Luana Patten (July 6, 1938 – May 1, 1996) was an American actress who appeared in films produced by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

, such as '' Song of the South'' (1946), ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy package film produced by Walt Disney and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the ninth Disney animated feature film and the fourth of the package films th ...

'' (1947), and ''

Melody Time ''Melody Time'' is a 1948 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney. The tenth Disney animated feature film, it was released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to popular mu ...

'' (1948). Later in life, she played roles in television.

Early years

Patten was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, to Harvey T. Patten and Alma (née Miller) Patten, natives of

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

. She attended Burbank High School and

Hollywood Professional School Hollywood Professional School was a private school in Hollywood, California. Initially established as a music conservatory by pianist Gladys T. Littell in 1921 under the name Hollywood Conservatory of Music and Arts, the school quickly expanded its ...

Career

At the age of three she was a model and later was hired by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

. Patten made her first film appearance in the 1946 musical '' Song of the South'' with

Bobby Driscoll Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968) was an American actor known for his film and television performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period ...

. They also appeared together in ''Song of the Souths sister film ''

So Dear to My Heart ''So Dear to My Heart'' is a 1948 American live-action/animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Its world premiere was in Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, 1948. Like 1946's ''Song of the South'', the film comb ...

''. In 1947, she appeared again with Edgar Bergen,

Charlie McCarthy Charlie McCarthy is Edgar Bergen's famed ventriloquist dummy partner. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930, was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. The character was so well-known that his popularit ...

, and

Mortimer Snerd Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...

during the live action scenes in ''

''. She appeared with

in the ''

Pecos Bill Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Tex O'Reill ...

'' segment of Disney's ''

''. When she grew up, she played Jody Weaver in '' Joe Dakota'' and Priscilla Lapham in Disney's 1957 ''

Johnny Tremain ''Johnny Tremain'' is a work of historical fiction written in 1943 by Esther Forbes that is set in Boston prior to and during the outbreak of the American Revolution. Intended for teen-aged readers, the novel's themes include apprenticeship, co ...

''. In 1958, Patten portrayed Elizabeth Buckley in the episode "Twelve Guns" of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Cimarron City Cimarron City is a town in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 150 at the 2010 census, a 39.4 percent gain over the figure of 110 in 2000.

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

. It was on ''Cimarron City'' that she met her future second husband, John Smith. They married on June 4, 1960, and divorced on December 4, 1964. In 1959, she played Abbie Fenton in the episode "Call Your Shot" of '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'', starring Steve McQueen. In that same year, she played Betty in "The Exploding Book", season 7, episode 21 of "

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

" that aired on March 4, 1959; and she played Ruth in "The Ruth Marshall Story" season 3, episode 13 of ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'' that aired on December 30, 1959. In the 1960 Season 2, Episode 13 of '' Rawhide'' "Incident Of The Druid Curse", she played a dual role of sisters Maeve and Mona Lismore. In 1960, she played Libby Halstead in

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...

's '' Home from the Hill''. In 1966, she played saloon girl Lorna Medford in the episode "Credit for a Kill" of '' Bonanza''. In 1966, she had a small part as Nora White, the new bride of Whitey in '' Follow Me, Boys!''. She also appeared in ''

A Thunder of Drums ''A Thunder of Drums'' is a 1961 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Joseph Newman and starring Richard Boone, George Hamilton, Luana Patten and Arthur O'Connell. The screenwriter James Warner Bellah adapted it from his 1946 short ...

'', and the '' Rawhide'' episode "Incident of the Druid Curse" on CBS. That year she also appeared on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' as defendant Cynthia Perkins in "The Case of the Scarlet Scandal". She also played Mindy McGurney in the television series ''

F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and ...

'', as the daughter of a candidate for mayor, season 2, episode 8, "The Ballot of Corporal Agarn" that aired on October 27, 1966. She appeared as various characters in three episodes of ''Dragnet'' between 1967 and 1970. She appeared in the Adam-12 "Log 94: Vengeance" that aired March 7, 1970. She then retired from the film and television industry except for a brief cameo in the 1988 film ''

Grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

''.

Death

Patten died from

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

Long Beach Memorial Hospital Long Beach Medical Center (formerly ''Long Beach Memorial Hospital'') was a 403-bed teaching and community hospital located in Long Beach, New York. Long Beach Hospital was destroyed as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Hospital leaders are currently ...

, aged 57. She is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach, California.Notice of death of Luana Patten
independent.co.uk; accessed April 18, 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patten, Luana 1938 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American child actresses Deaths from respiratory failure Disney people Actresses from Long Beach, California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach)