Sunday, May 20, 2018

Patricia Morison Dies at 103

Actress-singer Patricia Morison died earlier today, May 20th.


The star of stage and screen, who among other accomplishments originated the title role in KISS ME, KATE, was 103.


I'm fortunate to have seen Morison in person on multiple occasions. As a child I saw her play the Baroness in a Los Angeles theatrical production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC.


In more recent years, I saw her interviewed at a 2015 Noir City Hollywood screening of THE FALLEN SPARROW (1943), which took place shortly after she celebrated her centennial birthday.


Just last September Morison appeared at a Cinecon screening of UNTAMED (1940), in which she starred with Ray Milland. She shared her memories of liking working with Milland -- and freezing while shooting the film's blizzard scenes in an ice house!


For more on Patricia Morison, including numerous photos and links to all my reviews of her films, please visit my 2017 birthday tribute to the actress.


Obituaries have been published by the Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Broadway World, and The New York Times.

I send my sincere condolences to her friends and colleagues, with gratitude for many hours of wonderful entertainment, both past and future.

7 Comments:

Blogger Walter S. said...

Laura, here is an interview Patricia Morison gave at age 98 if anyone is interested. I enjoyed it. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/patricia-morison-dead-kiss-me-kate-star-was-103-783157

3:41 PM  
Blogger barrylane said...

YouTube Has Patricia and Yul Brynner doing Shall we Dance in 1971. Beyond beautiful I wanted to cheer.

4:16 PM  
Blogger Walter S. said...

Barry, I went over and viewed Patricia Morison and Yul Brynner on YouTube and I hope everyone else does the same. What a magical match they were.

6:41 PM  
Blogger john k said...

Thanks so much Laura for your lovely tribute.
I do wish Universal would release PERSONS IN HIDING on DVD and Blu Ray.
This wonderful little Noir pre-dates and in many ways pre figures both GUN CRAZY
and BONNIE & CLYDE.
Patricia is magnetic in this film and despite the fact that she is totally evil,
somehow the audience cannot help but be on her side-an example of star power I guess.
I wish Patricia's film career had been more prolific especially with more Femme Fatale
type roles.

2:01 AM  
Blogger barrylane said...

Walter, magical is the word.

3:39 PM  
Blogger Walter S. said...

Barry and John, I first remember, as a youngster, seeing Patricia Morison in the Sherlock Holmes movie DRESSED TO KILL(1946) and in TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS(1947). These movies were shown frequently on TV. She was strikingly memorable in both movies.

5:46 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you all so much for sharing your memories of this wonderful performer! I will be checking out the YouTube link in the near future.

John, I certainly agree with you, PERSONS IN HIDING strikes me as an important yet relatively undiscovered film which should be more widely known. I certainly wish it were released for home video.

I have a few of Morison's films left I've not yet seen, hope to watch one soon. :)

Best wishes,
Laura

9:34 PM  

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