Twinkle Watts, Roy Barcroft and Bud Geary. It was rele ...

'' (1945) * ''

My Gal Loves Music ''My Gal Loves Music'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Edward C. Lilley and written by Eugene Conrad and Edward Dein. The film stars Bob Crosby, Grace McDonald, Alan Mowbray, Betty Kean, Walter Catlett and Freddie Mercer. The film w ...

'' (1944) * ''

Trail to Gunsight ''Trail to Gunsight'' is a 1944 American Western film directed by Vernon Keays and written by Bennett Cohen and Patricia Harper. The film stars Eddie Dew, Lyle Talbot, Fuzzy Knight, Ray Whitley, Maris Wrixon, Robert 'Buzz' Henry, Marie Austi ...

'' (1944) * ''

Trigger Trail ''Trigger Trail'' is a 1944 American Western film directed by Lewis D. Collins and starring Rod Cameron. Premise A cowboy ( Rod Cameron) intervenes when greedy businessmen try to trick homesteaders into forfeiting their land. Cast * Rod C ...

'' (1944) * '' The Drifter'' (1944) * ''

Blazing Frontier ''Blazing Frontier'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield. The film is also known as ''Blazing Range'' (American recut version). Cast *Buster Crabbe as Billy the Kid *Al St. John as Fuzzy Q. Jones * Marjorie Manners as H ...

'' (1943) * ''

Black Market Rustlers ''Black Market Rustlers'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by Patricia Harper. The film is the twenty-third in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Dusty, Dennis M ...

'' (1943) * ''

Western Cyclone ''Western Cyclone'' is a 1943 American Producers Releasing Corporation Western film of the "Billy the Kid" series directed by Sam Newfield. The film is also known as ''Frontier Fighters'' (cut American reissue title). Plot On a western l ...

'' (1943) * ''

Death Rides the Plains ''Death Rides the Plains'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Joseph O'Donnell. The film stars Robert Livingston as the Lone Rider and Al St. John as his sidekick "Fuzzy Jones", with Patti McCarty, Ray Ben ...

'' (1943) * '' Riders of San Joaquin'' (1943) * '' Prairie Pals'' (1942) * '' Western Jamboree'' (1938)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Patricia 1908 births Year of death missing Screenwriters from Indiana American women screenwriters People from Huntington County, Indiana 20th-century American women writers