Milicent Patrick

Milicent Patrick (born Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi; November 11, 1915 – February 24, 1998) was an American actress, makeup designer, special effects artist, and animator.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Patrick spent much of her early life in California, most notably in San Simeon, as her father, Camille Charles Rossi, was superintendent of construction at Hearst Castle. In 1939, Patrick began working for Walt Disney Productions and became one of the studio's first female animators. Patrick continued her career at Universal Studios and is cited as being the first woman to work in a special effects and makeup department. She is best known for being the creator of the head costume for the iconic Gill-man from the film Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Early life Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi was born on November 11, 1915, in El Paso, Texas, the second of three children of Camille Charles Rossi and Elisa Albertine Bill. Her father was superintendent of construction at Hearst Castle, working under Julia Morgan, the first licensed female architect in the state of California. When Mildred was six, her family relocated from San Francisco to San Simeon, California. During her childhood, Mildred grew close with William Hearst's wife, Millicent Hearst, who would become the namesake for Mildred's latter name change. In 1932, Morgan and Camille Rossi's contentious working relationship caused Morgan to appeal to Hearst that Rossi be removed from the project, uprooting the Rossi family from the grounds at Hearst Castle.

The Rossi family then moved to Glendale, California, where she began attending Glendale Junior College. There, she was the assistant art editor for the school's yearbook department. In 1935, she produced six illustrations of various student activities including the campus layout, school dances, and sports games. She left that same year without graduating. She went on to study at Chouniard Art Institute for three years, where she focused on illustration and drawing, receiving three scholarships based on her talent.

Career Patrick began working at Walt Disney Productions in 1939 in their all-female ink and paint department. By 1940, she was moved to the Animation and Effects department, where she became one of the first female animators at Disney. Her work was featured in four sequences in the film Fantasia (1940), including animating the villain Chernabog in the final segment "Night on Bald Mountain". For the segment, Swiss artist Albert Hurter had been hired to create inspirational pencil sketches. Kay Nielsen, a Danish-born illustrator, then developed several color pastel drawings based on Hurter's drawings. The art design was known as the Pastel Effect, in which artists diluted the color paint to have the artwork resemble a chunk of chalky pastel. She next worked as an inbetweener on the film Dumbo (1941) and appeared uncredited in The Reluctant Dragon (1941). Around the same time, Patrick (referred to as "Mildred Rossi") was profiled in the magazine Glamour.

Meanwhile, several Disney animators walked out on strike demanding increased pay, better working conditions, and on-screen credit for their work. The strike ended on September 21, 1941, when Disney signed a unionized contract with the Screen Cartoonist's Guild. By then, on September 12, Patrick had left Disney after privately suffering from migraine headaches.

After leaving Disney, she began modeling in trade shows and as a promotional model. In 1947, while waiting outside the Ambassador Hotel near a bus stop, she met William Hawks, the brother of Howard Hawks, who became her talent agent. Her first film as an extra was Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948).

In 1952, Patrick began working at Universal Studios' makeup department after showing Bud Westmore some of her sketches while filming The World in His Arms (1952). She became the first woman to work in a special effects makeup department and was credited with designing the pirate faces in Against All Flags (1952), the makeup of Jack Palance in Sign of the Pagan (1954), the alien in It Came From Outer Space (1953), Mr. Hyde in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), the Metaluna mutant in This Island Earth (1955), and was a mask maker for The Mole People (1956).

In 1953, Westmore received a phone call from producer William Alland who had learned of a mythical half-fish, half-human creature that resided near the Amazon River from cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. He envisioned a feature film that would involve the creature and asked if Westmore's department could produce the design. Westmore assured him of the task and first approached artist Chris Mueller to create some designs, but soon remembered Patrick's designs on It Came From Outer Space (1953). Patrick was hired to create the design but given certain limits to have the creature appear fearsome and unearthly, able to swim well, and have pulsating gills. The film went into production in September 1953 under the working title The Sea Monster. By November 1953, the film was retitled Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). During promotion for the film, Patrick was sent on a press tour, dubbed "The Beauty Who Created the Beast", to discuss the creation of the creature. This was quickly changed by Westmore to "The Beauty Who Lives With the Beast", to avoid citing Patrick as the creator of the Gill-man. When she returned to Los Angeles, Patrick was informed that she no longer worked for Universal Studios, having been let go due to Westmore's jealousy over Patrick being associated with the creation of the Gill-man.

After leaving Universal, Patrick never worked on another film production and returned to small acting roles. The creation of the Gill-man was credited to Westmore, until the documentary film Back to the Black Lagoon included on the Classic Monster Collection DVD revealed Patrick to be the designer. Earlier, in 1978, Robert Skotak renewed interest in Patrick's career after publishing an article documenting her creature design work in the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Her Gill-man work was also explored in a 2011 Tor.com article by Vincent Di Fate. She married again to Syd Beaumont, who died of cancer in 1954.

In 1955, Patrick met Lee Trent, the voice actor for The Lone Ranger radio program during its first three and a half years. After a tumultuous relationship marked by canceled engagements, Patrick married Trent in a Las Vegas chapel wedding on December 29, 1963. They filed for divorce in January 1969, but continued to have an on-off relationship for years.

Patrick developed Parkinson's disease in 1988 and later breast cancer. She died on February 24, 1998, at a hospice care center in Roseville, California.

Filmography Film Year Title Animator Actress Costume designer Makeup designer Notes 1940 Fantasia Uncredited 1941 Dumbo The Reluctant Dragon Appeared as herself (uncredited)1948 Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven Appeared as Water Nymph (uncredited) A Song Is Born Woman at Dorsey Club (uncredited) Thunder in the Pines The Lady In Black (uncredited) 1949 Bride of Vengeance 1951 Varieties on Parade Ticket Girl (uncredited) Westward the Women Flashy Woman (uncredited)1952 Mara Maru Extra (uncredited) Scarlet Angel Dolly (uncredited) The World in His Arms Lena (uncredited) We're Not Married! Governor's Secretary (uncredited) Limelight Extra (uncredited) Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Tavern Wench (uncredited) Against All Flags Uncredited1953 It Came from Outer Space Xenomorph Design (uncredited) Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1954 The Creature from the Black Lagoon Designed the Gill-man creature (uncredited) Sign of the Pagan 1955 This Island Earth Uncredited Man Without a Star Appeared as Boxcar Alice (uncredited) 1956 The Women of Pitcairn Island Island Woman (uncredited) He Laughed Last Eagle's Secretary (uncredited) Lust for Life Julie (uncredited)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1952 The Roy Rogers Show Elena Episode: "Ride of the Ranchers" 1953 Ramar of the Jungle The White Goddess Episodes: "Tribal Feud", "White Savages" & "Evil Trek" 1955 It's a Great Life Waitress / Salesgirl Episodes: "Call Michigan 4099" & "Three Hungry Men" 1958 The Restless Gun Rosita Episode: "Hornitas Town" 1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Senora Alvarez Episode: "The Killer Instinct" 1960 Lawman Mary Beyer Episode: "The Surface of Truth" 1961 Laramie Rose Episode: "The Jailbreakers"