Irish-born stage actress, in London from 1904, on Broadway from 1908.
After appearing as a flower girl in
'The Queen of the Moulin Rouge',
she became a celebrated theatrical star of many classic plays by George Bernard Shaw,
Henrik Ibsen,
J.M. Barrie and others. From 1947 to 1948,
she starred as Lavinia Penniman in
'The Heiress' at the Biltmore Theatre, directed by Jed Harris.
The play ran for 410 performances. On screen, she was noted for her
work with Alfred Hitchcock. She
appeared as Emma Newton in
Im Schatten des Zweifels (1943).
Though uncredited, Patricia wrote some of the dialogue for this film,
as well as for Das Rettungsboot (1944), in which
she did not appear as an actress. In the 1960's, she acted in several
episodes of
Alfred Hitchcock präsentiert (1955)
and
Alfred Hitchcock zeigt (1962).
However, her finest moment was as the endearing, disillusioned Aunt
Birdie in
Die kleinen Füchse (1941), which
she had created on the stage in 1939, and which won her an Academy
Award nomination for Best Supporting actress.
