Patricia Huston (August 10, 1929 – September 25, 1995) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She had an explosive early career from 1958 to 1968, went through a twenty-year period with no acting work, and resumed her career with several recurring roles on popular shows during the last ten years of her life.
Early life
She was born Patricia Lou Baker in Mount Vernon, New York. Her parents were Charles G. Baker and Margie A Winingar. Little is known of her family and childhood. According to a 1963 newspaper item, she had two sisters. She obtained her first social security card in November 1943 under the name Pat Lou Baker; from the number assigned it appears she was living in Illinois at the time. According to later interviews, she grew up in Chicago, where she acted in school plays, attended Northwestern University for a year, then studied dramatics and graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona with a BFA (Fine Arts) degree. In June 1956 the name on her Social Security Administration file changed to "Pat Baker Huston".
First decade: 1958–1968
Fast start
The earliest records of her as a professional actress come from Los Angeles during spring 1958, when she was already 27. She played in a stage version of Inherit the Wind, made her first film, The Bonnie Parker Story for AIP, and did her first television work, two episodes of Studio One, all within a three month span.
By the end of 1958, she had completed filming on Paratroop Command, her second movie for director William Witney and AIP; done two more television episodes; had attracted the attention of Lucille Ball who signed her to a contract with Desilu Productions; and was in the midst of a highly successful six week run for the play Children of Darkness. It was an unusual and auspicious first year for a neophyte performer.
Desilu workshop
Columnists noted that Lucille Ball was prominently in attendance at the opening nights of Huston's early plays. Her "Little Red Schoolhouse" at the Desilu Workshop was training eight contract players including Huston in the finer points of stagecraft and television work. Desilu's patronage was also responsible for Huston obtaining so many television roles in her first years of performing.
Huston continued her streak of near simultaneous stage and television work into 1959. She had several television shows broadcast before unexpectedly taking on another stage role in Compulsion, when the original actress dropped out during dress rehearsals. The play ran for two months, after which Huston made some more television episodes before heading down to the La Jolla Playhouse for some summer stock.
She co-starred with Barry Sullivan in the two-person play, Two for the Seesaw, which was still in its original run on Broadway. The performance drew raves for Huston and led to a nationally syndicated newspaper interview of her by columnist Donald Freeman. She finished 1959 with more television, for a total of ten shows including such ratings heavyweights as Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, M Squad, and Wagon Train.
Stumbles
She hit some minor career stumbles during spring 1960. First up was an original play, Music in the Distance, by drama critic Patterson Greene, performed at the Circle Theater in Hollywood during February 1960. Huston, William Phipps, Kathie Browne, and Mark Herron went through a comedy of couples to a lukewarm reception by reviewers. The play folded early, and Huston was soon plunged into another lost cause.
Desilu and CBS had a close working relationship, which accounted for the majority of Huston's television work thru 1960 being on that network. CBS had a taped daily afternoon soap opera called For Better Or Worse, which needed a new face for an upcoming storyline. The show was formatted with a changing cast and storyline each month, was doing poorly in ratings, and would itself be replaced in late June by Full Circle. So Huston was committed to a daily grind that lasted five weeks in an obscure failing show.