Patricia Dane

Patricia Dane
from the trailer for Grand Central Murder (1942)
Born	Thelma Pearl Pippins (1919-08-04)August 4, 1919 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Died	June 5, 1995(1995-06-05) (aged 75) Blountstown, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1941-1956
Spouse	Tommy Dorsey (1943-1947)

Patricia Dane (August 4, 1919 – June 5, 1995) was an American film actress of the 1940s.

Life and career

Born Thelma Pearl Pippins and sometimes known as Thelma Byrnes after her stepfather in Jacksonville, Florida, she began her career designing clothes for a New York City dress firm. She was signed to an MGM contract in 1941 and is sometimes known as Pat Dane in films. Dane's earliest appearances were two uncredited roles in Ziegfeld Girl and I'll Wait For You (both 1941).

She played the part of "Jennitt Hicks" in Life Begins For Andy Hardy and her well-received performance earned her a long-term contract. Dane played "Garnet" in Johnny Eager (1942) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film starred Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Dane received favorable press for her acting in Grand Central Murder (1942), in which she was billed second to Van Heflin.

Dane took a break from her film career when she married bandleader Tommy Dorsey; the marriage lasted from April 1943 to September 1947. Dane was every bit as forthright and exhibitionistic as Dorsey, and Dorsey loved to show her off to friends, according to Dorsey biographer Peter J. Levinson.

Her MGM contract lapsed in 1945. Following her divorce from Dorsey, she resumed her movie career at the low-budget Monogram Pictures studio (Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad, 1948). Dane appeared in two television roles for Fireside Theater and Flight Thirteen, both 1951. Her final film appearances were uncredited parts in Road To Bali (1952) and The Harder They Fall (1956).

Patricia Dane died in 1995 in Blountstown, Florida, aged 75, from lung cancer. .

Partial filmography

• Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
• Johnny Eager (1941)
• Grand Central Murder (1942)
• Northwest Rangers (1942)
• Rio Rita (1942)
• I Dood It (1943)
• Are You With It? (1948)
• Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948)
• Road to Bali (1952) uncredited

Somewhere I'll find you. 1942

Sources

• Long Beach, California, Release Attachment on Patricia Dane's Salary, Friday, August 18, 1944, Page 21.
• Oakland, California Tribune, If the Dane's Not Great She Can Always Design Clothes, June 14, 1942, Page 65.
• Oakland Tribune, On the First Rung of the Ladder, January 24, 1943, Page 41.
• Oakland Tribune, Exits and Entrances, Thursday, October 9, 1947, Page 29.
• Olivia R. Vickery, 1st cousin and owner of her effects after her death.

External links

Patricia Dane at IMDb