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.
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]
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]
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[A] | |||
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 |
Patton's best received role was probably as Emily BrontëinThe 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]
Patton appeared as Mrs. Broome in The Yellow Teddy Bears in 1963.[19]