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
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
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
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]
| Clothes-Line | (9 Dec 1937) | [10] |
| Producer | Mary Adams | |
| The grand-mother | Nesta Sawyer | |
| The grand-daughter | Micheline Patton | |
| The album by | Pearl Binder | |
| The diary by | James Laver | |
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).
| The Last Voyage of Captain Grant | (9 Nov 1938) | [11] | |
| A narrative of the Arctic based upon Robert Flaherty's novel The Captain's Chair, adapted for television and produced by Denis Johnston. The narration will be spoken by the author, Robert Flaherty. | |||
| Writer/narrator | Robert Flaherty | ||
| Adapted for television and produced by | Denis Johnston | ||
| Captain Grant | John Laurie | ||
| Catlin | David Marsh | ||
| McDougall | Graveley Edwards | ||
| Timmins | Rupert Siddons | ||
| The Factor | Cyril Gardiner | ||
| Quartermaster | William Heilbronn | ||
| First Director | Douglas Allen | ||
| Second Director Steward |
Guy Glover | ||
| Third Director Second Officer |
Ian Aylmer | ||
| Chairman Second Factor |
John Thompson | ||
| Girl | Micheline Patton | ||
and in July 1939, a drama based on the Parnell Commission.
| The Parnell Commission | (18 Jul 1939) | [12] | |
| A reconstruction of the famous forgery investigation of 1888–89 | |||
| Producer | Denis Johnston | ||
| Piggott | Eliot Makeham | ||
| Sir Charles Russel | Felix Aylmer | ||
| Parnell | Mark Dignam | ||
| Attorney General | Wilfrid Walter | ||
| Eye Witness | Brefni O'Rorke | ||
| Mrs O'Shea | Olga Edwardes | ||
| President of the Court | Graveley Edwards | ||
| Timothy Harrington | Blake Giffard | ||
| Doctor Maguire | Nigel Fitzgerald | ||
| Henniker Heaton | Lionel Dymoke | ||
| Frank Hugh O'Donnell | Harry Hutchinson | ||
| Court Registrar | Leo McCabe | ||
| Captain O'Shea | Charles Oliver | ||
| Friend | Micheline Patton | ||
| Servant at Eltham | Moya Devlin | ||
| Solicitor's Clerk | Russell Hogarth | ||
| Spanish Policeman | Rafael Terry | ||
| Reporter Houston's Voice |
Kenneth Barton | ||
| [Actor] | Jack Clifford | ||
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]
| Weep for the Cyclops | (21 Aug 1947) | [13] | |
| The true history of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin | |||
| Writer / Producer | Denis Johnston | ||
| Setting | Barry Learoyd | ||
| Jonathan Swift | Fred O'Donovan[upper-alpha 1] | ||
| Esther Johnson (Stella) | Joyce Heron | ||
| Esther Vanhomrigh (Vanessa) | Muriel Pavlow | ||
| Charles Ford | Godfrey Kenton | ||
| Dr Berkeley | Ivan Samson | ||
| Rebecca Dingley | Jean Anderson | ||
| Richard Brennan | Harry Fine | ||
| Rev Mr Tisdall | Stuart Latham | ||
| John Gay | Oliver Burt | ||
| Mrs Vanhomrigh | Marjorie Gresley | ||
| Moll Vanhomrigh | Ursula Harby | ||
| A curate | John Chandos | ||
| First trollop | Sally Travers | ||
| Second trollop | Micheline Patton | ||
Patton's final recorded BBC appearance was in 1958, with a role in The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst.
| The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst | (4 Jun 1958) | [14] | |
| Written by Arthur Swinson in which television brings you great moments of history with the news coverage of today. | |||
| Writer | Arthur Swinson | ||
| Designer | Stephen Bundy | ||
| Producer | Michael Mills | ||
| News Editor | Frank Owen | ||
| News Reporter | Francis Williams | ||
| News Reporter | Raymond Baxter | ||
| [Actor] | Tony Britton | ||
| Christabel Pankhurst | Sarah Lawson | ||
| [Actor] | Elwyn Brook-Jones | ||
| [Actor] | Leslie Perrins | ||
| [Actress] | Marian Spencer | ||
| [Actress] | Edna Morris | ||
| [Actor] | Alfred Burke | ||
| [Actress] | Christine Lindsay | ||
| [Actor] | Jack Stewart | ||
| [Actress] | Olga Dickie | ||
| [Actress] | Micheline Patton | ||
| [Actress] | Hazel Jennings | ||
Theatre
Patton's best received role was probably as Emily Brontë in The Brontës, by Alfred Sangster, produced by the Sheffield Repertory Company.[15] 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!"[16] A reviewer for Punch commented on the "interesting" Patton's ability to "suggest dark churnings of the soul."[17] 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."[15]
- 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).[18]
- 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
- The Patsy
- The Housemaster
- A Soldier for Christmas
- Seven Bottles for the Maestro
- 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
Patton appeared as Mrs. Broome in The Yellow Teddy Bears in 1963.[19]
Notes
References
- 1 2 Adams, Bernard (2002). Denis Johnston: a life. Lilliput. pp. 205, 207, 240, 268, 283. ISBN 978-1901866674.
- ↑ St Hugh's College, Oxford – Chronicle 1935–1936 p.28
- ↑ "Oxford University Gazette: Colleges, Halls and Sections Obituaries". Oxford University. 22 Nov 2001. Archived from the original on 3 Feb 2002.
- 1 2 Stewart, Bruce. "Denis Johnston: Life". RICORSO: A Knowledge of Irish Literature. Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
- ↑ "Feuille d'Album, 31 January 1938". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Short Story (Angelina of Intro d'Acqua), 24 November 1935". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
- ↑ "In Chancery". Genome: Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.
- 1 2 Taylor, Lou (2004). "Ch 1: Dress history debates from 1900". Establishing Dress History. Manchester UP. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0719066399.
- ↑ Radio Times (9 Dec 1937), "No 6: Grandmamma Looks Back", Clothes-Line (Ep 6), vol. 57, BBC Television, p. 19
- ↑ Radio Times (9 Nov 1938), The Last Voyage of Captain Grant, vol. 61, BBC Television, p. 18
- ↑ Radio Times (18 Jul 1939), The Parnell Commission, vol. 64, BBC Television, p. 16
- ↑ Radio Times (21 Aug 1947), Weep for the Cyclops, vol. 96, BBC Television, p. 32
- ↑ Radio Times (4 Jun 1958), The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst, You Are There, vol. 139, BBC Television, p. 13
- 1 2 "The Brontes, St. James, 25th June". Theatre World. Iliffe Specialist Publications Ltd. 43–44: 6. 1947.
- ↑ Brontë Society Publications. Vol. 10–12, Part 61. Brontë Society. 1946.
- ↑ Punch. Vol. 215. Punch Publications Limited. 7 Jul 1948. p. 16.
- ↑ Riot and Great Anger: Stage Censorship in Twentieth-Century Ireland by Joan Fitzpatrick Dean pp 138–143
- ↑ "The Yellow Teddy Bears (1963)". BFI. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 20 Jul 2012. Retrieved 19 Nov 2014.