{{short description|American actress (1920–2010)}} {{Infobox person | name = Neva Patterson | image = Neva Patterson 1969.JPG | caption = Patterson in 1969 | birth_date = {{birth date|1920|2|10}} | birth_place = Near Nevada, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2010|12|14|1920|2|10}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1949–1992 | spouse = {{plainlist| * Thomas Gallagher ({{tooltip|m.|married}} unknown date; {{tooltip|div.|divorced}} 1948)<br>{{marriage|Michael Ellis March|1953|1956|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|James Lee|1957|2002|reason=died}} }} | children = 2 }}
'''Neva Louise Patterson'''<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-neva-patterson-20101216,0,5006111.story| title=Neva Patterson dies at 90; actress played Cary Grant's fiancee in 'An Affair to Remember'| last=Nelson| first=Valerie J.| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=December 17, 2010| url-access=subscription}}</ref> (February 10, 1920 – December 14, 2010) was an American actress.
== Early years == Born on a farm near Nevada, Iowa, Patterson was the daughter of mailman George Patterson and seamstress Marjorie Byers Patterson. After graduating from Nevada High School in 1937, she worked as a secretary in Des Moines before she moved to New York in 1938<ref name="twp">{{cite book |last1=Aaker |first1=Everett |title=Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary |date=2017 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6250-3 |page=335 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltUkDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Neva+Patterson%22&pg=RA2-PA1984 |accessdate=August 2, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> and initially worked as a secretary there.<ref name="np">{{cite news |last1=Bolton |first1=Whitney |title=What It Takes for an Actress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13209196/neva-patterson-1957/ |accessdate=August 2, 2020 |work=News-Press |date=January 16, 1957 |location=Florida, Fort Myers |page=4|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Career == Early in her career, Patterson acted on radio in Chicago and sang for dance bands.<ref>{{cite news |title=Neva Patterson's Career Has Taken Her From Dance Bands to 'Cocktail Party |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56525252/neva-patterson/ |accessdate=August 2, 2020 |work=The Boston Globe |date=April 6, 1952 |page=88|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
She made her Broadway debut in 1947's ''The Druid Circle''. Her work on Broadway also included ''Strange Bedfellows'' (1948), ''The Ivy Green'' (1949), ''I Know My Love'' (1949), ''Ring Round the Moon'' (1950), ''The Long Days'' (1951), ''Lace on Her Petticoat'' (1951), ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1952, in which she played Helen Sherman), ''Double in Hearts'' (1956), ''Speaking of Murder'' (1956), ''Make a Million'' (1958), and ''Romantic Comedy'' (1979).<ref>{{cite web |title=Neva Patterson |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/neva-patterson-55697 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |accessdate=August 2, 2020 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200802015822/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/neva-patterson-55697 |archivedate=August 2, 2020}}</ref>
Her first feature movie was {{film show year|Taxi|1953}}. Other film credits include ''The Buddy Holly Story'', {{film show year|All of Me|1984}}, and ''An Affair to Remember'' (1957). Also in 1957, she played the beleaguered Miss Warriner in ''Desk Set''.
Patterson portrayed Ma Ketchum in ''Nichols'',{{r|etvs|page1=762}} Maggie McCloud in ''The Governor & J.J.'',{{r|etvs|page1=410}} Ilene in the NBC drama ''Berringer's,''<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=90|edition=2nd}}</ref> and Margaret Brimble in ''Doc Elliott'' on ABC.{{r|etvs|page1=268}} She also hosted the game show ''Manhattan Honeymoon'' on ABC.{{r|etvs|page1=652}} Her other television credits included ''Cagney and Lacey'', in which she played Muriel Lacey, and as Eleanor Dupres in ''V'', which she reprised in ''V: The Final Battle''. She made guest appearances on ''Appointment with Adventure'', ''New Comedy Showcase'', ''The Defenders'', ''Ben Casey'', ''Maude'', ''Family'', ''Ironside'', ''Charlie's Angels'', ''S.W.A.T.'', ''Barnaby Jones'', ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', ''The Waltons'', ''The Rockford Files'', ''In the Heat of the Night'' and ''St. Elsewhere''.
== Personal life == Patterson initially married Thomas Gallagher, and they divorced in 1948. On March 22, 1953, she married Michael Ellis March; they divorced in 1956. She married James Lee on September 15, 1957, and they remained wed until he died in 2002.<ref name="twp" />
== Death == On December 14, 2010, Patterson died from complications from a broken hip at age 90.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/arts/television/17patterson.html| title=Neva Patterson, Actress in 'Affair to Remember', Dies at 90| newspaper=The New York Times| date=December 17, 2010| agency=Associated Press| accessdate=June 22, 2020}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{div col|colwidth=26em}} * ''Taxi'' (1953) - Miss Millard * ''The Solid Gold Cadillac'' (1956) - Amelia Shotgraven * ''Desk Set'' (1957) - Miss Warriner * ''An Affair to Remember'' (1957) - Lois Clark * ''Too Much, Too Soon'' (1958) - Blanche Oehrichs aka Michael Strange * ''The Spiral Road'' (1962) - Louise Kramer * ''David and Lisa'' (1962) - Mrs. Clemens * ''Dear Heart'' (1964) - Connie Templeton * ''Counterpoint'' (1968) - Dorothy * ''Skin Game'' (1971) - Mrs. Claggart * ''All The President's Men'' (1976) - CRP Woman * ''The Domino Principle'' (1977) - Gaddis * ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978) - Mrs. Ella Holly * ''Star 80'' (1983) - Playboy Executive * ''V'' (1983, TV Mini-Series) - Eleanor Dupres * ''V: The Final Battle'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Eleanor Dupres * ''All of Me'' (1984) - Gretchen {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|666332}} * {{IBDB name|55697}} * {{Find a Grave|62966489}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Neva}} Category:1920 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from Iowa Category:People from Nevada, Iowa Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United States Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women