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Patricia Morison (born March 19, 1915^[1]) is an American stage and motion picture actress and singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on the stage. During her time as a screen actress she was lauded for her patrician beauty, with her blue eyes and extremely long, dark hair among her most notable physical attributes. Unfortunately, during this period of her career she was generally misused, largely in unsympathetic roles as a femme fatale or a haughty "other woman." It was only when she returned to the Broadway stage that she achieved her greatest success as the lead in the original production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate.

Early life

Background

Patricia Morison was born in New York City. Her father, William Morison, was a playwright and occasional actor who billed himself under the name Norman Rainey.^[2] Her mother, Selena Morison (née Fraser) worked for British Intelligence during World War I.^[2] After graduating from Washington Irving High School in New York, Morison studied at the Arts Students League while taking acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse. She also studied dance under Martha Graham. During this time she was employed as a dress shop designer at Russeks Department Store.

First stage appearances

Morison made her stage debut at the Provincetown Playhouse in the musical revue Don't Mind the Rain, in which she sang a song entitled "Simple Silly I." Her Broadway debut came in November 1933, with a short-lived play, Growing Pains. Following that, she proceeded to understudy Helen Hayes in her classic role of Victoria Regina. She also understudied all the other women in the cast. However, Hayes never missed a performance and, thus, Morison never had the opportunity to play her role.

In 1935, four years before her official film debut, Morison made her actual first appearance on film in an automobile propaganda short called Wreckless.

In 1938, Morison appeared in the musical The Two Bouquets, which ran for only 55 performances. Among the other cast members was Alfred Drake, who, years later, would co-star with Morison in Kiss Me, Kate.

Film career

Paramount contract player

While appearing in The Two Bouquets, Morison was noticed by talent scouts from Paramount Pictures, who — at the time — were looking for exotic, dark-haired glamorous types similar to Dorothy Lamour, one of their star commodities.^[2] Morison (who did indeed bear a slight resemblance to Lamour, notably in that they both had very long, dark hair) was subsequently signed to a contract with Paramount. She made her feature film debut in the "B" film Persons in Hiding (1939). Also in 1939, Paramount considered her for the role of Isobel in their adventure film Beau Geste, starring Gary Cooper and Ray Milland. However, she was replaced by Susan Hayward.^[3] The following year she appeared opposite Milland in the Technicolor romance Untamed, a re-make of the Clara Bow vehicle, Man Trap (1926).

Despite the promising beginnings, she was assigned to several second-tier pictures such as Rangers of Fortune (1940) and One Night in Lisbon (1941), both with Fred MacMurray, and The Roundup (1941) with Richard Dix and Preston Foster. On a loan-out to 20th Century-Fox she played one of her first villainess roles in Romance of the Rio Grande (1941), which starred Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid.

Morison subsequently left Paramount after playing unrewarding roles in Night in New Orleans (1942) with Preston Foster, the Technicolor musical Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942) with the sarong-clad Dorothy Lamour, and Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), which re-teamed her with Ray Milland.

USO tour

By 1942, the United States had become involved in World War II and, as a result, Morison became one of many celebrities who entertained American troops and their allies. In November of that year she joined Al Jolson, Merle Oberon, Allen Jenkins, and Frank McHugh on a USO Tour in Great Britain.

Return to film

Morison returned to acting in the cinema as a freelance performer. As before, however, her roles were generally unimpressive. One of her better roles — albeit a small supporting one — was that of Empress Eugénie in The Song of Bernadette (1943) starring Jennifer Jones. She also appeared in The Fallen Sparrow (1943) with John Garfield and Maureen O'Hara, and Calling Dr. Death (1945), one of the "Inner Sanctum" films starring Lon Chaney, Jr.

Allah Be Praised!

In 1944, Morison briefly abandoned her film work and returned to the Broadway stage. In April of that year, she opened at the Adelphi Theatre in a musical comedy, Allah Be Praised! The play, however, was unsuccessful and closed after a very brief run on only 20 performances.

More cinematic roles

	[2]
In the late 1940s Patricia Morison was often cast in films as a coldly beautiful villainess. Among these were (left) Dressed to Kill (1946), the last entry in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series, and (right) Tarzan and the Huntress (1947), the penultimate film to star Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. This latter portrait also displays Morison's piercing eyes and very long dark hair.

