Patty McCormack

Patricia McCormack (born Patricia Ellen Russo; August 21, 1945) is an American actress with a career in theater, films, and television.

McCormack began her career as a child actress. She is perhaps best known for her performance as Rhoda Penmark in Maxwell Anderson's 1954 psychological drama The Bad Seed. She received critical acclaim for the role on Broadway and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mervyn LeRoy's film adaptation. Her acting career has continued with both starring and supporting roles in film and television, including Helen Keller in the original Playhouse 90 production of The Miracle Worker, Jeffrey Tambor's wife Anne Brookes on the ABC sitcom The Ropers, Adriana La Cerva's mother in The Sopranos, and as Pat Nixon in Frost/Nixon (2008).

Life and career

McCormack was born in New York City on August 21, 1945, as Patricia Ellen Russo. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she took on her maternal grandmother's surname. Her father, Frank Russo, was a fireman and a friend of Walter Matthau; as a favor to Frank, Matthau secured McCormack a deal with his agent, Leonard Hirshan, when she was a teenager. She attended New Utrecht High School in 1958.

McCormack made her motion-picture debut in Two Gals and a Guy (1951) and appeared as Ingeborg in the television series Mama with Peggy Wood from 1953 to 1956. Her Broadway debut was in Touchstone (1953), and the following year, she originated the role of Rhoda Penmark, an 8-year-old psychopathic serial killer, in Maxwell Anderson's The Bad Seed (1954) with Nancy Kelly. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film version (1956). She portrayed Helen Keller in the original 1957 Playhouse 90 production of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker opposite Teresa Wright.

In 1959 she was in an episode of One Step Beyond called "Make Me Not a Witch". She had the role of a pampered child star in the 1958 comedy Kathy O' and recorded the title song for Dot Records. McCormack briefly starred in her own series, Peck's Bad Girl, with Marsha Hunt and Wendell Corey in 1959, and had a leading role in MGM's remake of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Eddie Hodges. In the early 1960s, she starred in a series of popular teenage delinquent films, including The Explosive Generation with William Shatner and The Young Runaways. In 1962, she portrayed Julie Cannon in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Wolvers" (s.5, e.8); she appeared on the show again the following year, playing Sarah Higgins in the episode "Incident at Paradise". Patty McCormack (right) in 1962. She is seen here in the soap opera Young Doctor Malone

After a half-dozen teen roles during the 1960s, her film career gradually declined, but she continued to work in television. In 1970, she played Linda Warren on the soap opera The Best of Everything. She guest-starred on The Streets of San Francisco, season two, episode "Blockade". She also portrayed a San Francisco paramedic on the season-seven Emergency! series episodes "What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing...?" and "The Convention". She resumed her cinema career with Bug in 1975. She played advertising executive Beth Donaldson in "The Little People" episode of "The Love Boat" S2 E10 which aired on 11/24/1978.

McCormack held several recurring roles in popular television series, including Dallas; Murder, She Wrote; and The Sopranos. McCormack also starred as Anne Brookes, the wife of Jeffrey P. Brookes III (played by Jeffrey Tambor) on the ABC television series The Ropers, a spin-off of Three's Company starring Norman Fell and Audra Lindley, from 1979 to 1980. When Kathryn Hays left the CBS soap opera As the World Turns for an extended period, McCormack took Hays' role until she returned. She starred as a psychotic mother in the cult thriller Mommy and its 1997 sequel Mommy 2: Mommy's Day. In 2008, McCormack played First Lady Pat Nixon in the feature film Frost/Nixon. McCormack continues to work regularly and she costarred in the 2012 series Have You Met Miss Jones?. A recent film appearance is in the 2014 release Chicanery and she guest-starred in a 2013 episode of the series Hart of Dixie. Her most notable recent work was in the Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master.

In April 2018, it was announced that McCormack would join the cast of General Hospital temporarily replacing Leslie Charleson in the role of Monica Quartermaine due to injuries Charleson sustained in a fall. In September 2018, McCormack portrayed Dr. March, the child psychiatrist consulted in the 2018 television remake of The Bad Seed. She starred in Dan Lauria's play Just Another Day in 2023 at Ellenville, New York, in 2024 at an off-Broadway venue Theater555, and in 2025 at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Awards McCormack was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for The Bad Seed. On March 20, 1956, she received the Milky Way "Gold Star Award" as the most outstanding juvenile performer, in which Sal Mineo was placed third and Tommy Rettig second.

Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6312 Hollywood Boulevard. She received the star in 1960 aged 15, making her the youngest honoree on the Walk.

Selected filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1951 Two Gals and a Guy Fay Oliver Here Comes the Groom Orphan Uncredited 1954 There's No Business Like Show Business Little Laughing Girl Uncredited 1956 The Bad Seed Rhoda Penmark 1957 The Snow Queen Angel / the Robber Girl Voice; 1959 English version All Mine to Give Annabelle Eunson 1958 Kathy O' Kathy O'Rourke 1960 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Joanna Wilkes 1961 The Explosive Generation Janet Sommers 1962 Jacktown Margaret 1968 Maryjane Susan Hoffman The Mini-Skirt Mob Edie The Young Runaways Deanie Donford 1975 Bug Sylvia Ross 1984 Invitation to Hell Mary Peterson Television film 1988 Saturday the 14th Strikes Back Kate Baxter 1995 Mommy Mommy 1997 Mommy's Day Mrs. Sterling 2001 Acceptable Risk Lois Television film 2003 The Kiss Priscilla Standhope 2004 Target Maysie Television film Shallow Ground Helen Reedy Gone, But Not Forgotten Andrea Hammerhill Television film 2005 Heart of the Beholder Helen 2008 Frost/Nixon Pat Nixon 2012 The Master Mildred Drummond 2018 The Bad Seed Dr. March Television film 2022 The Bad Seed Returns Dr. March Television film

Television Year Title Role Notes Ref.1957-1959Playhouse 90 Various Roles 1959 Peck's Bad Girl Torey Peck Wagon Train Mary Ellen Thomas Episode: "The Mary Ellen Thomas Story" Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Emmy Horvath Episode: "Make Me Not a Witch" 1960 Rawhide Julie 1960–1961 Route 66 Jenny Slade / Jan Emerson 2 episodes 1962 The New Breed Karen Kegler 1972-1979 Emergency! Janet Caldwell / Gail Warren 1 episode, 1 telefilm 1979–1980 The Ropers Anne Brookes 1982 Magnum, P.I. Carol Baldwin 1987 Murder, She Wrote Lana Whitman Episode: "No Accounting for Murder" 1988 Murder, She Wrote Det. Kathleen Chadwick Episode: "Wearing of the Green" 2000–2006 The Sopranos Liz La Cerva 2004 Mystery Woman Barbara Somers Television film Cold Case Mavis Breen Episode: "Greed" 2005 Criminal Minds Marcia Gordon 2009 Private Practice Cynthia 2010 Desperate Housewives Teresa Pruitt 2012 Supernatural Eleanor Holmes / Betsy Scandal Anne Pierce 2013 Hart of Dixie Sylvie Stephens-Wilkes

Video games Year Title Role Ref. 2021 Cookie Run: Kingdom Dark Enchantress Cookie (voice)

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1956 Suspense The Doll