Patsy Ruth Miller
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Patsy Ruth Miller (January 17, 1904 - July 16, 1995) was an American movie actress from St. Louis, Missouri. Her original name was Patricia Deans.
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[edit] Career
After being discovered by famed actress Alla Nazimova at a Hollywood party, Patsy Ruth Miller got her first break with a small role in Camille, which starred Rudolph Valentino. From this she began to slowly move up in Hollywood, being chosen as a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1922.
1923 saw her star in the role for which she is best remembered today, that of Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame opposite Lon Chaney, Sr., for which she won much acclaim.
In the later part of the decade Patsy appeared chiefly in light romantic comedies, opposite such actors as Clive Brook and Edward Everett Horton. Among her film credits in the late 1920s are Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926), A Hero for a Night (1927), Hot Heels (1928), and The Aviator (1929).
She retired from the screen in 1931. Patsy made a cameo appearance in the 1951 film, Quebec, which starred John Barrymore Jr.. She admitted in her autobiography that she performed in this one merely as a joke.
Later the actress decided to write. She won three O. Henry awards for her short stories, wrote a novel, radio scripts, and plays. She also performed for a brief time on Broadway.
Miss Miller was married three times, the first two ended in divorce. Her first husband was film director Ted Garnett and the second was screenwriter John Lee Mahin. Her third husband, businessman E.S. Deans, died in 1986. The frequent news about her love life once earned Patsy the sobriquet the most engaged girl in Hollywood.
Patsy Ruth Miller died at her home in Palm Desert, California in 1995.
[edit] Reference
- New York Times, Patsy Ruth Miller, Movie Actress, 91, An Early Esmeralda, July 19, 1995, Page D20.
[edit] Selected filmography
- Camille (1921)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
- Why Girls Go Back Home (1926)
- So This Is Paris (1926)