Returning to films once again, Morison still continued to be cast in supporting roles, all too often as a femme fatale or an unsympathetic "other woman." These included the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn vehicle Without Love (1945) and the Deanna Durbin comedy-mystery Lady on a Train (1945). She also played the villainess in the final installments of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series and MGM's Thin Man series — respectively, Dressed to Kill (1946), starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and Song of the Thin Man (1947), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. In addition to these, she appeared — again as a villainess — in Tarzan and the Huntress (1947), the penultimate film starring Johnny Weissmuller as Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle hero.

Her few leading roles during this time were in "B" pictures, notably as Maid Marian to Jon Hall's Robin Hood in the Cinecolor production The Prince of Thieves (1947) and with Richard Arlen in the sepiatoned western The Return of Wildfire (1948).

What may have been one of her best film roles was that of Victor Mature's despairing, suicide-driven wife in Kiss of Death (1947). Unfortunately, the film's producers cut her role from the final print, as they (reputedly) felt audiences of the time were not ready for such a shocking scene as someone taking their own life.

Broadway triumphs

Kiss Me, Kate

Main article: Kiss Me, Kate

In 1948, Morison again abandoned her film career and retuned to the stage, but this time she finally succeeded in finding major stardom in a role worthy of her talent. Cole Porter had heard her sing while in Hollywood and decided that she had the vocal expertise and right feistiness to play the female lead in his new show, Kiss Me, Kate.^[2] Morison went on to major Broadway stardom when she created the role of Lilli Vanessi, the imperious stage diva whose own volatile personality coincided with that of her onstage role (Kate from The Taming of the Shrew).^[2] Kiss Me, Kate featured the songs "I Hate Men," "Wonderbar" and "So in Love", and also reunited Morison with her former Broadway co-star Alfred Drake. The play ran on Broadway from December 30, 1948 until July 28, 1951, for a total of 1,077 performances. Morison also played in the London production of Kiss Me, Kate, which ran for 400 performances.

The King and I

Main article: The King and I

In February 1954, Morison took over role of Anna Leonowens in the Rogers and Hammerstein production of The King and I, which co-starred Yul Brynner in his star-making role as the King of Siam. The play premiered in 1951, originally with Gertrude Lawrence as Leonowens. Lawrence was subsequently replaced by Celeste Holm, Constance Carpenter, Annamary Dickey, and finally Morison, who appeared in The King and I until its Broadway closing on March 20, 1954, and then continued with the production on tour.

She appeared in further productions of The King and I at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (opening May 5, 1954) and at the Municipal Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri (opening June 11, 1959).

Television

During the 1950s and 1960s, Morison made several appearances on television, including several variety shows. Among these were a production of Rio Rita on Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) and a segment from The King and I on a 1955 broadcast of The Toast of the Town starring Ed Sullivan. Morison and Alfred Drake recreated their Kiss Me, Kate roles in a Hallmark Hall of Fame production of the play broadcasted in color on November 20, 1958. She also appeared with Howard Keel in a production of Kate on British television in 1964. In 1971 she and Yul Brynner performed "Shall We Dance" from The King and I on a broadcast of the Tony Awards.

Among her non-musical television performances were a recurring role on the detective series The Cases of Eddie Drake (1952) co-starring Don Haggerty, and a guest appearance with Vincent Price on Have Gun — Will Travel (1958) starring Richard Boone. Years later she appeared in the made-for-TV movie Mirrors (1985) and a guest role in 1989 on the popular sitcom Cheers.

Last film and stage appearances

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Morison performed on stage numerous times — largely in stock and touring productions. These included both musical and dramatic plays, among them Milk and Honey, Kismet, The Merry Widow, Song of Norway, Do I Hear a Waltz?, Bell, Book and Candle, The Fourposter, Separate Tables, and Private Lives.

She performed in still more productions of Kiss, Me Kate at the Seattle Opera House (opening in April 1965) and the New York City Center (opening May 12, 1965). In August 1972, she appeared in a production of The Sound of Music at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Morison made only three film appearances after her stage triumph in Kiss Me, Kate. These were a cameo part as writer George Sand in the biopic Song Without End (1960), co-starring Dirk Bogarde as composer Franz Liszt, another cameo in the comedy film Won-Ton-Ton — The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), and as herself in the documentary Broadway — The Golden Years (2003).

Recent years

In recent years Patricia Morison has devoted herself to painting — one of her early passions — and has had several showings in and around Los Angeles. She never married and currently resides in the Park La Brea area of Los Angeles, California.

Credits

See: Patricia Morison chronology of stage, film, and television credits

References

External links

• Patricia Morison at the Internet Broadway Database
• Patricia Morison at the Internet Movie Database
• YouTube: Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison singing "Wunderbar" from Kiss, Me Kate on The Hallmark Hall of Fame (1958)

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