Patricia Dane

Dane was born Thelma Pearl Pippins in Blountstown, Florida and was also known as Thelma Byrnes after her stepfather. She began her career designing clothes for a New York City dress firm and was signed to an MGM contract in 1941. Dane's earliest appearances were two uncredited roles in Ziegfeld Girl and I'll Wait for You (both 1941). She played the part of "Jennitt Hicks" in Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941) and her well-received performance earned her a long-term contract. Dane played "Garnet" in Johnny Eager (1942) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film starred Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Dane received favorable press for her acting in Grand Central Murder (1942), in which she was billed second to Van Heflin.

Dane took a break from her film career when she married bandleader Tommy Dorsey; the marriage lasted from April 1943 to September 1947. Her MGM contract lapsed in 1945. Following her divorce from Dorsey, she resumed her movie career at the low-budget Monogram Pictures studio with Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948). Dane appeared in two television roles for Fireside Theater and Flight Thirteen, both 1951. Her final film appearances were uncredited parts in Road to Bali (1952) and The Harder They Fall (1956).

Dane died in 1995 in Blountstown, Florida, aged 75, from lung cancer.[1]

• Long Beach, California, Release Attachment on Patricia Dane's Salary, Friday, August 18, 1944, Page 21.
• Oakland, California Tribune, If the Dane's Not Great She Can Always Design Clothes, June 14, 1942, Page 65.
• Oakland Tribune, On the First Rung of the Ladder, January 24, 1943, Page 41.
• Oakland Tribune, Exits and Entrances, Thursday, October 9, 1947, Page 29.
• Olivia R. Vickery, 1st cousin and owner of her effects after her death.
• Tallahassee Democrat, The Stories She Can Tell, May 29, 1988, Page 85

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patricia Dane.

• Patricia Dane on IMDb
• Patricia Dane at Find a Grave