Shirley Patterson


Shirley Patterson, sometimes billed as Shawn Smith, was a Canadian-born B-movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s.

Early years

Born in Winnipeg, Patterson grew up in Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was the daughter of druggist Benjamin Patterson. The family moved to Los Angeles because of her father's health problems, and she finished her education there.

Career

Patterson began her acting career after being a beauty contestant in pageants in California 1939-1940. In 1940 she won the Miss California Pageant but was disqualified later when it was found she was underage. The contestant that won second place went on later in 1941 to win the Miss America Pageant.
She graduated from the Mar-Ken School in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1941, and shortly thereafter, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. Her career spanned 40 films, a few television appearances, and a serial.
Patterson played the role of heroine in the 1943 15-chapter Batman serial. In 1944, she starred in The Vigilantes Ride alongside Russell Hayden and Bob Wills. In 1946, she accompanied Eddie Dean and Roscoe Ates in the film Driftin River, and starred with them again that same year in Tumbleweed Trail, as well as Stars Over Texas. She also was Dean's object of affection in the song, "Let's Go Sparkin'" in the 1948 film Black Hills.
Patterson played Poppea, Nero's consort, in a nonspeaking role in The Silver Chalice. Two of her last films were the 1957 movie The Land Unknown and the 1958 science-fiction film It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Shortly after the close of filming in 1958 while skiing at Lake Arrowhead, CA she suffered a severely broken leg. It was broken in nine different places. She was in a full leg cast for a year and a half cast for another six months. After that it was hard for her to stand for long periods, ending her acting career.

Personal life

She had one child, Alfred F. Smith III. Patterson was married to Alfred F. Smith Jr.

Death

Patterson had a long fight with cancer in her later years, and died in 1995 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Filmography