Patricia McCormack (born Patricia Ellen Russo in 1945) is an American actress with a career in theater, films, and television. McCormack began her career as a child actress. She is perhaps best known for her performance as

Rhoda Penmark Rhoda Penmark is a fictional character in William March's 1954 novel '' The Bad Seed'' and the stage play of the same name adapted from it by Maxwell Anderson. She is both the protagonist and antagonist of the story. Penmark is a child serial ki ...

in Maxwell Anderson's 1956

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries bet ...

drama '' The Bad Seed''. She received critical acclaim for the role on Broadway and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. In his youth he played juvenile roles in vaudeville and silent film comedies. During the 1930s, LeRoy was one of the two great practitioners of ...

's film adaptation. Her acting career has continued with both starring and supporting roles in film and television, including Helen Keller in the original ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of th ...

'' production of ''The Miracle Worker'', Jeffrey Tambor's wife Anne Brookes on the ABC sitcom ''

The Ropers ''The Ropers'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 1980. It is a spin-off of ''Three's Company'' and loosely based on the British sitcom ''George and Mildred'', which was itself a spin-off o ...

'', and as

Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (''née'' Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as Second Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 w ...

in '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008). She also appeared in the November 11, 1982, season 3 episode 8..."Foiled Again" of '' Magnum, P.I.'' with

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...

. She was also cast and appeared as Adriana La Cerva's mother in ''

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''.

Life and career

Wendell Corey, Patty McCormack, Ray Farrell, and Marsha Hunt from Peck's Bad Girl - 1959

McCormack was a child model at the age of four, and began appearing on television at the age of seven. She made her motion-picture debut in '' Two Gals and a Guy'' (1951) and appeared as Ingeborg in the television series ''

Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlemen ...

'' with Peggy Wood from 1953 to 1956. Her Broadway debut was in ''Touchstone'' (1953), and the following year, she originated the role of

, an eight-year-old psychopath and fledgling

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, in the original stage version of Maxwell Anderson's '' The Bad Seed'' (1954) with Nancy Kelly. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film version (1956). She portrayed Helen Keller in the original 1957 ''

'' production of

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

's '' The Miracle Worker'' opposite Teresa Wright. In 1957, she was cast by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

in his film adaptation of ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'', but filming had to be abandoned for budgetary reasons, and was never fully completed. When a version was edited together in 1992, some years after Welles's death, it did not include any of McCormack's scenes, though they had been central to the framing of the plot. In 1959 she was in an episode of ''

One Step Beyond One Step Beyond may refer to: Music * ''One Step Beyond'' (Dungeon album) or the title song, 2004 * ''One Step Beyond'' (Jackie McLean album), 1963 * '' One Step Beyond...'', an album by Madness, or the title song (see below), 1979 * ''One Step ...

'' called "Make Me Not a Witch". She had the role of a pampered child star in the 1958 comedy '' Kathy O''' and recorded the title song for Dot Records. McCormack briefly starred in her own series, ''Peck's Bad Girl'', with Marsha Hunt and Wendell Corey in 1959, and had a leading role in MGM's remake of '' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' with

Eddie Hodges Samuel "Eddie" Hodges (born March 5, 1947) is an American former child actor and recording artist (his 1961 cover of the Isley Brothers’ “I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door” reached #12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100), who left show business as ...

. In the early 1960s, she starred in a series of popular teenage delinquent films, including ''

The Explosive Generation ''The Explosive Generation'' is a 1961 film directed by Buzz Kulik. It stars William Shatner and Patty McCormack. Plot The story is about Peter Gifford, a teacher who wants to teach high school students to think for themselves and express themse ...

'' with

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and '' The Young Runaways''. In 1962, she portrayed Julie Cannon in the '' Rawhide'' episode "Episode of the Wolves"; she appeared on the show again the following year, playing Sarah Higgins in the episode "Incident at Paradise". Chase Crosley Patty McCormick Young Doctor Malone 1962

Chase Crosley Patty McCormick Young Doctor Malone 1962

She married restaurateur Bob Catania in 1967, and the couple had two children before their marriage was dissolved. After a half-dozen teen roles during the 1960s, her film career gradually declined, but she continued to work in television. In 1970, she played Linda Warren on the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

'' The Best of Everything''. She guest-starred on ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ...

'', season two, episode "Blockade". She also portrayed a San Francisco paramedic on the season-seven '' Emergency!'' series episodes " What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing...?" and " The Convention". She resumed her cinema career with '' Bug'' in 1975. McCormack held several recurring roles in popular television series, including ''

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

'', and ''

''. McCormack also starred as Anne Brookes, the wife of Jeffrey P. Brookes III (played by Jeffrey Tambor) on the ABC television series ''

'', a spin-off of '' Three's Company'' starring Norman Fell and

Audra Lindley Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off ''The Ropers''. Life and career Audra Lindley was born ...

