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Micheline Patton

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Micheline Patton, c. 1938

Micheline Patton (1912 – 30 June 2001) was an Irish actress who worked on radio, stage and television from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s.

Biography

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Micheline Elizabeth Patton was born in Belfast in 1912, and died on 30 June 2001 in Godalming, Surrey. Her father was Billy Patton, a surgeon.[1] She went to school in Malvern Girls' College, and studied Modern History at St Hugh's College, Oxford, graduating in 1935.[2][3] One of her cousins was the Irish playwright, BBC producer and war correspondent Denis Johnston.[1][4]

Radio

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Between 1935 and 1947, Patton read several short stories for BBC Radio, including works by Katherine Mansfield,[5] Anton Chekhov,[6] and Helen Colvill.[7] She acted in radio plays, including playing the role of Winifred in the 1947 BBC Radio adaptation of In Chancery from The Forsyte Saga.[8]

Television

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Patton acted in early BBC television broadcasts. In December 1937, she appeared in a backless dress in the final episode of the early fashion documentary Clothes-Line. Patton was viewed from behind, giving an illusion of nudity, which led to outraged viewers writing in to complain.[9] The episode was titled Grandmamma Looks Back, inspiring the copresenter Pearl Binder's quip, "Grandmamma looks back but Micheline has no back to be seen."[9]

She went on to appear in a November 1938 adaptation of Robert J. Flaherty's book The Captain's Chair (produced as The Last Voyage of Captain Grant) and in July 1939, a drama based on the Parnell Commission.

In 1947 Patton had a small role in Weep for the Cyclops, a biographical 1947 television drama on Jonathan Swift, which was written and produced by her cousin Denis Johnston.[4]

Patton's final recorded BBC appearance was in 1958, with a role in The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst.

Theatre

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Patton's best received role was probably as Emily Brontë in The Brontës, by Alfred Sangster, produced by the Sheffield Repertory Company.[10] She played this role from 1946–1949, receiving generally good notices. in 1946 a reviewer for the Brontë Society noted that Patton was so "exceptionally good that one suspected (perhaps too artlessly) a spiritual affinity. What strength that pale, frigid face reflected!"[11] A reviewer for Punch commented on the "interesting" Patton's ability to "suggest dark churnings of the soul."[12] Less enthusiastically, in 1947, a reviewer for Theatre World commented "Micheline Patton does all that could be done with her material," calling the part "poorly written."[10]

1936 on the London stage
  • Stubble Before Swords at Globe
  • A Bride for the Unicorn at Westminster Theatre
1940 in Dublin
  • Roly Poly (Boule de Suif) was withdrawn under Wartime Emergency Legislation (1745 Act).[13]
1941 in Belfast
  • The Passing of the Third Floor Back (Jerome K. Jerome) was concurrent with the first Luftwaffe air-raid
1944–1945 in various provincial Scottish theatres
  • Dundee Repertory Theatre
  • Perth Repertory Theatre
    • Charley's Aunt
    • Androcles and the Lion
    • Caste
    • Hamlet
    • Sheppey
1946 English provincial theatre
  • Bristol Old Vic
    • Weep for the Cyclops
1946–1949 Sheffield Repertory Theatre and touring – most saliently, St James Theatre London
  • The Brontes
1949 London Players
  • Aftermath
1950 St James Theatre
  • Venus Observed
1951 Citizens Theatre Glasgow
  • As You Like It
1954 Hythe Summer Theatre
  • The Powder Magazine
1957 Piccadilly Theatre
  • The Rape of the Belt
1960 Richmond Theatre
  • Gracious Living

Film

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Patton appeared as Mrs. Broome in The Yellow Teddy Bears in 1963.[14]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b Adams, Bernard (2002). Denis Johnston: a life. Lilliput. pp. 205, 207, 240, 268, 283. ISBN 978-1901866674.
  2. ^ St Hugh's College, Oxford – Chronicle 1935–1936 p.28
  3. ^ "Oxford University Gazette: Colleges, Halls and Sections Obituaries". Oxford University. 22 Nov 2001. Archived from the original on 3 Feb 2002.
  4. ^ a b Stewart, Bruce. "Denis Johnston: Life". RICORSO: A Knowledge of Irish Literature. Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
  5. ^ "Feuille d'Album, 31 January 1938". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
  6. ^ "Rothschild's Fiddle, 16 August 1938". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.; "The Kiss, 16 March 1939". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
  7. ^ "Short Story (Angelina of Intro d'Acqua), 24 November 1935". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
  8. ^ "In Chancery". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
  9. ^ a b Taylor, Lou (2004). "Ch 1: Dress history debates from 1900". Establishing Dress History. Manchester UP. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0719066399.
  10. ^ a b "The Brontes, St. James, 25th June". Theatre World. 43–44. Iliffe Specialist Publications Ltd.: 6 1947.
  11. ^ Brontë Society Publications. Vol. 10–12, Part 61. Brontë Society. 1946.
  12. ^ Punch. Vol. 215. Punch Publications Limited. 7 Jul 1948. p. 16.
  13. ^ Riot and Great Anger: Stage Censorship in Twentieth-Century Ireland by Joan Fitzpatrick Dean pp 138–143
  14. ^ "The Yellow Teddy Bears (1963)". BFI. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 20 Jul 2012. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
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