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Patricia Cutts

Biography

Patricia Cutts was a British film and television actress. She was born in London in July 1925, the daughter of the writer-director Graham Cutts and actress Robin Coles.[1]

She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Her first roles were small parts in American films such as I Was A Male War Bride and The Man Who Loved Redheads, and the television shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Perry Mason.

In 1949, she also began using the name Patricia Wayne.[2]

By the 1950s, she was married to theatrical agent John Findlay.

In August 1954, she collapsed after attending the funeral of her mother. According to newspaper reports, she had nursed her mother without sleep for several days before her death.[3][4] She recovered and was able to take part in the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in October 1954.[5]

Arguably her two best-known film roles were alongside Vincent Price in The Tingler (1959) and as the startled hospital patient who pleads "Stop!" twice to Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959).

Cutts continued to act in American television series during the 1960s and became an American citizen in 1966. According to some sources, she married producer William Nichols in 1962 but divorced the following year.[6]

In January 1972, TV Times ran an article about Cutts which stated she had a son named Nicholas from her first marriage.[7]

In 1974 she accepted the role of Blanche Hunt in the popular British soap opera Coronation Street, appearing in two episodes.

Cutts was found dead in her London flat in September 1974, having taken an overdue of alcohol and barbiturates overdose. The inquest into her death resulted in a verdict of suicide.[8]

Filmography

With Hitchcock...

Alfred Hitchcock Presents...

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour...

See Also...

Image Gallery

Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...

Genealogy

  • born 20/Jul/1925 in London
  • daughter of Graham Cutts (1884–1956)
  • died 06/Sep/1974 in London

Research Documents

Petitions for Naturalization (New York City)

Links

Notes & References

  1. Although her date of birth is widely reported as 20/Jul/1926, both her U.S. Petition for Naturalization and her English death registry entry give her date of birth as 20/Jul/1925. However, there are no obvious birth registry entries for Patricia nor any obvious entries for her father marrying Robin Coles.
  2. According to a 1972 article, she said the surname "Cutts" was deemed unsuitable for an actress in America and also that she was encouraged to use amphetamines to loose weight.
  3. Patricia Cutts' mother (named as Mrs. Robin Thornton) died on 24/Aug/1954.
  4. Dundee Courier (26/Aug/1954) - Patricia Cutts Seriously Ill
  5. Dundee Courier (28/Oct/1954)
  6. http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/491/Patricia+Cutts/index.html
  7. Other sources give the son's name as Nicholas Baker-Findlay and grandchildren Thalia Baker, Brandon Baker and Eylse Baker.
  8. Although possibly a coincidence, Cutts committed suicide the day before the anniversary of her father's death.