, from 1979 to 1980. When

Kathryn Hays Kathryn Hays (born Kay Piper; July 26, 1934 – March 25, 2022) was an American actress, best known for her role as Kim Sullivan Hughes, Kim Hughes on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' from 1972 to 2010. Life and career Hays was born ...

left the CBS soap opera '' As the World Turns'' for an extended period, McCormack took Hays' role until she returned. She starred as a psychotic mother in the cult thriller '' Mommy'' and its 1997 sequel '' Mommy 2: Mommy's Day''. In 2008, McCormack played First Lady

in the feature film '' Frost/Nixon''. McCormack continues to work regularly and she costarred in the 2012 series ''Have You Met Miss Jones?''. A recent film appearance is in the 2014 release ''Chicanery'' and she guest-starred in a 2013 episode of the series '' Hart of Dixie''. Her most notable recent work was in the

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with '' Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' (1997) and received ...

film '' The Master''. In April 2018, it was announced that McCormack would join the cast of ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' temporarily replacing Leslie Charleson in the role of Monica Quartermaine due to injuries Charleson sustained in a fall. In September 2018, McCormack portrayed Dr. March, the child psychiatrist consulted in the 2018 television remake of ''The Bad Seed''.

Awards

McCormack was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for ''The Bad Seed''. On March 20, 1956, she received the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

"Gold Star Award" as the most outstanding juvenile performer, in which Sal Mineo was placed third and Tommy Rettig second. Her star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

is at 6312 Hollywood Boulevard. She received the star in 1960 aged 15, making her the youngest honoree on the Walk. McCormack was a guest for the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, where her films were screened, and she received an award during the closing ceremonies.

Selected filmography

*'' Two Gals and a Guy'' (1951) Fay Oliver *'' Here Comes the Groom'' (1951) Orphan (uncredited) *'' The Bad Seed'' (1956)

*''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

'' (1957) Angel, the Robber Girl (voice in 1959 English version) *'' All Mine to Give'' (1957) Annabelle Eunson *'' Kathy O''' (1958) Kathy O'Rourke *'' Peck's Bad Girl'' (1959) Torey Peck *''

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 ...

'' (season 2, episode 12: "The Mary Ellen Thomas Story"; 1959) Mary Ellen Thomas *'' Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond'' (episode: "Make Me Not a Witch"; 1959) Emmy Horvath *'' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1960) Joanna Wilkes *'' Route 66'' (season 1, episode 1: "Black November"; 1960) Jan Emerson and Jenny Slade *''

'' (1961) Janet Sommers *'' Rawhide'' (1960) Julie *'' Jacktown'' (1962) Margaret *'' The New Breed'' (1962) Karen Kegler *'' Maryjane'' (1968) Susan Hoffman *''

The Mini-Skirt Mob ''The Mini-Skirt Mob'' is a 1968 outlaw biker film about an all-female motorcycle gang. The film was directed by Maury Dexter, and stars Diane McBain, Jeremy Slate, Sherry Jackson, Patty McCormack, Harry Dean Stanton and Sandra Marshall. P ...

'' (1968) Edie *'' The Young Runaways'' (1968) Deanie Donford *'' Bug'' (1975) Sylvia Ross *''

'' (1979-1980) Anne Brookes (as Patricia McCormack) *'' Magnum, P.I.'' (1982) Carol Baldwin *'' Invitation to Hell'' (1984) Mary Peterson *''

Saturday the 14th Strikes Back ''Saturday the 14th Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Saturday the 14th Part 2'') is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Howard R. Cohen and produced by Julie Corman. It stars Ray Walston, Avery Schreiber, Patty McCormack and ...

'' (1988) Kate Baxter *''

'' (1987) (Episode: "No Accounting for Murder") Lana Whitman *''

'' (1988) (Episode: "Wearing of the Green") Det. Kathleen Chadwick *'' Mommy'' (1995) Mommy *'' Mommy's Day'' (1997) (aka ''Mommy 2: Mommy's Day'') Mrs. Sterling *''

'' (2000-2006) Liz La Cerva *''

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'' (2001) Lois *'' The Kiss'' (2003) Priscilla Standhope *''

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

'' (2004) Maysie *''

Shallow Ground ''Shallow Ground'' is a 2004 horror film written and directed by Sheldon Wilson and starring Timothy V. Murphy, Stan Kirsch, Lindsey Stoddart, Patty McCormack, and Rocky Marquette. A naked teenage boy (Rocky Marquette) appears at a soon-to-be aba ...

'' (2004) Helen Reedy * Mystery Woman (2004) Barbara Somers "Snapshot" *'' Cold Case'' (2004) (Episode: "Greed") Mavis Breen *'' Gone, But Not Forgotten'' (2004) Andrea Hammerhill *'' Heart of the Beholder'' (2005) Helen *''

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'' (2005) - Marcia Gordon *'' Frost/Nixon'' (2008) Pat Nixon *'' Private Practice'' (2009) Cynthia *''

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'' (2010) Teresa Pruitt *''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' (2012) Eleanor Holmes and Betsy *'' The Master'' (2012) Mildred Drummond *'' Scandal'' (2012) Anne Pierce *'' Hart of Dixie'' (2013) Sylvie Stephens-Wilkes *'' The Bad Seed'' (2018) Dr. March *''Home Abduction'' '' (Lifetime)'' (2018) Sylvia Holmes *'' Cookie Run: Kingdom'' (2021) Dark Enchantress Cookie *''

The Bad Seed Returns ''The Bad Seed Returns'' is an American made-for-television horror drama film directed by Louise Archambault, written by Ross Burge, Mckenna Grace, and Barbara Marshall, and starring Mckenna Grace, Michelle Morgan, Benjamin Ayres, Marlowe Zim ...

'' (2022) Dr. March

Radio appearances

References

External links

* * *
Patty McCormack
at the American Film Institute Catalog
Interview, July 19, 2014, Ames Tribune
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormack, Patty 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American child actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American women singers Dot Records artists 1945 births Living people People from Brooklyn New Utrecht High School alumni