Patricia Sharyn Moffett (September 12, 1936 – December 23, 2021) was an American child actress who appeared in films during the 1940s.
Life and career
Moffett was born in
Alameda, California
Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...
, on September 12, 1936, to a show business family. Her parents were singer R.E. Moffett and dancer Gladyce Lloyd Roberts.
[ ] Her younger brother,
Gregory Moffett, was also a child actor.
At the age of 11 months, Moffett appeared in ''
In Old Chicago'' for
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
. When she was four, her parents moved to
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...
to explore her potential as a movie actress. By age five, she had appeared in the 1942
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...
short film ''
Even as IOU'' as a daughter whose family was dispossessed. At age seven, she had her feature-screen debut playing the lead in the film ''
My Pal Wolf'' (1944). In 1944, she signed a seven-year contract with
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
.
Overall, she appeared in a dozen films, including ''
The Body Snatcher
"The Body Snatcher" is a short story by the Scottish people, Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. First published in ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' in December 1884, its characters were based on criminals in the employ of the surgeon Robert Knox ...
'' (1945),
the film noir ''
The Locket'' (1946), ''
Child of Divorce'' (1946), ''
Banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
'' (1947), and ''
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948). In her later years, she made occasional appearances at conventions and film festivals.
In 1955, Moffett married minister James Forrest and ministered with him in churches for more than 50 years. They had three children. He died in 2011.
She died in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, on December 23, 2021, at the age of 85.
Filmography
References
Further reading
* Best, Marc. ''Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen'' (South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., 1971), pp. 192–196.
External links
*
*
1936 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American women
American child actresses
American film actresses
People from Alameda, California
RKO Pictures contract players
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